How to properly grow garlic at home?

Garlic is one of the most common crops that can be found in every garden plot in any region of the country. Such plants bear spicy fruits with a pungent taste, besides, garlic is very easy to grow and it is not afraid of cold, return frosts and other weather factors.

You can grow a vegetable in a garden or dacha, or sow at home, for example, in a pot at home, on a balcony or in an apartment on a windowsill in winter.

Basic requirements for growing garlic in the country or in an apartment on a home windowsill

Growing garlic is a fairly simple process that even a novice gardener can do. The main thing is to adhere to all the rules and perform the necessary actions in time: take care of it properly, although if you grow it correctly, it can take a lot of trouble.

Having decided to grow a vegetable on your site, you first need to choose a suitable type, because planting and growing winter and spring crops are different from each other.

Varieties belonging to different species differ from each other in terms of planting, the layout on the garden bed and the rules of care, so if you equalize them and do not take into account important details, you can forget about a somewhat rich harvest of spicy heads.

Also, before planting it on your site, you should think about a suitable place that will meet all the requirements. The soil must be light, nutritious and have neutral acidity. It can take a lot of time to achieve all these indicators on the wrong ground.

Before starting to grow garlic, you need to decide on its variety.

When to plant winter and spring garlic in the garden - the right conditions

Planting dates depend not only on the preferences of the gardener and on the climatic conditions of the region, but also on the species that is planned to be grown.

Spring garlic is planted in early spring, once after the snow melts, but no later than April 10... This species has small heads with chaotically spaced teeth. The disadvantage of such fruits will be their less intense and pungent taste; the advantage is considered to be a long shelf life and the possibility of using it within 12 months.

Winter crops are planted before winter, that is, during the time period from mid-September to mid-October... It is very important to take into account the fact that before the onset of the first frost, the teeth must have time to build up a powerful root system, on average, this process lasts 3-4 weeks.

The winter crop boasts large heads, with even and sharp teeth. The main disadvantage of the species will be a shelf life of 3-4 months.

Landing dates play a huge role.

In spring, plants are planted as early as possible so that they have time to ripen before the onset of cold weather. An early fall planting can also ruin the entire crop, because if the frost comes too late, the garlic will start to grow, after which it will die.

The timing of planting garlic plays a very important role.

Preparing the soil before growing and sowing

It's a non-harmful culture, but finding the right place you can significantly increase the amount of the harvested crop. The plant prefers fertile soil with neutral acidity. Also, the soil should be light and breathable. Loams are best suited for such purposes.

The place must meet the following criteria:

• plenty of sunlightrequired for fruit ripening;
• melt water and precipitation should not accumulate on the site. A deep location of groundwater is also desirable;
• The best precursors for the culture are peas, cabbage, squash, pumpkin or greens. It is not recommended to plant it in those places where cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, carrots and garlic itself grew before it.

If clay or sandy soil predominates on the site, then they are diluted with peat, while the peat soil is mixed with sand or clay.

If the soil is clayey, it is diluted with peat.

Regardless of the timing of planting, the land must be prepared in the beginning of September... To do this, it is dug up, weeded, cleaned of stones and debris, after which the following fertilizers are applied to each square meter:

• 1 bucket of humus or rotted manure;
• 30 grams of superphosphate;
• 20 grams of potassium salt.

Preparation of planting material

Before planting garlic in open ground, planting material must be sort, choosing from the total mass of damaged, diseased, soft, curved, too small and uncoated teeth. They are not suitable for planting and are unlikely to be able to give a decent harvest.

Preparation of cloves for planting is as follows:

• for stratification, the planting material is placed in a refrigerator for 15-20 days;
• then the teeth are disinfected, keeping for 2 hours in a solution of wood ash, potassium permanganate or copper sulfate;
• so that the teeth germinate as soon as possible, they are treated with a growth stimulant or wrapped in a damp cloth, put in a plastic bag and kept in this state for 2-3 days.

To make the chives germinate faster, they are treated with a rooting stimulant.

Planting process

Landing is carried out according to a certain scheme:

1. Initially, furrows are made in the garden, at a distance 20-25 centimeters apart;
2. When planting spring garlic, the depth of the furrows should be 7-9 centimeters, and when using winter varieties, 15-20 centimeters;
3. The distance between individual plants will depend on the size of the planting material. Usually, spring varieties are planted from a distance 6-8 centimeters from each other, and winter varieties at a distance 12-15 centimeters.

