Garlic (lat. Allium sativum) is a perennial herbaceous plant, a species of the Onion genus of the Amaryllis family of the Allium subfamily. This vegetable crop has been popular among many peoples of the world for six thousand years - garlic is in demand both in cooking and in medicine. Not only garlic bulbs are edible, but also the leaves, shoots and flower stalks of young plants. The plant’s homeland is Central Asia, and it was introduced into cultivation in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Scientists have suggested that garlic originated from the long-pointed onion, which is common in the mountain gorges of Turkmenistan and the Tien Shan, and further research confirmed this guess - garlic is indeed genetically indistinguishable from this type of onion, so with a high degree of confidence we can say that garlic is a type of onion.
It is grown both spring and winter. In this article we will tell you how to properly plant winter varieties of garlic.
When to plant garlic before winter
Dates for planting garlic in autumn 2019
When to plant winter garlic? Winter garlic is grown in autumn. The previous crop must be removed from the area where you plan to sow winter garlic no later than the end of July. Garlic is planted in the ground 35-45 days before frost. Before winter sets in and the soil freezes, garlic has time to develop a root system 10-12 cm long, but green shoots will no longer appear. The optimal time for planting garlic is from September 20 to mid-October. However, if you decide to grow garlic from bulbs and not from cloves, then you can sow them in April.
So, according to the lunar calendar, the most Favorable days for planting garlic in 2019:
- in September – 2, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19;
- by October – 6, 8, 9, 11, 12;
- In November – 5, 6, 7;
- December– 11, 12, 13, 14, 17 (depending on the weather in your region).
- in September – 1, 6, 16, 20;
- in October – 5, 16;
- In November – 4, 8, 9, 10, 18;
- December – 1, 2, 3, 18, 29.
When is it better not to plant garlic?
Garlic planted too early will germinate, which should not be allowed categorically, and garlic planted too late will not have time to take root and will freeze, which is why it is so important to follow the planting dates for winter varieties verified by many years of experience.
In the photo: Winter garlic dug up in spring
After what crop should garlic be planted?
Before determining a site for winter garlic, you need to know after which garlic can be planted, that is, which crops can precede garlic, and after which it will not grow. Garlic will grow best after annual vegetables with a short growing season - cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, pumpkins, zucchini, grain crops or berry bushes. It is not recommended to plant garlic in an area where root crops grew - their harvest is harvested late, and it is unlikely that the soil depleted by root crops will have time to recover.
Is it possible to plant garlic after garlic? Absolutely not. The same as after onions. The principle of fruit rotation suggests that you will be able to grow garlic in the place where it grew this year no earlier than in three to four years.
Garlic before planting - preparation
Unlike spring garlic, which reproduces only by cloves, winter garlic reproduces by both cloves and bulbs. In order to grow a full-fledged onion from a bulb, it will take two years, but from a clove you can get a large onion the next year after planting.
Before planting garlic in the fall, the seed material is sorted out, discarding damaged, small and diseased cloves, as well as those whose shell is damaged, then high-quality cloves are disinfected for 2 hours in ash liquor - a solution of 400 g of ash in two liters of water, boiled in for half an hour and then chilled. Instead of ash alkali, to disinfect the teeth, you can use a two-minute treatment of the seed in a saline solution (3 tablespoons per 5 liters of water), followed by disinfection for a minute in a solution of copper sulfate (1 teaspoon per 10 liters of water).
Soil for garlic
Where to plant garlic? Garlic is light-loving, so grow it under the sun in sandy, non-acidic soil, manured for the previous crop - fresh manure in the soil for garlic leads to the fact that it is more often affected by diseases and pests.
If there is a need to add fertilizer to the soil after the previous crop, do this no later than one and a half to two weeks before planting garlic: dig up the soil using a shovel, adding 5-6 kg of humus per m², as well as 30 g of superphosphate and 20 g of potassium salt, then pour the area with a solution of copper sulfate (1 teaspoon per 10 liters of water). Before planting, cover the bed with film.
In the photo: Heads of garlic
How to plant garlic before winter
In the area prepared for planting, furrows are made 15-20 cm deep at a distance of 20-25 cm from each other; coarse sand is poured into the bottom of the grooves in a layer of 1.5-3 cm in order to prevent contact of the cloves with the soil and protect them from rotting . The distance between large cloves should be 12-15 cm, and between those smaller ones - 8-10 cm. After embedding the cloves into the soil, the area must be mulched with a two-centimeter layer of dry peat or sawdust mixed with soil.
