Garlic is one of the oldest vegetable crops, the homeland of which is the piedmont Central Asian regions. This is seasoning, and burning spice, and a great medicine. Therefore, no garden is complete without planting this representative of the bulbous family. Growing garlic in the open field usually does not cause big problems for gardeners. It is believed that this is nothing complicated. Yet a good harvest is not easy to grow. Compliance with the rules of agricultural technology, technology and planting care is necessary for the successful growth of this wonderful vegetable crop.
Garlic: The Story of a Plant
It is impossible to determine exactly when garlic has been present in people's lives. Already in ancient times, it was grown in India and used as a medicine. Historians claim that they began to eat it about 5 thousand years ago: the found manuscripts speak of the cultivation of garlic in ancient Rome and Greece, Assyria and the Jewish kingdom, Egypt and the Arab countries. He was found in the tombs of the pharaohs. The Bible and the Koran mention it, which testifies to the high recognition of this magnificent bulb as a spice and healing plant for ancient civilizations. And today it is difficult to do without this culture, so we will deal with the intricacies of growing such a wonderful plant as garlic.
Landing: choose a place
Landing is crucial. It should be flat, not flooded by spring floods and be on the sunny side. It is imperative to follow the rotation order: in the same place, garlic should be grown no more than 2 years. Ideal plant precursors are zucchini, peas, potatoes, and cucumbers.
The soil should be moderately fertile, well-drained. The general rule when planting is observing the intervals: 8-10 cm between the teeth and 18-20 cm between the rows. The access of air and light is a necessary condition for a good growth of the culture. Moreover, such distances are optimal for subsequent application of fertilizers and weeding.
Seed preparation
An indispensable rule for the qualitative selection of garlic prongs for planting is the choice of the desired variety. There are two varieties of bulbs - winter and spring.
You can plant in the spring - then you need spring garlic. Planting under the winter, of course, involves winter varieties. Bulbs should be selected large, without damage. Separate them into cloves immediately before planting. A feature of winter garlic is that it requires long-term stratification for successful growth, that is, a few months in the cold. That is why it is planted in the winter. For high-quality vernalization of garlic at the beginning of development, low temperatures are also required, and this regulates the timing of sowing spring garlic. It is planted in early spring, as soon as the snow has melted, so that the vernalization time (up to 40 days) passes at an air temperature of + 5–10 ° C.
Planting garlic in the winter
Among Russian gardeners, the main representative of bulb plants planted before winter is winter garlic. Growing it is a responsible matter: it is necessary to work in the fall, observing the planting conditions, taking into account the time and place, cultivating the soil and applying the necessary fertilizers, and in addition, choosing the right variety.
A bed for planting garlic should begin to be cooked a month before planting. The earth needs to be dug up well, to remove weed grass and roots. Then the soil must be carefully leveled and shed with peat-humic fertilizer for nutrition and disinfection. After 10 days, humus or well-aged manure infusion is applied at the rate of 10 liters of fertilizer per 2 square meters. m. The earth must be loosened, shed and grooved, then ash and sand added to them in order to prevent rot formation.
Dates and technology of planting winter garlic
The favorable time for landing in non-chernozem regions of Russia is the third decade of September. You can not plant garlic earlier - the cloves have time to release greens and freeze, and the roots are weakened. If planted later, the garlic will not have time to take root. Garlic is planted, deepening it by 10 cm, in the prepared grooves, well spilled in advance with water.
Important! The cultivation of garlic in the open field suggests some features. When planting, you can not force the denticles into force (summer residents often sin) - starting from compacted soil, sprouting roots will begin to push the bulb up, which will lead to freezing. The final stage of planting is soil leveling, mulching with peat, sawdust and warming with fir spruce top. In a dry autumn, garlic needs to be watered once a week. A large crop of garlic can be expected with a good winter with snowfalls. Therefore, if the winter is not snowy, and the planting area for garlic is small, you need to throw snow on the beds. Subject to these simple rules, the future harvest of garlic will be reliably protected from adverse effects.
Spring garlic: cultivation and features
To activate the growth processes, divided teeth are treated as follows: for 10-12 hours, they are soaked in a solution of a growth stimulator with the addition of several grains of manganese for the prevention of diseases.