The teeth are buried strictly vertically. In the event that the rib is located to the south, then the garlic feathers will grow more green and saturated. If the soil is dry, it must be watered immediately after planting.

In spring, mulching of plantings with peat or sawdust should be done at the request of the gardener, while during autumn planting, these works must be performed in order for the garlic to survive the frosts in snowless winters.

Care for good and large heads and feathers

Care is extremely simple and consists of several usual operations, which include watering, weeding, loosening and feeding the plants.

Water the vegetable in such a way that the soil always stayed wet... In dry weather, such work is performed 2-3 times a week, while on rainy days, watering can be completely abandoned. It is worth remembering that in August, soil moistening must be stopped.At this time, the bulb begins to gain weight and volume and does not need watering.

All dressing of garlic is carried out in conjunction with watering, this is necessary for the best assimilation of fertilizers. Winter and spring garlic are fertilized according to different schemes.

	Spring garlic	Winter garlic
1 top dressing	As soon as the plant releases the first leaves, it is fertilized with nitrogen fertilizers (urea, mullein solution or bird droppings)	In early spring, about 7-10 days after the snow melts, 1 square meter of soil is added: 100 grams of superphosphate, 50 grams of potassium sulfate and 50 grams of ammonium nitrate.
2 feeding	Complex mineral fertilizers are applied 2 weeks after the first feeding	After 25-30 days, using the same composition.
3 feeding	In late June-early July, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are applied	The last top dressing is applied in mid-July, when the head begins to grow.

For larger heads of garlic, you need to remove the arrows every time they reach a size of 15 centimeters.

Winter garlic needs periodic renewal. To do this, once every 3-4 years, instead of cloves, bulbs are planted, which by the end of the season will bear single-tooth fruits, which are planting material for the future harvest.

It is very important that the soil remains moist at all times.

Diseases and pests

Garlic is often affected by diseases and pests. Of all the existing diseases on such a culture, the most common are:

• white, gray and neck rot;
• helminthosporiosis;
• fusarium;
• smut;
• downy mildew;
• mosaic;
• rust, etc.

Garlic neck rot

Insects most commonly found on garlic:

• onion lurker;
• tobacco thrips;
• nematode;
• caterpillars;
• onion flies;
• bear;
• onion moth;
• centipede.

Nematode defeat

Unfortunately, many diseases destroy plants, so it is impossible to get rid of them, the only way out is removal of affected garlic and prophylactic treatment of healthy individuals with fungicides or folk remedies, which include ash infusion.

You can get rid of insects with the help of insecticides, mechanical methods, which include manual assembly, and various folk tricks.

In order to prevent the appearance of such troubles, you need to follow the rules for planting plants, to prevent unwanted neighborhoods and predecessors. It is also very important to pre-disinfect the planting material.

Harvesting and storage

After a rich harvest of garlic is obtained, it must be kept safe as long as possible. Collecting the fruits of winter garlic is carried out late July-early August, and spring a month later.

You can see the maturity of garlic by the following signs:

• new feathers stopped forming, and old ones turned yellow and lay on the ground;
• the visible head has acquired the correct color and size.

Ripe garlic after harvest

After harvesting, it is prepared for storage by doing the following:

• The heads are shaken off the ground and dried for 10 days at a temperature 25 degrees outdoors or in a well-ventilated area;
• The roots and leaves are completely removed, the neck is cut off up to 2-5 centimeters;
• At the last stage, the heads are folded into boxes with holes, nets or braided into pigtails.

Winter garlic is stored worse than spring garlic. Autumn heads are stored at a temperature of 2-4 degrees, and spring ones 16-20 degrees. Indoor humidity should be between 60-80 percent.

Growing garlic on your own plot is a very interesting activity, during which you can learn useful skills regarding the correct planting and care of plants. If you follow all the recommendations, then a rich harvest will delight every gardener from year to year.

A small vegetable garden in a room or on a balcony is beneficial and joyful, no matter what culture grows on it, but garlic is a special case even among other vegetables. This is not only an excellent seasoning for salads and hot dishes, but also a direct help to our health. We remember him every year with the onset of cold weather, when we need to take care of the prevention of viruses, of strengthening the immune system. Growing garlic at home in this case is not a whim, but a necessity.

