Garlic planting and care in the open field top dressing

Garlic is a hot spice that is actively used in cooking and traditional medicine. Growing and caring for garlic in the open field on their own gives gardeners the opportunity to get the maximum benefit from it without harm to health, which the purchased one can bring. Meanwhile, it is quite easy to grow a culture at home if you know and follow the basic rules of planting and caring for a plant.

Basic rules for growing garlic outdoors

Before starting the growing procedure, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the basic rules and recommendations:

1. Garlic beds are best chosen in places well-lit by the sun.
2. Avoid planting a crop in a low-lying area. In such conditions, the accumulation of liquid is possible, which will have a detrimental effect on the condition of the plants.
3. It is important to add natural or synthetic fertilizer to the soil before planting.
4. It is recommended to mulch over the winter bed and cover it with brushwood to delay the snow masses.
5. The sowing depth directly depends on the size of the seed. The largest varieties should be deepened by eight to nine centimeters, the smallest ones by six to seven.
6. Only large seeds should be chosen for planting. Separate them from each other carefully. You do not need to peel the cloves.
7. Do not sow into freshly dug soil, otherwise the tines will be deeper than necessary. Prepare the soil no earlier than a week.
8. The sowing site should be changed regularly (at least once every two years). You can use the same ridge only with an interval of four years.

The correct approach to growing crops will allow you to grow a high-quality and rich harvest, and also significantly reduce the likelihood of disease and plant death during the nursing period.

When to plant garlic outdoors?

There are two options for planting garlic in open ground: autumn (for winter) and spring (for spring).

It is recommended to plant a crop in autumn from the second half of September to mid-October. You can also calculate the timing of the expected frost period, depending on the region. The most suitable time for sowing is 35-45 days before its start.

Spring garlic should be planted when the soil temperature warms up to 5-10 degrees Celsius. As a rule, this time falls on the end of March or the beginning of April.

All sowing dates in spring are relative. In this case, a lot depends on the region. So, in the warmest, it is best to plant the crop earlier, in the colder ones - later. The final landing date is the end of April.

Garlic precursors in the beds

The best precursor to garlic is considered to be potatoes. You can also sow a crop in those places where zucchini, cucumbers and peas grew. The worst predecessor is onion of all varieties and varieties. If you grow garlic the next year after the onion is harvested, you can expect a small and poor quality harvest. The same goes for tomatoes and carrots.

The culture can also coexist with raspberry bushes, roses, strawberries, currants. In this case, the plant will help repel pests.

Soil preparation

The soil for sowing in open ground should be sufficiently fertile and drained, moisture-absorbing. Loam is perfect. It is important that the soil is not dry. The ridge should be prepared for spring sowing in the fall.

To do this, you need to dig up the soil and apply fertilizer to it. For each square meter, you will need twenty grams of potassium salt and superphosphate, as well as a bucket of humus. This procedure can be performed in the spring, no later than two weeks before sowing.

The distance between the finished rows should be d2 decimeters, between other ridges - at least 1. It is best to plant the teeth in the grooves, but at the same time they should not be pressed into the ground. Too dense soil mixture will contribute to the freezing of the plant from the roots.

Important: You can neutralize the increased acidity of the soil with dolomite flour, chalk or hydrated lime.

Preparation of planting material

First of all, all potential seed must be sorted out and sorted. Choose for growing only whole, healthy, large seeds. They should be further subjected to pre-planting processing.

Important: the presence of at least one tooth damaged by the disease in the head automatically rejects the entire bulb.

The selected seed must be treated with the antifungal agent Fitosporin. To do this, it is enough to soak the cloves in the drug solution for five minutes. In the absence of this remedy, you can use a pink solution of potassium permanganate or 1% iodine solution.

Before direct planting, it is useful to carry out a second processing of the material. To do this, pour half a kilogram of wood ash with a liter of water and boil the composition for half an hour. Each clove will need to be dipped in the cooled solution, and then dried thoroughly.

Sowing is also possible with the so-called bulbs - the organs of vegetative propagation of garlic. These are small bulbs that form in the seed case on the arrow of the plant itself during the ripening period. The system of material selection, planting and growing practically does not differ from the system of using cloves.