If the winter is snowless, you will have to cover the crops with roofing felt or polyethylene, but as soon as it starts snowing, remove the film so that the snow falls on the area.
If you use bulblets as seed material, they are sown to a depth of no more than 3 cm at a distance of 2 cm from each other with a distance between grooves of 10 cm. If you sow the bulblets in the spring, in April, then by autumn they will produce single-toothed bulbs, which need to be dug up, dried and planted again in the ground so that next year they produce a full-fledged bulb.
In the photo: Winter garlic is growing
Good day everyone!
On the agenda today I have an important issue for gardeners and amateur gardeners. Tell me, have you already prepared the garlic for winter, I mean planted it in the ground in the fall, so that you can harvest it in the summer?
Let's figure out when and how to do this work correctly. What you need to know and be able to do so that later your favorite aromatic and piquant vegetable will please us with a large harvest, because almost any second course or, for example, a real tasty rich one, will not do without it.
It is used very often in folk medicine and is also a repellent for many soil inhabitants.
But I think I won’t write about the benefits of this vegetable crop in this note, because it seems to me that its benefits are obvious to all of us, and we know how? and where it can be used. Well, for those who are already unbearably interested, you can always find any information on the Internet.
How and when to plant winter garlic cloves correctly?
This type of garlic should be planted in the ground in October, namely, if you look at the Lunar calendar, the dates there are October 15, 20, 27, 2019.
You can also plant in November, but this is for certain regions where it is warm.
Interesting! If you look at the calendar, you can see the following information for 2019; you cannot plant on these days of autumn: from October 1-14. For 2019, winter garlic should be planted on September 18, 23, 29, 30, or October 15, 20, 27. For those who did not have time and for warm regions of Russia, you can plant on such days in November 13,14,15,16,17,18, as well as December: 13-18.
In general, it is worth understanding that the main rule for planting garlic is to plant it before the arrival of cold weather and frosts. The approximate limit is that they will occur in 30 to 45 days. In other words, if the temperature outside is +10 +12 for two weeks, then you should plant this crop in the soil, because stable cold weather will soon come.
Important! Planting times will depend on what region you live in. Generally speaking, for all territories of Russia, this is no earlier than mid-September, but no later than the first ten days of December.
Remember that if you plant garlic in the primer early, it will sprout, and this is an early death... And if you plant it very late, it will not take root and will freeze, and nothing good will come of it either.
Important! Remember that garlic should be planted where annual vegetables such as cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, and zucchini grew. Under no circumstances should you plant where root crops grew. Therefore, never plant garlic in a place where onions, garlic, potatoes, and tomatoes grew. This contributes to the spread of diseases, such as nematodes.
It is recommended to change the place of residence of the garlic every two years. There are also some tricks and nuances that absolutely everyone should know about. I strongly recommend watching this video, everything is very detailed in it, but at the same time everything is shown and explained compactly:
One more note and condition, for garlic to produce a good harvest, it must be planted at the correct phases of the moon. As usual, no garden work can be done during the full moon or new moon. And also on the waxing moon.
Stages of planting garlic:
1. Prepare the soil for planting in advance, go over it with a cultivator or a regular shovel. You also need to take planting material; personally, I never process it.
2. As for the garlic, I have it of the Belarusian variety, as shown in this photo, it is white with a purple tint.
Important! The larger the planting material, the larger the harvest will be. Ha, logical))).
Use the largest cloves, but periodically renew the garlic from the bulbs. It is preferable to use your own garlic rather than buy it in stores or supermarkets; then it’s better to buy it from your grandmother at the market, where at least it’s homemade.
Break the garlic into cloves, and remember that this should be done immediately before planting.
Plant enough garlic so that you have enough for food, preparation and planting.
3. So, start planting. There are many different options for this activity.
Interesting! You can use various special patterns and the like; there is now a lot of know-how in our gardening market.
I always prefer to do it easily and quickly, without any hassles. The way I do this, you will need two tools - a rake and a shovel.
Using a rake, or rather its handle, make a ruler like this so that it is even. And use a scoop to make indentations, turn the scoop over and use a handle to make holes in the ground. My bed is not very large, so I plant in three furrows; you can do more at your discretion.
Important! The distance between the holes is 10-15 cm, do it by eye. And the depth of planting garlic is approximately 6-8 cm; you can make a mark on the handle of the scoop.