So, having chosen your favorite variety of spring garlic, respectively processing it, proceed to spring planting. Note that the early planting of garlic is also due to the temporary reserve for the possibility of complete ripening of the bulbs, which is a guarantee of their high quality and excellent level of keeping quality. There is an opinion that spring garlic is more useful than winter garlic and does not lose its medicinal properties and presentation in storage. The cultivation of garlic in the open field, especially from the early spring days, suggests the same aging intervals as when planting in the winter, and subsequent careful monitoring of the germination and condition of the sprouts.
Garlic is extremely sensitive to soil acidity, so fresh manure should not be added. As fertilizing, you need to use exclusively humus. When spring planting of garlic in water for irrigation, it is useful to add urea at the rate of 30 gr. on 10 l of water. This amount of solution is enough for 2 square meters. m. In addition to nitrogen fertilizers, potash and phosphorus are also needed. The first sprouts appear after 12-18 days. During the formation of leaves, top dressing with wood ash is necessary. In addition, it is an effective deterrent for pests.
Garlic Care After Planting
Agricultural technology for growing garlic is simple. The main condition for a good development of the bulbs is timely top dressing. But it is equally important to provide plantings with regular watering. The lack of water has a detrimental effect on the development of the bulb, so the main issue is to ensure optimal planting moisture. It is important not to overdo it - excess water is harmful. The norm is considered irrigation in the amount of 10 liters per m². To the ripening of garlic, watering is gradually reduced, in the last 2-3 weeks before harvesting, the need for water disappears. Equally important are regular weeding and loosening of row spacing. Harvesting of garlic is carried out at the end of the life cycle of the plant - between the yellowing of the leaves and their drying.
Bulb Garlic Cultivation
The number of cloves in the bulb is limited, therefore, the most promising is the propagation of the culture with bulbs or aerial bulbs. Their use increases the possibility of propagation of garlic several times. In the northern and temperate latitudes of Russia and Siberia, air bulbs are planted in the spring, and it is very important to preserve them in the winter. Well they are stored in inflorescences at a temperature of 15-20 ° C. Two months before landing, in early March, they are moved to a cooler place. The cultivation of garlic from bulbs determines several conditions: onions must ripen and be qualitatively preserved.
They are planted in five lines with ribbons, deepening the bulbs by 3 cm, and then mulching the bed with humus. Care for seedlings is carried out the same as for spring garlic, that is, they are promptly weeded, watered and fed with any organics. In the fall, single teeth, which do not clean, but leave to winter, do not forget to cover the crops and organize snow retention. In the spring they germinate and in July-August yield a crop. The cultivation of garlic from the bulbs takes place in a two-year cycle, which results in an excellent culture.
Rare Culture - Rockambol
Popular in Europe and Asia, the rockambol culture, or onion comb, in Russia is still rarely found. But gardeners who have already met this culture appreciated its excellent pleasant taste. By its biological characteristics, this plant is suitable for cultivation in all Russian regions.
Rocambole is a representative of the Liliaceae family, but resembles large garlic. Rocambole, the cultivation of which is practically no different from the usual garlic, also loves fertile neutral soils, responsive to organic top dressing and weeding. With proper care, the bulbs of this culture reach 250-300 gr.
Diseases and Pests
Many pests parasitize plants, causing irreparable harm to garlic. The most common of them are the stem nematode and garlic mite. They are able to harm not only during the development of culture, but also during storage. In addition to phytophagous insects, there are also garlic diseases, the most dangerous of which are peronosporosis, cervical rot, fusarium. The main measures to combat diseases and pests are preventive measures: crop rotation, timely destruction of affected plants and infected bulbs, preparation of planting material. Prudent use of fungicides is also possible. Industrial cultivation of garlic involves a more intensive use of such drugs. Nevertheless, it is the modest summer cottages that give a healthier harvest, since any gardener is very meticulous about the use of chemicals, preferring to do with more gentle methods.
The cultivation of garlic in the open field involves simple, but requiring attention operations, the implementation of which guarantees a good harvest of a wonderful crop.