Landing in open ground

Having prepared the soil and planting material, you can proceed to planting directly.

The procedure will take several steps:

1. Loosen the prepared soil with a spatula, hoe or other most convenient tool.
2. Make grooves with a depth corresponding to the dimensions of the prepared teeth from five to 10 cm. The distance between them should be twenty to thirty centimeters.
3. Place the garlic sprouts down into the grooves, about five centimeters apart. The teeth should be deepened by about half.
4. Fill the grooves with soil, trying not to unnecessarily tamp the ridge. Otherwise, the garlic may not sprout.
5. Smooth the surface of the ridges with a rake, avoiding deep penetration of the tool into the soil.

The soil for sowing in open ground should be moist, but not wet. Therefore, it is recommended to shed it in advance.

Outdoor garlic care

Basic crop care includes four aspects: timely watering, weeding, fertilizing and loosening the soil.

Watering

It is recommended to bring water into open ground regularly, but infrequently (once every one to two weeks). It is enough to use 10 liters of water per square meter. During the rainy season, the number of waterings should be reduced to a minimum. At the same time, it is important to periodically loosen the soil so that it absorbs moisture better.

As the ridge ripens, it is watered with less and less moisture. Watering is completely stopped 2 weeks before harvesting.

Fertilization and pest control

1 time in 10 days it is necessary to add potash and phosphorus additional fertilizing to the soil. It is important to strictly follow the instructions for use indicated on the package.

In addition, at the very beginning of the growing season and after the seed box is formed, it is recommended to fertilize the soil with natural fertilizers, which you will need to make yourself.

A kilogram of mullein or chicken droppings requires about 10 liters of water. It is important to keep such a solution for 3-5 days for fermentation. After that, each liter should be diluted with a bucket of water and irrigated.

With high-quality processing of planting material, the risk of disease and fungus is reduced. Additionally, it is useful to disinfect the soil by spilling it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate immediately before planting. It is also recommended to carry out treatment with insecticides and fungicides in the spring. It is important to weed as needed. Removing weeds once a week is usually sufficient.

Important: as soon as the formed seed pod bursts, it must be removed from the plant by breaking or cutting the arrow.

Harvest

Harvesting garlic should be carried out at a time when the greens turn yellow by about 2/3. As a rule, it takes about 100 days for a crop to mature, and the end of the period falls in mid-September. The ripeness of the crop is indicated by a loose connection of teeth in the head and dry husk.

In order to carry out cleaning, it is necessary to dig up the onion and pull it out by the tops. In this state, the plants should be laid out to dry. After that, it is important to remove the soil, and transfer the heads for storage in a cool place. You can trim the roots and tops as early as a week after harvesting.

Conclusion

Growing garlic in the country or in a garden plot in the open field is a useful and interesting activity. If you use all the rules of sowing and care, you can get a tasty and healthy crop that can be stored for a long time. Such garlic can be used both in cooking and traditional medicine without fear for the health and quality of the finished product.

Often, for the cultivation of garlic, a technology is used that provides for planting before winter. But the harvest does not always meet expectations, which is due to non-compliance with the bait schedule. Although the culture is considered unpretentious, it requires some attention, especially in matters of fertilization at the beginning of the season, in anticipation of the period of increased growth. You need to know how to feed a vegetable in spring, planted before winter.

In addition to chemistry, winter garlic can be fertilized with folk remedies - yeast, chicken droppings, and so on. Spring and winter garlic need different feeding in the open field. Also, seedlings in May and April must be cared for properly.

Do I need feeding for garlic planted before winter

Garlic after waking up needs a good stimulant, which makes it possible for young shoots to get stronger and resist diseases and pests. The growing season on a nutritious soil enriched with trace elements useful for the plant proceeds faster, which ensures a good harvest.

A well-groomed culture develops better, since when it ripens, it selects from the soil all the nutrients that are necessary for normal vegetation.

