Most often, garlic in our country is grown in the winter way. In this way, you can get a big harvest. However, spring garlic, although growing smaller in size, is much better stored. In addition, his teeth contain much more useful substances. Therefore, it is worth planting at least one small bed of spring garlic in the garden.
How to choose a seat
Spring garlic is planted on light loose soils. The fact is that the root system of this plant is not very well developed. It can be very difficult for her to pull nutrients out of dense soil, which, of course, affects the yield.
Very dislikes garlic in acidic soils, so soil pH should be close to 7. Do not plant garlic after onions, potatoes and tomatoes. This can lead to nematode infestation. The best predecessors for this plant are carrots, pumpkins and legumes. Garlic grows very well in place of those crops under which a lot of organic fertilizers were applied.
Don't plant garlic in lowlands where it can get wet. The plot for this crop, for the same reason, should be flat, without potholes.
Soil preparation
The soil for planting a plant such as spring garlic should be prepared in the fall. The earth is dug up on a shovel bayonet with the simultaneous application of fertilizers (superphosphate 20 g/m2, potassium s alt 15 g/m2, humus or rotted manure 4 -6kg/m2). In the spring, the soil is dug up again and a bed with high sides is formed.
Selection of planting material
Chives are sorted by size before planting. Previously (4-5 days) they need to be separated and exfoliated. Only large and medium-sized teeth are suitable as planting material. This condition must be observed. The size of the teeth selected for sowing directly affects the yield of garlic.
Of course, all rotten, overdried and diseased heads must first be discarded. A good harvest of garlic can also be obtained from single cloves. In this case, it is also important to pay attention to the size of the planting material. It is allowed to use only single teeth with a diameter of at least 1-1.4 cm.
The heads are stored in winter at a temperature of 16-20 degrees. A month before planting, the heads should be moved to a much cooler place (2-5 degrees). This procedure is also mandatory. The harvest grown from seed prepared in this way will be much more abundant.
Seeds
Sometimes garlic is grown from seeds. When planted, by the end of the growing season, single-toothed bulbs grow. Garlic seeds are obtained from bulbs. Through the season, single teeth are used forgrowing full heads. Garlic seeds are very small and have good keeping quality.
Landing
Prepared seeds are planted in rows every 6-8 cm, deepening into the ground by 5 cm. Garlic should be laid (photo of planting material can be seen a little higher) should be bottom down. The distance between rows is usually 20-25 cm. Before planting, the soil should be additionally fertilized with humus or rotted manure. After planting, the teeth are sprinkled with soil, and then the bed is mulched with peat. Its layer will prevent the emergence of weeds and drying out of the soil.
Spring garlic: when to plant
It is very important to choose the right landing time. Delay in sowing can reduce the yield by almost half. The fact is that garlic grows especially well at low temperatures. Its roots begin to germinate immediately after the soil warms up to 2-3 degrees. Leaves begin to develop at a temperature of 5-6 degrees. The most active garlic (see photo of young shoots below) grows in late April-May. The air temperature is 16-20 degrees. is optimal for him. In the summer, in the heat, all vegetative processes slow down. Spring garlic is planted immediately after the snow melts and the soil warms up a little.
Fertilization
For the first time, spring garlic is fed after its leaves rise 12-14 cm above the ground. At this time, you need to pour the garlic with a solution of mullein. Do it like this:
- Pour 20 liters of water into a barrel or any other container.
- They put one cow in ittortilla.
- Infuse the solution for several days.
- Before use, everything is thoroughly mixed.
Two weeks after the first, you need to make a second top dressing. This time, you should use nitrophoska (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water). The last time garlic is fertilized in late July - early August, just before the harvest. In this case, a solution of superphosphate is used (also 2 tablespoons per 10 liters). At the second feeding, the consumption is usually 3-4 liters per 1 m22, at the third - 4-5 liters.
Irrigation
So, how to plant garlic, as well as how to fertilize it, we found out. Now let's see how to properly water this plant. Moisten the soil under the garlic should be regularly during May, June and July. This culture absolutely does not tolerate drying out. You can check if the plants need watering by simply feeling the ground with your fingers. If it is dry under the top layer, then it is necessary to water the bed. In no case should the soil be allowed to dry out - even once. Otherwise, not full-fledged heads, but single-toothed ones will grow in the garden. Of course, this will greatly affect the yield.
Water consumption should be 10-12 liters per square meter. In warm weather, the frequency of watering is usually once every 8-10 days, in hot weather - every 5-6 days. You need to moisten the soil in the garden in the morning or in the evening, that is, not in the heat itself.