You can go with another option, take a board and make notches on it for convenience, and you can make indentations with an ordinary peg.
4. Divide the head of garlic into cloves and prepare for work. I hope that you know where the tops and roots of garlic are. If you forgot, be sure to look at this picture, because you definitely need to plant with the roots in the ground.
5. In our case, place one clove of garlic vertically in the depression you made, and do not press it in under any circumstances, but simply carefully place it and cover it with earth. No need to water.
Important! To prevent the clove from rotting from heavy autumn rains, after you place it in the ground, you need to add 1 teaspoon of sand into the hole; the sand will do the drainage work.
Interesting! For beginner gardeners, you can make indentations around the entire perimeter, and then, in order not to lose where you planted and where not, stick garlic.
6. When all the cloves have been planted, sprinkle them thoroughly with soil again using a rake.
7. And of course compact it, also with a rake.
This is how easy, quick and simple it is to do this job!
How to plant garlic bulbs before winter so that it grows large?
But as for garlic with bulbs and not cloves, this type can be planted in April. This type of garlic is called spring, not winter.
Remember that if you plant bulbs, they will bear a real harvest only after a year. In the first year, only a clove will grow from one bulb, and already in the second year, a whole head will grow from this clove.
The bulbs still sound cool, such small and funny things))).
I suggest watching the video and learning how to plant garlic this way correctly:
Planting garlic in the fall before winter for different regions of Russia
As I said earlier, approximate dates for sowing garlic have been determined for each region. Let's sort it out in order.
Planting garlic before winter for residents of the Moscow region
It is recommended to plant this crop on October 25-30. But there is an opinion that the best time for this area is before the Day of the Intercession, which is October 14th. According to signs, it is believed that garlic planted during this period will give a very large harvest.
Among the varieties especially loved by gardeners in this region are: Spas, Yubileiny 07, Yubileiny Gribovsky, Messidor, Kharkovsky, etc.
Planting garlic in autumn before winter in Siberia
The best planting time for Siberian residents is in the second mid-September, namely, to be more precise, in the period September 23-30.
Separately, I would like to note for the Altai Territory, since I live here myself, these terms are correct.
Proper planting of garlic before winter in the Urals
For the population of the Urals, planting falls on October 16,20,21,22,23, if this is the Southern Urals, if it is the Middle Urals, then October 25,26,27,28,29,30.
This is such a useful article, I hope that now you clearly understand and remember how and when to plant garlic. I wish you a great harvest next year, and of course always a good and positive mood. See you all, bye!
P.S. I completely forgot, I would like to remind you that with the onset of cold weather come the symptoms of acute respiratory viral infections and acute respiratory infections, you can fight them with the help of garlic, by hanging beads made from balloons with a surprise around your neck at home, and especially for children, and breathing in this aroma.
Sincerely, Ekaterina Mantsurova
When to plant garlic before winter and what kind and how, so as not to be late with planting and the onset of frosts not to destroy the crop? Let's talk about the timing and other subtleties of planting winter garlic.
Experienced gardeners know that the planting time for this crop should be chosen accurately.
Important! If you are late with planting in the fall, the garlic will not have time to take root. Planting too early will produce seedlings that will also die in the cold winter.
The wrong time for planting garlic in the fall will lead to the loss of part of the crop or its complete destruction. To ensure that it does not freeze and produces a rich harvest, there are some rules.
When to plant garlic before winter
The basic rule is that garlic should be planted before frosty days arrive. The ideal time for planting is 15-20 days before the onset of frost. When the air temperature in the region stays around +5 degrees for 2 weeks, the crop needs to be planted, as it will soon be cold.
Interesting! According to lunar calendar for central Russia, including the Moscow region, this time falls at the end of September - beginning of October. In regions with a warm climate, the planting procedure is scheduled for the month of November.
What kind of garlic can you plant?
There are 2 types of garlic:
- winter;
- spring.
They have different characteristics and have many differences among themselves. Need to know what kind of garlic is planted before winter? This is a winter species, which has obvious differences in size, taste, ripening and storage time.
Winter
A distinctive feature of this species is the head, which consists of 4-12 rather large teeth. They are covered with a pink film with purple veins. The teeth are held by a strong rod.
The taste of winter garlic is pungent, even burning. This type is usually used for various preparations for the winter. It is also used for sowing. In its pure form, it is not left for storage during the winter season.