On a devastated site, it will not be possible to collect high-quality root crops if you do not water them with top dressing and fertilize them properly. This means that at best it will be possible to dig out small heads with small teeth from the ground. In addition to the underdeveloped size, the fruits have a low taste quality.

During the period of spring growth, it is worth using nitrogen fertilizing.

Spring bait is characterized by the activation of plant growth, therefore it is appropriate to use nitrogen fertilizers... Also, for the vegetative process, phosphorus and potassium supplements are needed. The introduction of organic matter or minerals strengthens the immunity of garlic to various diseases, in particular fungal.

Diseases and pests affect, first of all, weak shoots, so you should not ignore the schedule for processing the beds.

For all the usefulness of fertilizers, they should not be abused... An excess of nutrients provokes the growth of tops, while the heads are small in size with low taste.

What can be fed in the spring

In addition to the planned introduction of fertilizers, top dressing is used when growing garlic. That she is needed prompts the plant itself.

Young shoots may turn yellow or lethargic. It is necessary to carefully study the symptoms, because the signs of a lack of trace elements are sometimes similar to the nematode and other diseases.

Young garlic can become sluggish and turn yellow without top dressing.

In the spring, gardeners feed garlic thrice... The first procedure is carried out immediately after the snow melts. At this time, the plant is experiencing a deficiency of minerals necessary for the growing season. The second complementary food should be introduced no earlier than 2 weeks.

The exact timing and composition of the nutrient mixture is determined depending on the degree of plant formation and characteristics.

• The beds with dying plants are fertilized ammonium nitrate.
• When lightening feathers, use potash baits... Before watering, you can sprinkle the soil with wood ash.
• Greens can turn yellow due to acidity in the soil. In such cases, the soil is enriched before planting. dolomite flour or crushed limestone.
• Slow growth of greenery indicates nutritional deficiencies. As a top dressing, solutions are used: based on urea (1 tbsp. L. Per bucket of water), mullein (1 glass per 10 l of water) or bird droppings (1 tbsp. L. Per bucket of water).

Wood ash for garlic is both a prophylactic agent against diseases and a source of nutrition.

Wood ash for garlic is a remedy for diseases

When to fertilize for a good harvest

An important point when growing winter varieties of garlic is fertilizing the soil before planting... Spring work on the beds depends on the quality of the preparatory work.

• As soon as the snow melts, you can plan your first bait. This period occurs in each region at different times, so you need to focus on the established positive daytime temperature.
• The second stage of soil enrichment with useful substances is performed two weeks after the first feeding. During ripening, the root crop pulls all nutrients from the soil, so it is not worth shifting the fertilizer introduction schedule.
• The third groundbait (mid to late June) falls during the head formation period, which is important for a good harvest.
• Additional groundbaits are introduced only if there are signs of micronutrient deficiency on the plant.

The third groundbait must be applied strictly during the formation of the head. If the procedure is performed earlier than mid-June, then all trace elements will be spent on the development of feathers and arrows.

What to feed in the open field

Before planting garlic (for a week or two) in the fall, the soil is pre-enriched with a nutrient mixture, which consists of organic matter or mineral fertilizers.

Organic fertilizers and folk remedies

Garlic reacts best to organic fertilizers

The plant reacts most favorably to organic fertilizing, which is due to the large amount of humus in the soil and its rich composition. Often, on non-depleted soils, one, but full-fledged fertilizer in the fall is enough to provide the crop during the growing season with all the necessary microelements.

One of the popular dressings is considered manure... It is scattered over the beds and carefully dug up. Some gardeners increase fertility with fresh manure, but experts advise against using this method. Also beware of using large quantities of bird droppings, it can simply burn the shoots.

With the onset of spring, it is necessary to direct efforts to stimulate the growth of culture. For this purpose, a solution is prepared from 7 parts of water and 1 part of mullein. The resulting composition is watered the beds, trying not to touch the greens that have made their way.

Appropriate for soil enrichment compost... Anything will work, but garlic responds well to fertilizer from food waste.

You can use compost to enrich the soil

Other time-tested complementary foods include:

• wood ash (sprinkled between the beds or watered with a solution based on water 10 liters and ash 200 gr.);
• salt (poured with a solution prepared from water 10 liters and 3 tablespoons of salt);
• ammonia (plants are sprayed with a composition based on 25 ml of ammonia and a bucket of water).