Planting material

Most winter varieties have a tendency to release arrows, which form airy bulbs (bulbs), sometimes called seeds. For a home, this method of reproduction is unacceptable, the harvest will have to wait too long, garlic is a perennial plant, in the first year it forms a single-tooth bulb and a root system.

For a culture placed on a window or on a balcony, a quick result is important, so you need to plant teeth. You should choose large, dense ones, you can take slightly dried ones. Severely wilted, yellowed are not suitable. Small, damaged, with signs of spoilage are not suitable. It's good if the teeth began to sprout, it will be faster to grow garlic on the windowsill from these.

back to contents ↑ How to prepare the soil?

The soil taken from the garden can be used for home cultivation only as a basis for the substrate. When watering in small-volume vessels, nutrients are washed out from it, and the structure becomes denser. Additions are necessary, most often they take peat, sand.

Humus is necessary for fertility. The specificity of garlic is a high need for mineral additives, they are provided by the inclusion of wood ash in the substrate. The ground from the street must be disinfected, calcined for half an hour in the oven. If the soil is purchased in a store, then it is best to take a universal one for seedlings and enrich it with a special fertilizer intended for onions and garlic.

to the content ↑ Planting container

Requirements for the container - a sufficient area for planting and a depth of at least 20 cm, with a small side above the soil so that water does not spill during irrigation.

The shape of the vessel, the material from which it is made does not matter, it can be a wooden or plastic box, a ceramic pot, a glass container. The choice is determined only by the aesthetic preferences of the owner.

If you independently put together a wooden box exactly to the size of the window sill, the use of the usable area will be the most rational. Do not forget about the holes in the bottom of the tank and the drainage layer (expanded clay, pebbles, broken ceramics). The vessel is placed on a stand or tray to ensure free drainage of irrigation water.

back to contents ↑ Rules for planting garlic at home

What distance should be maintained between the planting teeth? Plants need to be given a certain amount of space, while at the same time they have to save space, since the garden is still located on the windowsill or on the balcony. The optimal distance will be 4 - 5 cm.As for the planting depth, there is no consensus between gardeners, some plant it by 2 - 3 cm, others deepen it as in open ground - by 10 cm.In both cases, good germination is achieved, but in the second - later, approximately after 15 days.

The bulb is divided into cloves and introduced into the ground. It should be slightly damp, not too wet or dry. Place each slice upside down with a sharp end. In order not to compact the soil under the future growing roots, do not press in, but lower it into the prepared hole, sprinkle it, water it. If you plant and grow garlic in several steps with an interval of 5 - 10 days, then the harvest as it grows can be harvested continuously. You can plant the cloves in a pot with another houseplant, it is believed that this is useful for disinfection and protection from pests.

Forcing garlic greens can also be carried out on water, as is done with onions.The slices must be cleaned of integumentary scales, tightly set in shallow molds, filled with water up to half and constantly maintained at this level. Without soil, greens can be obtained at least twice: first after 3 weeks, again - after another 2. If the teeth are large, there is a third harvest, about 10 days later. Then they are replaced.

back to content ↑ Plant care garlic

Garlic is undemanding to care, growing it on a window or on a balcony is within the power of even a novice grower; experience in growing green onions will come in handy here. The sprouts will appear after 1, 2 or 3 weeks, depending on the conditions and planting depth.

back to content ↑ Lighting

They need to provide good lighting, if placed on the window, then on the south, but it is best to keep the plants on the glassed-in balcony, if there is one. If there is a lack of natural light, use a fluorescent lamp (an ordinary incandescent lamp is not suitable for illuminating plants), 8 hours of daylight will be enough.

Watering

To maintain the soil in a moderately moist state, water after 2 - 3 days, if the room is warm and the soil dries quickly, then more often.

Top dressing

Garlic needs organic feeding, mainly nitrogen, as well as mineral supplements. You can use special store formulations or add bird manure, mullein.

Temperature

The temperature should be low, about 20 ° C, from this point of view, it is also better to keep the garlic not in the room, but on the glassed-in balcony or loggia.