Spring
This species does not have a stem. Small cloves, up to 25 pieces, are collected in a circle in several rows. It tastes much softer than winter. Can be stored throughout the winter until the onset of warm spring days.
Winter and spring garlic are also divided into the following groups:
- shooter;
- non-shooting.
shooter
These types of garlic shoot out arrows during the ripening period. Air bubbles are formed on it, in which the babies are placed. They can be planted in the ground to produce one-toothed plants, which can then be planted in the fall. Let's look at several bolting varieties of garlic.
Alekseevsky. A fruitful variety with a large head. Weight can reach up to 180 g. Some specimens reach up to 240 g. The scaly coating is gray. The head contains approximately 5 large teeth. The plant itself looks impressive; it can grow up to 1.5 m in height (with an arrow). It stores well for a long time. The taste is rich. The variety is valued for its resistance to fusarium.
Gulliver. This variety has a large head weighing about 120 g. The largest garlic can reach up to 250 g. The coating is gray, the taste is hot. There are about 12 cloves in one head. The mid-late variety Gulliver can be planted not only for the winter, but also in the spring.
Belorussian. A head of this variety of garlic weighs about 80 g. It contains up to 8 cloves. The coating is white with purple strokes. The variety is early ripening.
Lyubasha. The ripening period of this crop is average. A head of garlic is not small and weighs up to 120 g. It usually contains 7 cloves. Garlic has a pungent taste.
Nazus. Typically, this variety is planted by gardeners living in cold regions. One head of garlic, which contains 5-6 cloves, weighs about 65 g. The vegetable is covered with red and white scales. Refers to the mid-season species.
Non-shooting
In this group of plants, the shoot does not develop.
Novosibirsk. The variety has small heads, weighing 22 g and about 6 cloves inside.
The color of the coating is light pink. Garlic doesn't taste as hot as its cousins. The variety is mid-season and produces a good harvest.
Podmoskovny. A mid-season variety with a pungent taste. One bulb can weigh up to 60 g.
There are 6-8 cloves inside. The color of the vegetable coating is gray with purple splashes.
After what crops to plant?
Many years of experience of gardeners have shown after what cultures sow winter garlic on the plot. The vegetable grows well in the area where its predecessors were:
- legumes,
- cucumbers,
- tomatoes,
- pumpkin,
- early cabbage,
- zucchini.
After these crops, the land is rich in organic fertilizers and minerals.
Do not plant vegetables for the winter in the garden where they previously grew:
- potato.
The fact is that garlic is susceptible to such diseases (fusarium, nematode, etc.), so there is a risk of infection.
Important! Garlic cannot be planted on land that has recently been fertilized with manure.
The garlic will “go away” into greens with abundant tops, and the garlic heads will be loose, which will make them vulnerable to various diseases.
Watch the video! Proper planting of garlic in the fall
How to plant correctly
Choosing a place for winter garlic
To plant garlic in the fall, you should choose the most fertile soil that has normal or low acidity. It will be better if the site is located on the sunny side. The beds should be located in the direction from north to south.
Soil preparation
The land must be prepared in advance. Work can be carried out at the end of August and until mid-September. First, add fertilizer to the soil. To do this, prepare the mixture:
- humus - 10 kg,
- ash - 2 cups,
- chalk - 1 glass,
- potassium sulfate – 2 tbsp,
- superphosphate – 1 tbsp.
Important! This amount of fertilizer is applied per square meter. The fertilized area must be dug well to a depth of 20 cm.
Preparing the bed
Before planting garlic, be sure to form a proper bed. It should have the following parameters: width – up to 1 m, height – up to 25 cm.
Time for soil shrinkage
After the area has been dug up, it is necessary to allow time for the soil to settle. If there is not enough rain at the beginning of autumn, you can water the garden bed several times.
It is important to know, when to plant vegetable. A big mistake gardeners make is rushing to plant garlic without waiting for the soil to shrink. This negatively affects its development. Over time, the earth will settle anyway, and the planted cloves will end up deeper in the ground than they should be. They will take longer to germinate in the spring.
We cultivate the soil
It is necessary to carry out another important procedure before planting winter garlic. In order to prevent contamination of the crop, the area should be treated with a 1% solution of copper sulfate.
To prepare it you need to take:
- 1 tbsp. copper sulfate;
- on a bucket of water.