Mineral

Mineral-based fertilizers are used independently and in combination with organic.

As practice shows, many areas are significantly depleted from annual exploitation.

It is not always possible to replenish the balance of nutritional components with one organic matter. Moreover, there is another factor affecting the yield - the climatic features of the region.

Consumption rates depend on the degree of soil fertility, therefore, in each case, the calculation must be made individually.

The rate of application of mineral fertilizers depends on the degree of soil enrichment

The most super popular are the following mineral dressings:

• urea (1 tbsp. l. per 10 liters of water);
• nitroammofoska (60 gr. per 10 liters of water);
• superphosphate (50-60 grams per bucket of water);
• urea (1 tablespoon per bucket of water);
• nitrophoska (2 tablespoons per bucket of water).

Some components it is appropriate to combine to obtain a more effective remedy... For example, nitrogen introduced into the soil together with phosphorus (proportions 1: 1.5) promotes the development of greenery and the accumulation of nutrients in the head.

After watering or rain, it is appropriate to sprinkle the beds with a dry mixture, which includes: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (proportions 8:15:35).

When determining the amount and composition of fertilizers, important factors should be considered:

• the degree of soil fertility, its acidity;
• climate (precipitation, the likelihood of spring frosts);
• illumination of the site;
• what crops were grown before garlic (preference should be given to such predecessors as zucchini, cereals, squash);
• features of the crop variety (ripening period, preferred growing conditions).

Garlic feeding scheme

When planting garlic before winter, it sprouts in spring

Garlic planted before winter gives its first shoots in spring.In order for the vegetative process to proceed without disturbances in the summer, it is recommended to process and introduce top dressing 3 times... The schedule is drawn up taking into account the following rules.

1. Excessive moisture for an early culture is considered dangerous, therefore it is necessary to introduce the first complementary food in combination with the irrigation procedure... To stimulate the growth and development of shoots, urea or carbomide is ideal. In order to prepare a solution, it is enough to dilute a tablespoon of fertilizer in 10 liters of water.
2. Feed the plants a second time 2 weeks after the first procedure... As a working solution, water (9 l) and 2 incomplete spoons of nitrophoska or nitroammophoska are used. The fertilization rate for the beds is 4 liters per 1 m2.
3. The third top dressing is aimed at stimulating the growth of heads, therefore, it is introduced during the formation of root crops - mid-end of June. Superphosphate is used as food (2 tablespoons of the product are taken for 10 liters of water). The consumption rate is 4-5 liters per 1 m2.

As an additional nutrition, you can use the method of spraying young shoots with special compounds.

This method refers to foliar feeding, therefore, during the preparation of a product from mineral components, it should be taken into account that the consumption rate should be halved... Spraying is often combined with the usual watering of the beds.

Spraying garlic can be combined with regular watering

It is worth remembering that the rate of liquid per bush should not change due to the use of a special solution.

What fertilizers should not be used to process

Enriching the soil for better plant maturation does not mean using everything. Each crop responds better to one type of fertilizer or another.

So garlic perceives organic matter well, but at the same time it will be extremely difficult to cope with fresh manure. Therefore, a rotted mass is used for fertilizers.

Experienced gardeners recommend necessarily combine organic nutrition with minerals... In the opposite case, from an excess of natural humus, the planting material will rot in the soil, or the crop will not have a long shelf life.

When choosing mineral baits, you should pay attention to the period of their use. Nitrogen-containing ones are appropriate only during the development of the feather part. Such nutrition would be inappropriate during head formation.

Compliance with the feeding regime and the consumption rate guarantees the receipt of large root crops. And the grown crop throughout the cold season will complement different dishes with its aroma and taste, and fight against pathogenic bacteria.

Growing the best harvest of garlic outdoors

Before planting garlic, a growing method should be chosen, which may depend on varietal characteristics or desired harvest time. In the future, garlic, cultivation and care in the open field for which it is correctly performed, will thank you with a generous and large harvest.