Remove arrows that appear to form bulbs immediately. Growing garlic at home to obtain heads is hardly advisable, especially since they are not always obtained at home and are not very large. But if such a goal is set, then the planting should be kept at a low temperature - 15 -16 ° C.

back to contents ↑ Soil care

The soil around the sprouts should be periodically loosened, then the bulb will be large and developed and will give a good green mass. Leaves that have reached 20 cm are ready for consumption, they are like this a month after planting, they are already large enough and not yet too harsh in taste, tender and pleasant. They are cut with scissors and used as fresh as possible.

About varieties

All varieties of garlic are divided into two groups. Winter crops are more suitable for winter cultivation in the house, they do not have a period of winter dormancy. Practitioners recommend Sochi-56, Kharkovsky, Otradnensky, proven by many years of experience, giving a good harvest of greenery indoors or on the balcony in winter. For garlic feathers in summer, spring or summer varieties of plants are preferable.

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Everyone is proud of their compact gardens in their summer cottage or even on the balcony in an apartment. In the autumn-winter period, when a person does not have enough vitamins, we recall the seedlings of onions or parsley, which have turned green, for example, on the windowsill. But garlic is considered especially popular among gardeners. It is not only a great seasoning for any homemade food, but also an excellent antiviral agent. This is the best cold medicine. Therefore, if you decide to start cultivating this plant at home, you need to understand in more detail how to grow garlic at home.

Planting material

What is the cultivation of garlic at home? In order to remain satisfied with the results in the end, it is recommended to exactly follow the recommendations from real specialists. Garlic is an unpretentious culture, but you also need to be able to care for it. First of all, it is necessary to correctly select the planting material.

As a rule, almost all winter plant varieties release special arrows, on which bulbs are then formed over time. You will grow such a crop for too long, since this plant is a perennial, and within the first year after planting it in the ground, it forms its root system.Therefore, this method is impractical to apply if you want to get the first results quickly enough.

The optimal solution for you is planting garlic teeth in the ground. Examine them carefully, choose large ones. They can even be slightly dried - this will not affect the result. The main thing is that there are no damages on the teeth. At the same time, it is also undesirable to select yellow or too soft teeth for planting.

If you notice that small green shoots have appeared on some of the garlic teeth, be sure to plant them in open ground, and first of all.

Such planting material will hatch from the ground much faster.

Soil preparation

How to grow garlic at home? Some novice gardeners believe that you can simply collect land from the garden into pots. However, this is not really the best solution. The thing is that garden soil can most often be used exclusively as a basis for a substrate. The reason is clear enough: the culture is mainly planted in small, compact containers. Due to frequent watering (and you cannot do without them), all nutrients will gradually be washed out of the soil. In addition, the structure itself is compacted to the touch and poorly conducts air. Be sure to take care of including peat or sand in your growing medium.

In order for the garlic to be large, it is necessary to consider the presence of dressings. It is best to introduce humus into the soil. It is noteworthy that garlic requires the obligatory introduction of mineral supplements. This can be wood ash.

How to prepare the soil for planting garlic cloves in it at home? It is necessary to disinfect the earthen mixture. To do this, put it in a hot oven for about half an hour. In the event that you decide to purchase a ready-made substrate in a specialized store, choose a better universal mixture, including fertilizers there.

Landing rules

How can you grow garlic on a windowsill? First of all, it is worth understanding the technology of planting a plant. Basically, special containers are chosen for this purpose. Firstly, it is much easier to care for such a plant. Secondly, such a container will protect the garlic from all kinds of parasites entering the ground. The depth of the container must be at least 20 cm. At the same time, there must be drainage holes in its lower part. Some farmers prefer to choose small individual containers for 1-2 cloves of garlic. But if you decide to plant them in one large container, keep in mind that the distance between the teeth should be at least 10 cm.

How to ensure the process of planting garlic cloves in the ground, taking into account all the basic recommendations? First, mix the earth with sand. Fill a container with the mixture, leaving a free space of about 2 cm. Plant the garlic cloves (the pointed end should be at the top). When all the planting material is in the container, put it in a sunny place, for example, on a windowsill.