Using a watering can, water the entire seed bed with this solution. One bucket of liquid is enough for approximately 2 square meters of area. Immediately before planting the vegetable, scatter urea over the area (10-20 g per 1 sq.m.). After this, pour water over it.
How to prepare garlic for planting
Before planting, you need to familiarize yourself with what kind of garlic can you plant? in the autumn, as well as with the rules for preparing vegetables for planting.
- We disassemble the head into pieces. We carefully sort through all the cloves and select the largest, dryest and healthiest. Cloves of non-shooting varieties for planting should be selected only from the outer layer.
- Disinfection. Healthy cloves, which were selected for planting in the fall, are soaked for 24 hours in a solution of potassium permanganate (0.1%). You can also use a solution of copper sulfate (1%).
Planting a single tooth
Creating holes
After preparing the site, we plan places for the holes. For this purpose, you can use a regular stick, with which we make holes in the soil every 10 centimeters. We place the rows at a distance of 20-25 cm from one another.
Depending on how the garlic will be planted, the depth of the holes can vary from 3 to 15 cm.
Burying the garlic cloves
Place one healthy clove of garlic in each hole. It is not recommended to press them into the ground, as this may cause late root formation. Dry soil should be watered with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. We fill the holes with rotted prepared compost.
Mulching the bed
As mulch, the layer of which should be about 10 cm, you can use:
- dry leaves,
- pine needles
- peat.
Advice! In warm areas, beds with planted garlic do not need to be mulched for the winter.
An alternative way to plant winter garlic
Gardeners use this method in rare cases, but it has its advantages.
- First, you need to apply fertilizer to the area where winter garlic will be planted.
In the last days of August the following fertilizers are applied per sq.m:
- potassium sulfate - 2 tbsp;
- superphosphate - 1 tbsp;
- humus – 10 kg;
- wood ash - 2 cups;
- chalk - 1 glass.
Fertilizer is applied in dry form to the entire area.
- Now it is necessary to carry out high-quality cultivation of the soil. For faster shrinkage, you should water it well. If it rains at this time, then watering is not needed.
- An important aspect of this method is planting oats, peas and white mustard along the garlic beds. We place the rows of these crops 35-45 cm from the prepared beds.
- A couple of days before the procedure for planting vegetables, fertilize:
- 10-20 g of urea per 1 sq.m.;
- After this, water the entire area well.
- At the beginning of October, peas and oats will already grow more than 20 cm in height. Now is the time to plant garlic in the beds located between the green shoots.
Although this method is not as popular among gardeners, it is quite effective. The foliage of the crops will collect snow on the site, so the garlic will be provided with a warm covering. With the arrival of warm spring days, it will be provided with moisture.
Watch the video! Planting garlic before winter
The time is gradually approaching when it will be necessary to plant winter garlic once again. And although the process is quite familiar and quite ordinary, today we will try to highlight the main mistakes that are best avoided:
- Do not plant winter garlic in the same place year after year. From the point of view of site planning, this is certainly convenient, but this option disrupts crop rotation. Pathogens and pests characteristic of the crop will remain in last year’s soil, and it will also lack exactly those micro- and macroelements that garlic needs (fertilizing will not completely eliminate this deficiency). It is best to plant garlic where zucchini, cucumbers, cabbage and various greens previously grew. Bad predecessors are carrots, beets, onions.
- It is advisable not to feed garlic with nitrogen fertilizers. Increasing green mass for the winter is a dangerous undertaking.
- The timing of planting garlic may vary in different regions of our country, but the rule is valid everywhere - the temperature should not be lower than +3...+6 C. Otherwise, part of the seed may not have time to take root and die. Planting garlic too early is even worse - feathers will come out before winter. In central Russia, we plant closer to mid-October, focusing on the weather (usually Pokrov or a little later). According to the experience of friends, garlic can forgive very late planting (even in the snow).
- There is often confusion about planting depth. The optimal depth is calculated according to the rule - the height of the clove itself + 5 cm from above. On average, the indicator should be between 6 and 8 cm. In the northern regions, it is better to plant deeper.
- Many novice gardeners separate the heads into teeth in advance. This is mistake. It is advisable to perform separation shortly before planting (for example, in the evening of the previous day). In this case, each clove must be carefully examined for signs of rot and various damage. All diseased, damaged, and small teeth should be immediately discarded and used in the future for household purposes. You should not take cloves from bulbs consisting of only 2-3 cloves (a sign of degeneration).