Winter and spring varieties of garlic

The varietal variety of garlic is quite large, since the varieties are divided into two groups, differing in the cultivation method and planting dates:

• Winter crops (shooting and non-shooting);
• Spring (non-shooting).

Winter varieties

They are characterized by larger heads and early ripening. Basically, the cultivation of winter garlic in the open field is carried out for consumption and use in cooking, since it is poorly stored.

Winter garlic variety - Lyubasha

Shooting varieties ripen faster than non-shooting varieties, but require additional labor for breaking arrows. Among the most popular winter varieties are:

• Zubrenok is a fruitful shooting variety with large heads.
• Alcor is a common variety among gardeners. Medium bulbs. The scales of the teeth are pink-violet.
• Lyubasha is a shooting variety with high juicy tops and large flattened bulbs.
• Herman is the most stable of winter garlic varieties with multi-toothed, medium-sized heads.
• The doctor is a non-shooting variety of medium ripening periods. The heads include up to sixteen teeth, transportable.

Spring varieties

Spring garlic varieties do not produce arrows. The teeth of the head are formed in several rows, and the outer ones are always larger and are recommended for further planting. Spring garlic, planting and care in open ground, which differs from winter garlic, has smaller bulbs in comparison with them, but it is stored much longer (up to a new harvest).

Spring Garlic Victorio

• Moskovsky is a large-fruited variety with white heads.
• Gulliver - characterized by dense flattened white heads and keeping quality up to 8 months.
• Victorio is highly resistant to disease. The denticles are yellowish in color. The heads are round, medium in size.

Preparing the beds for planting garlic

The opinion that garlic will grow everywhere is wrong. Large yields are possible only if the area for growing winter garlic or spring varieties is chosen correctly.

Preparation and fertilization of ash soil for garlic from autumn

Soil selection

• Choose a flat, sunny area. Garlic planted in the lowlands will get wet and rot. Its keeping quality is sharply reduced. In the shade, the vegetable will develop poorly and grow bulbs.
• Fertile and moisture-consuming soil is suitable, garlic loves loams, and soils oversaturated with organic matter.

Crop rotation rules for garlic

• It is undesirable to grow garlic after onions, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes. The most suitable for garlic will be the beds on which grew cabbage, potatoes, legumes, or green manure plants.
• Garlic is a welcome neighbor for strawberries, strawberries, raspberries, roses, gooseberries and currants. It will scare away pests (slugs, borers, caterpillars and moles) from these crops, while developing well and forming a good harvest.

It's important to know

You can grow garlic on one bed for no more than two years in a row. In the future, this area can be returned to garlic only after four years.

Preparing the beds for garlic

The beds should be prepared in advance, digging them up in the fall and mulching with weeds. In the spring, in advance (at least two weeks in advance), you need to dig up the garlic bed on the bayonet of a shovel and add humus (bucket / m²), superphosphate (30g / m²), potassium salt (20 g / m²).

• If the acidity of the soil is increased, lime, chalk or dolomite flour of your choice for deoxidation must be added;
• When the soil is washed out and depleted, you should regularly water the beds with an ash solution, as well as dust the beds before digging in the spring and sprinkle abundantly with ash during autumn preparation.

Methods and timing of planting garlic

Garlic is a seedless vegetable. It reproduces only vegetatively - by cloves or air bulbs formed on the arrows. Therefore, his landing and preparation for it are different.

Bulbs or bulbs (other names - garlic seeds, air seeds, air bulbs) are called organs of vegetative reproduction - small bulbs, which by definition are not seeds. But the air capsule (has the second name - the seed case) on the arrow of the garlic, in which they grow, is called the seed.

Teeth preparation

Preparing garlic for outdoor planting

To ensure that the harvest does not disappoint you, the garlic cloves need to be properly prepared for planting.

• The heads are sorted, choosing the largest ones, and discarding the damaged ones. Even if one tooth with signs of infection is found in the head, the rest are also not suitable for planting.
• Treat the planting material with "Fitosporin" (soak the garlic for 5 minutes) to prevent fungal diseases. Soaking in a pink solution of potassium permanganate or 1% iodine is possible.
• Apply pre-sowing fertilization by dipping the teeth into the ash slurry (pour 0.5 liters of ash into 1 liter of water and boil for 30 minutes).In the future, caring for winter garlic prepared in this way will be easier.