Be sure to worry about the constant access of plants to light: garlic requires about 8 hours of sunlight per day. Another important point in the course of planting garlic at home is the presence of a stand. The container must certainly be placed on some kind of base, where excess water will drain. Knowing how to correctly plant garlic cloves in the ground, you will get a high yield and in winter you will be able to add the favorite spice-vitamins of domestic gardeners to your food.

Seedling care

Growing indoor garlic is not a very laborious process. You just need to understand the theory in order to then compose an algorithm of actions for yourself. In general, you will not have anything difficult, even novice gardeners will be able to cope with this task.Moreover, if you have already been involved in growing onions on the windowsill, the experience gained will be useful to you in this process.

So, the first sprouts will appear already 1-3 weeks after they are planted in the ground. Why is there such a large discrepancy in time? The thing is that the speed of germination of garlic depends on several factors, for example, on the planting depth of the cloves. As soon as the first garlic shoots appeared, it's time to get down to business more actively. The key task of every farmer is a full harvest. And this can be achieved with little effort.

Watering

How to care for garlic sprouts planted on the windowsill? First of all, it is recommended to ensure full watering of the soil. The main thing is to adhere to the principle of the golden mean: do not overmoisten the substrate too much, but it is also undesirable to wait until its upper crust dries up.

Water or spray the soil after about 2-3 days. However, if your indoor temperature is consistently high, the frequency of watering can be increased slightly.

Top dressing

In order to grow a full-fledged harvest of homemade garlic on your windowsill, it is not enough just to know how to plant cloves in the ground. It is necessary to be able to create all the conditions for the full development of the plant. For example, garlic feeding is of great importance. He mostly prefers organic matter, especially nitrogen. You can also feed the soil from time to time with mineral fertilizers.

Regarding the composition that will be most effective for garlic, it is difficult to determine one thing. Farmers in this situation use both store mixes and home fertilizers, for example, mullein or bird manure. Interestingly, you can also experiment with the consistency of the dressings. Garlic accepts well both liquid nutritional mixtures and fertilizers in granules or mineral sticks. It all depends on the cost of funds and directly your preferences.

Temperature

This is not to say that garlic is a heat-loving plant. It will be enough to maintain the temperature in the room at about 20 degrees. However, experts recommend not to leave containers with seedlings in the room, but to place them on the windowsill, in the balcony or loggia. The main thing is that the balcony in this case is glazed, since drafts are undesirable for any plant.

Sometimes gardeners prefer to grow garlic for the sake of getting not only the harvest, but also the heads. However, it is not always possible to achieve this goal at home, and if it does, then the heads for the most part turn out to be too large. Therefore, this method of growing garlic is impractical. And for this you need to provide an individual temperature regime: -15-16 degrees. Therefore, experienced experts advise gardeners to abandon such an undertaking.

In general, the process of growing garlic at home does not differ in particular difficulties. The main thing is to approach this correctly. Follow all the basic recommendations of experts, and the results will not be long in coming, and you can enjoy fresh garlic even in early spring.

Video "Secrets of Garlic Productivity"

In this video, you will learn about the most interesting secrets for a great garlic harvest.

The nutritional and medicinal value of garlic can hardly be overestimated. By adding this vegetable to dishes, you can once and for all get rid of problems with digestion and assimilation of food. In addition, it is a prophylactic agent against many diseases. Knowing the basic rules of how to grow garlic, you can get it at any time of the year. The vegetable feels great on personal plots, in gardens, vegetable gardens and even on the windowsill. It can be planted in open ground in both autumn and spring. And garlic is also very good as a fight against numerous pests that affect currants, tomatoes, strawberries. Therefore, it is recommended to plant it next to fruit and berry and vegetable crops.

Features of growing winter garlic

In late October or early November, when the gardens have already been more or less cleaned, summer residents begin a new job - preparing plots for new guests. Not knowing how to properly grow winter garlic, novice gardeners are afraid to plant a crop for the winter. Although the seedlings planted in the fall are stronger and more hardy. The most important thing is to guess the weather. The teeth should be planted about a month before prolonged frosts. If this is done ahead of time, then the garlic may germinate and lose its cold resistance. When planted late, the vegetable does not have time to create a reliable root system.