- I don’t know what this is connected with, most likely due to unnecessary hassle, but many summer residents ignore disinfection of garlic cloves before planting. It is not necessary to use any fungicides; you can use ordinary potassium permanganate. The teeth should be soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 1-2 hours. I honestly admit that we ourselves often ignore this rule.
- Last year, the job of separating the garlic heads fell to me. It is very important in this process not to damage the husk (skin) of the teeth. It plays the role of a protective barrier. It is almost impossible to do this; there will still be a part of the marriage. I put all the teeth that had peeled off into a separate container. We left them for cooking. The mistake is to use them for planting.
How do you proceed when planting winter garlic? Do you have any mandatory rules (add them in the comments), but which of the things I listed do you completely ignore?
No garden is complete without a bed of garlic. This is not only a necessary seasoning, but also an invaluable assistant in the fight against flu and colds. Growing garlic and caring for it can be done by any gardener; you just need to know its preferences well and follow all agricultural techniques.
To get a good harvest of this crop, not much is required:
- high-quality and healthy planting material;
- loose fertile soil;
- timely landing;
- proper watering and fertilizing;
- compliance with cleaning deadlines.
Selection of planting material
If you are planting cloves from your own harvest from last year, then you need to choose only the largest heads for seeds. They should not have double teeth or double tips - these are signs of degeneration. Teeth with external damage and traces of disease are not suitable for planting. Before planting spring garlic cloves, they need to be prepared: vernalized and germinated.
- vernalization - kept in the refrigerator (not in the freezer!) for a month;
- germination - place in a damp cloth, wrap in a bag and keep in the vegetable section of the refrigerator until the beginnings of roots appear.
The yield from prepared planting material will be higher. To disinfect it, the heads with the rudiments of the roots, disassembled into cloves, are soaked in an ash solution or in a solution of potassium permanganate. To prepare an ash solution, boil 400 g of ash in 2 liters of water for half an hour. The teeth are placed in the cooled solution for 2 hours.
To prepare a solution of potassium permanganate, a teaspoon of the drug is diluted in a ten-liter bucket of warm water. Exposure time – 10 hours. The prepared cloves are planted on the beds.
Planting spring garlic in open ground
Prepared and germinated seed of spring garlic is planted in the ground in early spring.
Soil and site preparation
Growing garlic begins with preparing the soil. This procedure is carried out in the fall. The place for the plants needs a sunny place; in the shade the leaves will also grow, but you won’t get a good head. Spring garlic prefers loose fertile light or medium loamy soils with sufficient humus content. The soil reaction should be neutral or slightly acidic.
In the fall, when digging, they add it to each square. m:
- 0.5 buckets of humus or well-ripened compost;
- 2-3 cups of ash;
- 15 g of complex mineral fertilizer.
Immediately before planting, the bed is loosened, but not dug up. It should have a flat surface so that all planted teeth are at the same level.
Then plant garlic
The correct precursors for spring garlic are very important. Plant health largely depends on them. It is best to plant spring garlic cloves after any pumpkin crops. They do not have common pests and diseases, and after harvesting the beds remain well manured, the soil is loose and fertile. Good predecessors are grains, greens or legumes. But you can return garlic to its original place or plant it after onions only after 4 years. The proximity of beds with garlic and peas and beans is undesirable. Their secretions do not like each other, and the yield of all crops will be low.
How and when to plant
Spring garlic is planted only in spring. When planted in winter, it can easily freeze. However, this representative of alliums is not afraid of frost, so it is planted as soon as the earth has warmed up to 5 degrees, but has still fully retained moisture after the snow has melted. Spring garlic grows roots better at low temperatures, so you can’t be late with planting dates. They depend not only on the growing region, but also on the weather.
Planting method: form grooves about 4 cm deep in the bed, into which the cloves are carefully placed with the roots down. They cannot be pressed into the ground - the fragile root primordia are easily damaged, and then you will have to wait a very long time for seedlings. Ideally, the orientation of the rows will be from west to east - this way they will receive the most light.
Planting scheme
The cloves are planted shallowly, sprinkled with a 2 cm thick layer of earth. The distance between small cloves is about 8 cm, and between large cloves - up to 12 cm. The row from the row should be at a distance of 25 cm. It is good to mulch the plantings with a layer of humus 3-4 cm thick It will provide the plants with additional nutrition and protect the soil from drying out.
