A lot has been said about the benefits of garlic. It contains a lot of useful substances that are completely absorbed by the body. Since ancient times, garlic has been used not only in folk medicine, but also in cooking. Having even a small plot of land you can grow an excellent crop for the whole family.
We grow garlic: planting in open ground
On the planting period of garlic affects its appearance and purpose. In gardening, there are spring and winter garlic.
Spring garlic is a non-shooting species. Their segments are smaller, arranged spirally. One bulb contains about 30 cloves. At the stem are smaller teeth. The yield of spring garlic is lower, but its main advantage is good keeping quality. Such garlic is well preserved until a new crop. Spring varieties propagate exclusively with teeth.
Winter garlic is prone to shooting, forms bulbs. The heads consist of cloves, the number of which does not exceed 10 pieces. All slices are located in one row. The yield of winter garlic is very high, but it is not suitable for long storage.
Spring garlic: planting and proper care
If you decide to grow varieties of spring garlic, then it is planted in the spring. The most favorable time is the first half of April. The vegetation period of spring varieties is much shorter, therefore, they must be planted as early as possible. This will help the plant form a marketable bulb. The roots begin to grow at a temperature of +4 to +10 degrees, and at higher rates, their growth stops. Without a good root system, growing large heads of garlic will not work. If you delay the timing of planting, then the yield of garlic will be significantly lower.
Preparing the soil for planting garlic
The soil for planting needs to be prepared in advance. The roots of spring varieties are located in the upper soil layer, so you need to provide them with maximum nutrition.
The planting bed should be placed in a sunny place without stagnation of water. The soil is prepared in the fall, seasoned with compost and humus, ash is added for additional nutrition. In spring, the soil is loosened and planted seed material.
Planting of spring garlic
For the development and good nutrition of garlic, you must observe a planting density. The distance between the slices should be about 8 cm, and between the rows you need to leave up to 30 cm. The depth of planting should not be deeper than 2 cm from the top of the clove. Planting too deep slows down the development of garlic. Fresh plants are mulched with straw or peat.
Important! For planting, use only large teeth. From small cloves it is not possible to get a good large bulb.
To obtain juicy greens, smaller teeth are planted separately.
The importance of watering for bulb growth
Spring varieties of garlic need good watering until mid-July, when there is a process of growth of greens. Insufficient watering is signaled by the yellowed tips of the plant. After the sixth formed leaf, watering is reduced, and by mid-August it is completely stopped. Excess water delays the formation of the bulb, reduces the amount of nutrients and adversely affects storage.
Spring garlic dressing
Systematic top dressing helps grow large garlic bulbs and positively affects storage.
1. The first feeding should be carried out immediately after the formation of several leaves. For this, nitrogen fertilizers are used to a greater extent. Often use a solution of bird droppings, mullein, humus, infusion of grass. Fresh manure cannot be introduced. This adversely affects the safety of the bulbs.
2. After a few weeks, you need to carry out a second top dressing with a solution of mineral fertilizers. You can use ash for these purposes.
3. The last feeding should be carried out in early July, when garlic cloves are formed. At this time, it is better to apply phosphorus-potash fertilizers.
All top dressing of garlic should be combined with watering.
How to grow large spring garlic
There are several tricks that will help grow larger heads of spring garlic.
- After each watering, you need to loosen the beds.
- In early August, all the leaves of spring garlic need to be knotted, thereby reducing their nutrition. This technique helps to direct all forces to the ripening of the bulb.
- Timely updating of the variety contributes to a good harvest.
To obtain good marketable bulbs, it is not recommended to plant spring garlic after potatoes, tomatoes and onions.
All about planting and growing winter garlic in the open ground
Winter garlic is planted for quick consumption and a good harvest. For long winter storage, these varieties are not suitable.
Planting winter garlic is carried out in the fall, before the onset of frost. The optimal planting period is 35-40 days before the expected frost. As a rule, this is the end of September or the beginning of October.
For planting, large heads are selected, in which more than 4 teeth. Those bulbs that contain 2-3 slices are not used for planting. A small number of cloves indicates the degeneration of garlic. If the planting is constantly carried out only with teeth, then the variety gradually degenerates and accumulates pathogens in the bulb.
Renew planting material gently every 4 years. To this end, flower arrows are left on the strongest plants to form air bulbs.
Soil preparation for planting winter garlic
The bed must be placed on a flat surface, without lowlands and elevated places. Before planting, the soil is well fertilized with humus and compost. Nitrogen fertilizers are added and dug up to a depth of 25 cm. All weeds and plant debris are removed from the beds. After preparing the soil before sowing, you need to cover the bed with a film. Legumes, greens, cabbage will be good predecessors for winter garlic.
Scheme of proper planting of winter garlic
Landing is carried out for 1.5 to frost. The plant needs to have time to build up the root system before frost. In warm autumn weather, shoots of garlic may appear, but you should not be afraid of this. If a plant is planted on time and has a good root system, then no frosts are afraid of it.
To plant winter garlic, make grooves with a depth of 6 to 10 cm. It depends on the size of the clove. Shallow teeth are planted to a shallow depth. To get large bulbs, the earth in the grooves needs to be compacted. Too loose soil contributes to the growth of small heads.
The distance between the cloves in the groove should be up to 15 cm, and between the rows up to 30 cm. Up to 50 cloves of winter garlic are placed on one square meter.
If after planting the bed was mulched, then with the onset of spring all layers must be removed.
Proper watering and feeding of winter garlic
Winter garlic needs good watering during the formation of cloves, 30 days before harvesting, all watering and feeding are stopped. The first watering is carried out in early May. The interval between irrigation should be at least 10 days. The plant is watered abundantly, moisture should be saturated to a depth of 30 cm.
Timely top dressing and loosening of the soil help to grow a good crop with large heads of garlic.
1. The first feeding is carried out on frozen ground. For this, granular preparations are used. Ammonium nitrate, superphosphate has proven itself well.
2. A month after the first feeding, the second is carried out. Use fertilizer solutions, infusions of herbs or bird droppings.
3. The third time you need to fertilize the garlic when its size has reached the size of a walnut. This is the last top dressing for which potash fertilizers are used.
The secrets of growing and caring for winter garlic so that it is large
Good and proper care for winter garlic will help grow large heads with good cloves.
- To get large heads in winter varieties of garlic, you need to break out the arrows. Thus, all food goes to the onion.
- During the maturation of the heads, the feather must be put on the ground so that it does not take away the strength of the plant and finishes its growth faster.
Conclusion
Planting and growing various varieties of garlic in the open field does not cause much trouble. All garlic care, so that it is large, consists of several procedures: loosening the soil, watering and timely top dressing.