Popular varieties

To get a good harvest, it is important not only to know how to grow garlic, but also to choose the right seed. The bottom of the cloves should be without corked crust, because it retards the growth of the culture. There are some of the most sought-after varieties of garlic that can handle cold temperatures well. Komsomolets and Otradnensky are suitable for planting in cold regions. They taste sharp, throw out arrows. The "Komsomolets" bulb weighs up to 30 g and forms about 8 cloves. "Otradnensky" refers to large varieties, its scales are lilac.

It is also worth noting the excellent taste and cold resistance of the "Gribovskiy jubilee". This garlic forms a bulb with a large number of cloves, its weight reaches 40 g. Also, among summer residents, the "Poretsky" and "Danilovsky local" varieties are very popular. They form a large number of sharp, cold-resistant teeth.

Planting winter garlic

To get a good harvest, you should choose a suitable area with fertile soil. About a month before planting, the land must be dug up, organic matter and complex fertilizers must be applied, while fresh manure should not be used, because it is the source of the appearance of fungi. The width of the beds should be about 75 cm and the height - 8 cm. It is recommended to change the planting sites of garlic annually. Large bulbs will grow in areas where zucchini, cucumbers or cabbage grew.

Novice gardeners don't know how to grow good winter garlic. There is a little trick here - you need to calibrate the teeth. Too small, rotten, soft should not be taken at all. It is also not recommended to plant specimens with double fruiting bodies or several tops. The planting material should be disinfected in a 1% solution of copper sulfate. The teeth should be planted to a depth of 5 cm, with an interval of 10 cm, the distance between the rows is recommended to be 20 cm. Garlic does not like density, because otherwise it will have to fight for space and will not be able to gain the necessary weight.

Garlic care and harvesting

In autumn, it is recommended to cover the crop area with agrofibre, leaves or spruce branches. As soon as the snow melts, the shelter should be removed. In early spring, it is important to make two top dressing with urea, they are necessary for active vegetation. If the soil itself is poor, then fertilization should be applied 2 times a month for the bulb to grow throughout the growing season. As soon as the height of the arrows reaches 20 cm, they need to be pinched at the level of 5 cm. In order for the garlic to ripen faster, you need to shake off the soil from the bulbs a little.

It is not worth delaying the harvesting of the culture, it must be carried out as soon as the lower leaves turn yellow. It is very important to know how to grow winter garlic correctly, because if you do not have time to dig it up in time, then the scales will move away and expose the teeth, and this will affect the quality of storage of the vegetable. The bulbs should be placed under a canopy for a week to dry naturally, and when the root lobe begins to crumble under the fingers into dust, you can transfer them to a permanent storage location.

Features of growing spring garlic

Fertile loamy and sandy loamy soils are most suitable for planting bulbous crops. Knowing how to grow onions and garlic can help you achieve a good harvest.These vegetables are not demanding, but still have some growing characteristics. Garlic is a light-loving plant, so you shouldn't plant it in the shade of trees. It can be allocated a separate bed or placed next to fruit and berry crops or vegetables. Garlic feels good near strawberries, potatoes, raspberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, black currants, onions, gooseberries, roses, gladioli, tulips. It can be planted in areas where cabbage and legumes used to grow, but it is not recommended to combine them on the same bed.

Novice gardeners do not know how to grow healthy and large summer garlic. To do this, you need to choose a good planting material, remove sick and small teeth. It is worth updating varieties from time to time, because they can degenerate. In order for spring garlic to grow faster, it is germinated. The teeth are placed in a wet cloth bag and put in a plastic bag for a couple of days. But it is not at all necessary to do all this.

Planting summer garlic

It is necessary to plant a crop in the spring, as soon as the soil warms up to +7 ° C (somewhere in early or mid-April). Dry soil requires abundant watering, if it is wet, then watering the beds is not necessary. The garlic sits down to a depth of about 6 cm, it should be twice the height of the clove. Sprouted seed must be planted carefully without damaging the root system. The beds need to be mulched. The rows should be about 20 cm wide, the cloves are planted with an interval of 10 cm. Spring garlic is not afraid of frost, its shoots appear at +3 ° C. The initial growing season for the culture takes place at + 10 ° С, the bulb is formed at + 15 ° С, and it ripens at + 25 ° С.