Caring for garlic
After each watering, in order to ensure normal air exchange to the roots, the bed must be loosened. Of course, garlic should be regularly weeded. It is best to do this during loosening. With proper watering and regular removal of the top dried crust in the garden, very large garlic will grow by the end of summer. Arrows should be removed before flowering. It also contributes to higher yields (up to 25%).
After each watering or heavy rain, the bed must be inspected. If any bulbs appear on the surface, they should be sprinkled with earth.
Both winter and spring garlic need all the described procedures. Care for this plant should be carefully. Otherwise, it will be impossible to get a good harvest.
How to treat diseases
Loss of garlic harvest due to various infections is very rare. This plant is extremely disease resistant. Moreover, garlic infusions are very often used to treat other crops. However, sometimes diseases still affect this plant. Of course, at the first detection of infection, it is necessary to take appropriate measures. Most often garlic is sick:
- Neck rot. The causative agent of this disease usually penetrates into the tissues of the head through various kinds of mechanical damage. The danger of this disease lies, first of all, in the fact that at the initial stage it is completely invisible. Its symptoms appear only at the beginning of storage - usually in September. Measures to combat neck rot are primarily in the proper preparation of heads before storage. In sunny weather, garlic is usually dried in the open,laid out in one layer. If it is humid outside, the heads are first kept under a canopy, and then for a week indoors at a temperature of 26-35 degrees. When pruning bulbs, be sure to leave a neck 3-6 cm long. Measures to combat cervical rot can also include dressing with fungicides (usually "Fundazol").
- Bacteriosis. This disease also manifests itself during storage. On infected heads, sores or grooves appear, going from the bottom up. The color of the tissues of the bulb changes to yellow-pearl. The causes of this disease, as in the first case, are usually improper preparation before planting, as well as violation of storage conditions.
- Green mold. The symptoms of this disease are the defeat and softening of the tissues of the teeth and their covering with a whitish, later greenish coating. Garlic should also be properly stored to prevent mold growth.
- Yellow dwarfism. The main symptom of this disease is yellowing of the leaves and peduncle. Diseased plants look dwarfed. The carriers of this disease are usually aphids.
Insect attack
Various pests of spring garlic also favor not too much. However, crop losses associated with insect infestation do occur. Most often, garlic becomes infected with an onion fly. This pest hibernates in the ground at a depth of 15-20 cm in the pupal stage. Departure begins in mid-April and may continue throughout May. After about a week, females lay their eggs under lumps of earth.in close proximity to plants. A few days later, larvae hatch from them. They penetrate through the bottom of the heads and affect the soft tissues of the teeth. After three weeks, the process of pupation begins, and after another twenty days, the second year of the fly. This happens around the beginning of July. Thus, a fly in one season alone can give 2-3 generations.
To combat this insect, you can spray with a solution of the following composition:
- 200g tobacco dust;
- ground red or black pepper;
- 1-2 tbsp. l. liquid soap.
Tobacco or pepper is poured into a jar and poured with hot water in the amount of 2-3 liters. Next, the container is wrapped in a blanket and kept in this way for 2-3 days. Then the solution is filtered and brought to a volume of 10 liters. After that, soap is added to it and sprayed.
Also, garlic is sometimes affected by root mites. The female of this insect lays her eggs directly into the teeth. The larvae emerge from them in about a week. In damaged heads, when affected by a root mite, brown dust is always present. The bottom at the same time lags behind and rots. Heads affected during the growing season and during storage must be removed and destroyed. Garlic is much less likely to suffer from root mites if it is planted after cucumbers, tomatoes or cabbage.
Cleaning dates
You now know how to plant garlic and how to care for it. Harvest this plant, as well as lay it in storage should be on time. The signs of head maturation are:
- neck softening;
- cessation of leaf growth;
- their drying and yellowing of the tips;
- shrinkage and death of the root system.
If harvested too early, garlic will not keep well. It is also impossible to be late with the cleaning deadlines. Otherwise, the scales of the bulbs will crack, and the cloves will crumble. This will lead to the loss of part of the crop and the deterioration of the keeping quality of the heads.
In central Russia, spring garlic usually ripens in late June-August. In rainy summers, the growing season of this plant lasts longer.
How to choose a variety
Garlic is a plant that reacts very painfully to changing growing conditions. Therefore, it will be very difficult to grow a good harvest from planting material brought, for example, from another region. The best solution in any case would be planting a zoned variety. Unfortunately, selection work with this plant in our country was not carried out very actively. Varieties of garlic are not particularly numerous. Let's talk about the most popular below.