Winter garlic: nuances of growing
This type of garlic boasts large heads. In some varieties, the cloves weigh 12 g or more. Even from the name it is clear that it is planted before winter. After planting, the cloves should have time to take root before frost, but not sprout. Usually they need 1-1.5 months for this. Therefore, planting dates are calculated based on the onset of a frosty period in a given region.
What does winter garlic prefer:
- light sandy loam soil, rich in humus and retains moisture well;
- location with lighting throughout the day;
- a bed prepared in advance, for each square. m to which a bucket of humus, 25 g of nitrophoska and superphosphate are added.
Winter garlic is planted 2-3 cm deeper than spring garlic; the technology and planting scheme do not differ significantly. But there are differences in the preparation of planting material. Like spring garlic, the largest cloves are selected for planting, but they do not need vernalization. It is also not necessary to germinate it, but it is necessary to treat it with a solution of potassium permanganate or an ash extract. This is done in the same way as with spring garlic cloves. It is best to mulch the plantings with peat or humus in case of severe frosts without snow.
In the spring, the first thing to do is loosen the beds with hatched seedlings. To prevent the tips of the leaves from turning yellow, loosening can be combined with foliar fertilizing with a solution of nitrogen fertilizer at the rate of st. spoon per 10 liters of water. In cold soil, roots do not work well and do not absorb nitrogen. Rapidly growing foliage lacks it, so the tips of the leaves turn yellow.
Winter varieties are divided into bolting and non-bolting. The first ones release a flower arrow, but do not form seeds, but airy bulbs. If they are not needed for subsequent propagation, the arrows are broken off as soon as they begin to curl, leaving a stump of 1 cm. 1-2 arrows should be left as beacons. Cracking of the cover on the formed bulbs will serve as a signal for harvesting.
Outdoor care
Like onions, garlic has not lost the habits it acquired while growing in its natural habitat: spring and early summer, rich in moisture from melting mountain snows, contribute to the formation of green mass. The dry period coming in summer is a signal for the formation of a bulb or head. The mode of watering garlic in the beds should take this feature into account.
Watering
In the absence of rain, watering should be regular. It is done as the top layer of soil dries to a depth of 2-3 cm. The root layer should be completely wet. Stop watering 3-4 weeks before harvesting, allowing the head to gain weight appropriate for the variety.
Fertilizer and feeding
If garlic grows on fertile soil, and the bed was well filled with nutrients before sowing, then a good harvest can be obtained without additional nutrition. Otherwise, you can’t do without fertilizing. At different stages of development, garlic's need for nutrients is different.
- When growing green mass, plants need nitrogen most of all. It can be given in the form of root dressings with solutions of ammonium nitrate or urea. The fertilizer is diluted in accordance with the instructions, usually Art. spoon on a bucket. Most often, two feedings are practiced: the first at the emergence stage, the second when 3-4 leaves are formed. Per sq. m of bed, 2-3 liters of solution is enough. If the soil is fertile, one feeding is enough.
- The third feeding is carried out 2 weeks after the second with a complete complex fertilizer - Art. spoon on a bucket of water. Per sq. m of bed, pour 3-4 liters of solution.
- The last feeding is carried out at the stage of bulb formation. At this time, plants most need phosphorus and potassium. It’s good to pour ash under them and loosen them. To enrich the soil with phosphorus, dissolve 2 tbsp. spoons of superphosphate in hot water. When it cools down, pour it onto the square. m 3-4 l of solution.
Each liquid fertilizing is combined with watering with clean water. The next day the beds are loosened.
The following agrotechnical technique will help to obtain larger heads: 3-4 weeks before harvesting, the soil from the bulbs is carefully raked into the aisles, exposing them completely. This creates freedom for growth, which increases the yield.
Harvesting garlic
It is better not to delay harvesting the garlic, otherwise the heads will crack and will be stored worse. The signal for harvesting is lodging of shoots and yellowing of the lower leaves. A cracked cover sac on the left beacons will also tell you that it’s time to harvest the crop. Do not dig up garlic ahead of schedule. Unripe bulbs will not only be smaller in size than they could be, but will also be stored worse. After harvesting, the garlic is dried in the garden for several hours, and then dried in the shade in a well-ventilated place.
The harvesting period for winter garlic is July, and spring garlic is September. It is removed after the leaves have completely yellowed.