Crop care

Many people wonder how to grow large garlic, especially if the summer is hot and it is impossible to constantly water the beds. In this case, it is necessary to mulch the soil, while it is better to choose a light mulch. During the growing season, you need to try to provide the garlic with abundant watering, because at this time it is actively growing. When the bulbs ripen, less moisture is needed. In rainy weather, the area should not be flooded with water at all. Waterlogging should not be allowed in any case, because it provokes the development of fungi and damage to the bulbs.

For spring garlic, it is recommended to carry out two dressings: in early spring, water the ground with a solution of bird droppings or rotted cow dung, and in the middle of summer - with a solution of ash. Mineral fertilizers are not used for the culture, they do not benefit either vegetables or human health. Recommendations on how to grow garlic also include weed control and periodic loosening of the soil. Thanks to mulching, you can greatly facilitate the care of the crop, do not weed the soil and reduce the amount of watering.

What is the difference between spring and winter garlic?

Crop varieties are divided into two large groups: shooting and non-shooting. Before growing garlic, you should decide on the variety and its type. Gardeners claim that arrows form only winter varieties, but in some cases they can appear on spring crops as well. It all depends on the climatic features of the region. Winter garlic has large cloves around the stem. Spring is smaller, its bulbs are dense. Winter crops are frost-resistant and their yield is extremely high, but in terms of storage time, they are significantly inferior to summer crops, which remain intact throughout the year.

What does garlic need to grow?

It is an incredibly cold-resistant plant that can withstand temperatures as low as -45 ° C, so residents of temperate latitudes need not worry about it. The bulbs are perfectly preserved under the snow cover, and in the spring at +3 ° C they grow. The culture develops normally at + 18-25 ° С. In the question of how to grow large garlic, the quality of the soil plays an important role.The plant feels best on loamy and sandy loam soils, but it does not tolerate acidic and saline soils.

Garlic responds well to feeding, but mineral fertilizers and fresh manure should be excluded. Loves moisture, but waterlogging can adversely affect the bulbs. For spring garlic, the site must be prepared in the fall, and for winter garlic - a month before planting. The garden bed should be dug up and about 5 kg of humus should be added per 1 m2.

Planting large garlic

You need to immediately decide which crop to plant - winter or spring. There are several secrets on how to grow large garlic. Larger bulbs are easier to obtain from a winter variety. Depending on the climatic characteristics of the region, it is planted at the end of September or in October. The teeth should take root before the onset of frost, but not grow. Spring garlic is planted in early spring as soon as the snow melts. Frosts are not afraid of him, the main thing here is to gain time, because before the onset of heat, a bulb should form. Otherwise, the garlic will turn out small.

In order for the vegetable to grow large, you need to make wide rows (25 cm) and plant the cloves at a distance of 12 cm from each other. It is important to guess with the planting depth, it should be equal to twice the height of the planting material. This rule does not apply to spring garlic, its teeth are buried by 3 cm. The earth should not be made too loose, but it is not recommended to press the planting material into the ground. After planting, you need to cover the beds with mulch.

Garlic on the windowsill

Many hostesses worry in advance about the presence of greenery in the cold season. If everything is more or less clear with onions, because it sprouts incredibly quickly, then few know how to grow garlic on a windowsill. And garlic greens are required in many dishes. If you just plant the teeth in a pot of soil, they will sprout closer to spring. It is very easy to speed up the process. To do this, it is necessary to put containers with garlic outside in late autumn so that it undergoes cold treatment. Then you should bring the boxes home and water the soil with warm water. At a temperature of +17 ° C, greens will appear in a week. Even those who did not know how to grow garlic at home can easily get it in the cold season. Fragrant greenery on the windowsill when a blizzard is raging outside the window, what could be more comfortable?

Diseases of garlic

Despite the undemanding culture, it can still be affected by various diseases during the growing season. The most common is the rot of the bottom, because of the fungus, the bulb rots, the roots die, the leaves turn yellow. If a gray coating appears on the leaves, it means that downy mildew attacked the garlic. This disease threatens with immature bulbs. White rot provokes the death of leaves and the formation of mycelium on the roots. The disease leads to tooth decay. Bacterial rot also leads to very unpleasant consequences. Because of it, brown sores with a rotten smell appear on the teeth. To protect the crop from pests, it is necessary to process the garlic with an ash solution before planting. You can also plant a plant next to calendula and chicory, they save from nematodes.