In the article, we presented material about an unusual culture that causes genuine interest among vegetable growers. Elephant garlic is an amazing plant that has a ton of names. Sometimes it is called Spanish garlic, Egyptian onions, etc. And in Western Europe, the culture is known as rockambol. Elephant garlic is unpretentious in growing and has large sizes. The unusual taste made it very popular among vegetable growers.
Culture features
The homeland of elephant garlic onions are the Balkans. Large garlic is a type of leek. A feature of the culture is an unusual taste. On the one hand, it resembles a leek, and on the other, it has a pleasant garlic aroma. Its taste is spicy, but not so sharp. The main value of elephant garlic is its large head, but the stem is also used in cooking. The very name of the culture already characterizes the size. The garlic head is so large that it hardly fits in the male palm.
Rocambole is indispensable in cooking. It is actively used in traditional medicine. Gardeners are especially attracted by the unpretentious nature of the culture, which can be grown without much trouble.
Elephant garlic: benefits and harms
The beneficial properties of culture have long been used by people. Garlic contains the following elements: riboflavin, thiamine, pantothenic, ascorbic and folic acids, vitamins K and E. In addition, the plant is rich in minerals such as iron, manganese, calcium, magnesium, copper, selenium, zinc, potassium. It contains essential oils and volatile.
The regular use of elephant garlic has a beneficial effect on the human body. It brings the greatest benefit to the cardiovascular system. Rocambole strengthens the walls of blood vessels and dilutes blood. It is recommended to use it as a prophylactic that prevents the formation of blood clots. With regular use of garlic, you can lower the level of cholesterol in the blood due to allicin contained in it.
Indispensable culture and gastrointestinal problems. But you need to use it dosed. Seasoning improves appetite and stimulates the production of gastric juice. Garlic can have a positive effect on minor changes in the digestive tract. The culture is useful for the intestines and has an anthelmintic effect. Thanks to garlic, toxins can be removed from the body.
The juice of the plant allows you to cope with pustules and acne on the skin. In addition, garlic is a good antiviral agent. Very often, people who regularly use rockambol have excellent immunity. Garlic essential oils help to control nasal congestion.
Despite all the beneficial properties of the plant, there are contraindications to its use. You should not use garlic to people with diseases of the gallbladder, kidneys, with gastritis and ulcers. Nursing mothers need to use garlic with caution. And children should not give it before three years.
Landing place
Growing elephant garlic is a simple matter. Unpretentious culture does not require special conditions, so even a beginner can grow it. For planting in the open ground, it is necessary to choose the best place, given the fact that garlic is very fond of sunlight. Growing a crop in partial shade will reduce the size of the heads. For planting, it is worth choosing the most lighted areas.
Priming
Planting elephant garlic is best done in fertile and loose soil. The culture prefers loamy and sandy soil. It is very good if zucchini, cucumbers, cabbage or legumes grew in front of garlic on the plot. But planting garlic in the place where the potatoes grew is strongly discouraged.
Site preparation
How to plant elephant garlic? You can plant a crop in spring and autumn. Vegetable growers recommend an autumn planting, which will allow you to get very large heads.
If you intend to plant garlic in the spring, then the beds for it must be prepared in advance by digging them in the fall. During the winter, the soil will be compacted and filled with useful substances.
A few weeks before planting, the soil must be loosened to a depth of 20 centimeters. Rotted compost or manure should be added to the soil. Fertilizer is applied at the rate of ½ bucket per square meter. It is also worth adding 2-3 glasses of ash. This composition of the soil will allow garlic to develop rapidly.
How to prepare seed?
Seeds should be prepared before planting. To do this, garlic is peeled, dividing into cloves. Planting material is sorted by size. This will form beds with equally developing plants.
A day before planting, the peeled teeth are soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Gardeners often use fungicides to disinfect. When spring planting, garlic is pre-placed in the refrigerator and only then disinfected.
Landing technology
If you plan to plant garlic in the fall, then you need to do this in mid-October, then he will have time to take root before the onset of frost. In the spring, landing can be done in mid-April. In the more northern regions, it is quite possible to postpone the landing dates to the beginning of May.
For the culture form beds at a distance of 30 centimeters from each other. The cloves are planted in moist soil, deepening them by 6-10 centimeters, focusing on the size of the seed. Between plants should maintain a distance of about 20 centimeters. The beds must be mulched with peat, sawdust or humus. In the northern regions for the winter, plants can be covered with spruce branches so that the garlic does not freeze.
Care
According to reviews, elephant garlic is easy to grow. However, to get large heads will have to work a little. The main element of care is regular loosening of the soil after the next rain or watering. This will prevent the formation of a crust on the soil surface, which blocks the access of oxygen to the roots.
In addition, it is recommended to regularly weed to protect plants from weeds, which draw microelements and nutrients from the soil. Grass can obscure seedlings, resulting in lower yields.
Watering
Garlic needs regular watering. It is very important to moisten the soil at the stage of head formation. The soil should not dry out, otherwise a lack of moisture will affect the size of the crop. For watering, it is better to use warm water from the tank. Direct supply of water from the well is not worth it, as this causes fungal infection.
Feeding
The crop must be fertilized at least three times. The first top dressing is introduced a couple of weeks after the emergence of seedlings. At this stage, nitrogen fertilizers should be used. For example, urea or ammonium nitrate can be recommended.
The plants are fertilized a second time after 3-4 leaves appear on them. To do this, use bird droppings or mullein solution. After fifteen days, nitroammophosphate can be added.
The last feeding is done during the formation of the bulbs (in late June). For this, potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are used - potassium sulfate, superphosphate, wood ash.
Diseases and Pests
Garlic often affects Fusarium. Fungal ailment is usually the result of improper storage, cultivation or non-compliance with agricultural technology. Sometimes the reason for the appearance of fusarium is insects or lack of nutrients.
The appearance of the disease can be judged by the brown stripes that appeared on the foliage. The disease should be treated, as it can affect the head itself. In the beginning, the lower part of the bulb rots, after which it completely disappears. During storage, fusariosis manifests itself in the form of mold.
On damaged plants, leaves should be removed. Further, the beds must be treated with copper sulfate, Bordeaux liquid or fungicides ("Champion", "Fitosporin"). As a measure of preventing the appearance of ailments, crop rotation is recommended. Garlic should be planted on the same site no more than once every three to four years. Before planting, it is recommended to treat the teeth with fungicides.
Garlic can affect onion flies. Its caterpillars are very dangerous and can destroy the crop. They eat heads from the inside. It is very good to grow garlic near carrots, the smell of which repels the onion fly. If you still noticed pests on the beds, it is worth treating the plants with “Aktara” or “Aktellik”.
Culture propagation
Where to get the seeds? Elephant garlic will initially have to be purchased at a specialty store. In the future, you will learn to propagate the culture yourself. Garlic produces arrows with inflorescences, on which numerous seeds ripen. But they cannot be used for reproduction, since they are barren. For planting, you can use only teeth or babies. The latter appear on perennial bulbs. They are planted in the same way as ordinary seed, previously peeled from the husk. In the first year, a bulb grows, not divided into teeth. They dig it out in the fall, and in the spring they plant it again in the ground, after which they get full garlic.
According to summer residents, culture propagates very simply. And caring for her is quite simple. At minimal cost, you can get a wonderful crop.