Features of reproduction
Spring garlic reproduces only vegetatively - by cloves. Winter garlic can also be propagated. But bolting varieties have another opportunity: sowing aerial bulbs, the so-called bulbs. They are formed at the end of each arrow. When growing garlic from bulbs, the seed material becomes healthier. In the first year, they grow into single-toothed bulbs - bulbs consisting of one tooth. They are used for autumn planting along with traditional cloves and produce a good harvest of large and healthy bulbs.
Sowing winter garlic bulbs
They can be sown in autumn or spring. Sowing time depends on the size of the bulbs. Large aerial bulbs can be stored in the room until spring, small ones will simply dry out, and in the soil they will survive the winter well. The bulbs are collected when they acquire the appropriate color for the variety and the seed sac bursts. It is better to select the largest specimens for planting. Prepare a bed for sowing in the same way as for winter garlic. Sowing dates are the whole of September and the beginning of October. Sowing pattern: 10 cm between rows and 2-3 between bulbs. They are laid out to a depth of about 3 cm. To prevent the crops from freezing, it is better to mulch them. The easiest way is to sprinkle the beds with a 2-3 cm layer of humus. Caring for crops in spring and summer is no different from that for winter garlic.
Diseases and pests: control methods
Despite the large amount of phytoncides, this plant is also susceptible to disease and can be attacked by pests.
Table: diseases and pests of garlic.
| Pest or disease | How it manifests itself | How to fight |
|---|---|---|
| Root and quadruped mites | Lagging of the bottom of the onion and its rotting, ulcers on the cloves | Maintaining crop rotation, heating garlic at 40 degrees after harvest, careful selection of seed |
| Onion fly | The larvae eat away some of the cloves, the tips of the garlic feathers turn yellow | Joint planting with carrots, dusting the beds with ash and tobacco dust or ground hot pepper, watering with a salt solution of 1 glass per 10 liters of water, watering with mullein infusion or urea solution |
| Nematodes | The green stem is bent, the heads are loose, the integumentary scales lag behind | Maintaining crop rotation, disinfection of planting material |
| Fusarium | Caused by a fungus, the stems lose leaves that dry out. Pale pink or white traces of mycelium on the bulb and stem | Treatment of seed material and soil with fungicides: Hom, Fitosporin, Maxim |
| Rust | Rusty spots on leaves, developmental delays, meager harvest | Treatment of seed and beds with fungicides |
| Downy mildew | The upper part of the stem turns yellow and dries out, growth slows down | Warming up the harvested crop and seed material in bright sun at a temperature of about 40 degrees, treating with fungicides: Thiram, Polycarbacin |
| Bacteriosis | Yellowish-brown wounds on teeth | Do not harvest the crop until it is fully ripe; treat the beds with Hom. |
Types and varieties of garlic
Garlic is divided into two groups, which differ not only in shelf life, bulb structure and growing season, but also in planting time. Spring garlic is characterized by lower yields, but it is stored almost until the new harvest. Its teeth are smaller and arranged in a spiral. Winter garlic has a central core around which the cloves are grouped; spring garlic does not have one.
Winter varieties
Gribovsky anniversary.
There are 11 cloves in the onion. Its average weight is about 40 g. The taste is pungent. Ripening time is later. The variety is bolting. The color of the covering scales is purple.
Gribovsky - 60.
An early ripening variety that produces shoots. The onion with a pungent taste consists of 11 cloves and weighs 40-60 g. The covering scales are reddish with a purple tint.
Komsomolets.
The variety is bolting, the covering scales are pink-violet. There are from 7 to 11 cloves in the bulb. It has a pungent taste.
Danilovsky local.
Doesn't give an arrow. In a large onion with purple covering scales, the number of cloves ranges from 6 to 11.
Spring varieties
Gulliver.
Produces very large bulbs weighing up to 115 g. The scales are gray, the taste is sharp, and ripening is late.
Elenovsky.
The variety is frost-resistant, the heads weigh 35 g. Ripens in the middle period. Can be stored for up to 2 years.
Sochi.
The variety ripens early. Bulbs weighing up to 45 g with white scales, excellent taste. Can be stored for 1.5 years.
Victorio.
The taste is semi-sharp. An onion can have up to 13 cloves, weighs about 40 g, and has a shelf life of up to 8 months.
Garlic has a long tradition of use, both as a spicy seasoning that complements the taste of many dishes, and as a preventive and therapeutic agent for many diseases.