Gulliver Garlic
This variety was obtained in Penza, but at the experimental point of VNIISSOK. Included in the register in 2001. It can be grown in almost all regions of Russia. Garlic bulbs of this variety have a rounded flat shape, weighing about 90-120 grams and differ in density. Each head consists of 3-5 white-fleshed cloves. The scales of this variety are off-white. Gulliver garlic can be stored for quite a long time - 8 months.
Variety "Sochi-56"
Deduced thisgarlic was in Krasnodar at one of the experimental vegetable and potato stations. Belongs to the non-shooting group. The bulb of "Sochi" garlic has a rounded shape and a mass of 25-50 g. The scales of the head can be purple or white. This garlic gives good yields when grown in the North Caucasus region.
Aley garlic
This variety was bred in Western Siberia, at one of the VNIIO stations. Refers to mid-season non-shooters. The bulb of garlic of this variety is round-flat and has a mass of about 17 g. "Aleisky" garlic is very well stored and suitable mainly for growing in Siberia and central Russia.
Abrek variety
This garlic was bred at the All-Russian Research Institute of Seed Production and Breeding in 2003. This variety is intended specifically for growing in home gardens and garden plots. Its bulb is round-flat with white scales. The mass of the head is approximately 26 g. There are a lot of teeth in it - 12-21. A distinctive feature of the variety is a very good keeping quality. With virtually no wastage, this white garlic can be stored for about 8 months.
Elenovsky
This variety was also bred in the Krasnodar Research Institute. Refers to mid-season, non-shooting. Its bulb is rounded with a run up, dense, but not too large - only about 17 g. There are 15-18 teeth in the head. The best harvests "Elenovsky" gives in the West Siberian region.
All the varieties of garlic discussed above have a very good yield and are resistant to diseases.
Use area
The plant is one of the most ancient,used by humans for food. At first, garlic was harvested along with other edible plants. Later they began to grow near dwellings. Garlic is widely used in the national economy today. It can be eaten both fresh and as a seasoning in the preparation of various kinds of fried and stewed dishes. Very often, this burning vegetable is also used for harvesting products for future use. It is put in jars with cucumbers and tomatoes, canned meat, etc. Fresh teeth are used to make a dry powder, as well as garlic oil.
Among other things, the juice of this plant is used in folk and scientific medicine. With the use of garlic, about ten types of medicines are made. Infusions of this plant are also used to cure other crops from various kinds of viral diseases and insect infestations.
What is useful
The heads of this plant contain 35-42% solids, 53.3% sugars, about 8% protein, 20% polysaccharides, about 5% fat. In addition, garlic contains vitamins B1, B2 and PP, as well as copper, calcium, phosphorus, iodine, titanium, and sulfur s alts. This burning vegetable also contains a lot of iron. It contains almost the same amount as in apples - 10-20 mg per 100 grams.
Garlic contains elements such as germanium and selenium, as well as phytoncides. It is due to the presence of the teeth of the latter in the juice that the plant is bactericidal.
The specific chemical composition of the juice depends mainly onvariety, timing of planting and harvesting, storage conditions used in the process of growing fertilizers and many other factors.
Green garlic
Useful for this plant is not only the heads, but also the leaves. They are the richest source of ascorbic acid. Also quite a lot in green garlic and sugars - about 3, 7-4, 2%. Garlic leaves are used for cooking second courses, for preserving food, etc. The arrows of this plant are also quite popular with housewives. They are mainly added to stews and baked meat dishes.
Garlic as medicine
In medicine, garlic is used to treat diseases such as:
- hypertension;
- atherosclerosis;
- tuberculosis;
- colitis.
The most widely this plant is used as a bactericidal. Extracts from it effectively suppress:
- typhoid and paratyphoid bacteria;
- Vibrio cholerae;
- dysentery amoeba;
- staphylococci and streptococci.
Very often, garlic is prescribed for diseases such as tonsillitis, influenza and pneumonia. A head of garlic crushed into a pulp can be used as a wound healing agent. Grated garlic is also used for a runny nose.
In chronic gastritis, habitual constipation, cholecystitis and cholangitis, tablets are prescribed, which, in addition to garlic extract, include components such as animal bile, activated charcoal and nettle extract. This plant has also found wide application as an anthelmintic agent. extracts from itcapable of killing parasitic worms and protozoa. They suppress drugs made using the heads of this plant, and various putrefactive and fermentation processes in the digestive tract. Garlic seeds are often used as a diuretic and menstrual remedy.