It is necessary to divide the heads of garlic into teeth just before planting. Otherwise, the bottom of the bulbs will dry out and the root system will not develop. It is better to remove the upper husk, since it is in it that pathogens and infections accumulate.

Gardener advice

For planting before winter, the garlic cloves must be well dried. Otherwise, it will start to germinate prematurely and will be damaged by frost.

Planting winter garlic

Winter garlic is planted in the fall, 25-30 days before the onset of stable cold weather. Usually this period falls on the end of September - mid-October. During this time, the teeth will root well, but will not have time to start growing.

• With an earlier fall planting, garlic will begin to grow, which is fraught with frost damage to the tops and a decrease in yield.
• If it is late, the teeth will not take root until the onset of cold weather and will freeze in winter.

Planting winter garlic outdoors

Garlic is planted in open ground in rows according to the scheme: row spacing - 20-25 cm, distance in a row - 8-10 cm.The teeth are stuck into the prepared grooves with the bottom down to a depth of about 5 cm.

The bottom of the groove should be loose so that the roots can penetrate deeply without hindrance. On light sandy and sandy loam soils, it is possible to plant garlic to a depth of 12 cm. There is no need to water the plantings.

When all the tines are planted, the bed is leveled with a rake and mulched with peat. Branches or spruce branches are laid on top. They will keep snow and winter garlic, planting and caring for which were initially carried out according to all the rules, will successfully overwinter.

How to plant winter garlic: growing and care, video

Landing air bulbs

The balloon planting method is used for a two-year crop cycle. This planting of winter garlic has several advantages:

• Healthy planting material. They do not come into contact with the ground, so they are not susceptible to infection by harmful bacteria.
• Saving. The best and most significant part of the garlic harvest is allocated for planting with tines.

Garlic boxes with air bulbs for planting

The air bulbs are planted in the same way as the prongs of winter garlic. In the first year, heads will grow from them into one clove for further planting, in the second - full-fledged bulbs.

Planting "air seeds" and growing garlic in the open field video

Planting spring garlic

Spring garlic is planted in the beds in early spring (early April), as soon as the snow melts, so the preparation of the site should be taken care of in the fall. It is not worth waiting for the soil to mature for comfortable work. The earlier the garlic is planted, the greater the harvest will be.

It is advisable to arrange the rows in the south-north direction so that the plants are evenly illuminated. In this case, the planting of garlic in the spring is carried out according to the same scheme as for the winter one (8-10 cm in a row, row spacing 20-25 cm).

Growing and caring for garlic outdoors

In the spring, garlic is one of the first in the garden to grow. In order for the harvest of garlic to be generous, planting must be given due attention. The care of garlic in the open field is reduced to timely feeding and regular watering.

Growing garlic outdoors

Garlic care in spring

When the first 2-3 leaves of garlic appear, the soil in the aisles must be loosened, and then mulched with peat or humus. Watering the plants begins as soon as the earth dries up. In this case, watering should be abundant (10 l / m²) and regular (once a week).

Lack of moisture negatively affects the harvest - the bulbs become smaller or do not form at all. After each watering, it is imperative to loosen the soil in the garden.

Rules for watering garlic in spring

In the spring, the following fertilizers are applied:

• In the phase of 3-4 leaves - urea solution (1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water). Fertilizer is poured over garlic from a watering can (by sprinkling);
• Two weeks later, a solution of nitrophoska or nitroammofoska (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water) is added under the garlic.

When applying dressings in the spring, you need to remember that nitrogen-containing fertilizers are needed for garlic only in the initial phase of growth. Later, phosphorus-potassium supplements are needed. Lack of nutrients can cause premature yellowing of garlic leaves.

Important!

For garlic, which is properly cared for, fresh manure, as well as a large amount of other nitrogen fertilizers, must not be applied. This will cause violent growth of the green mass at the expense of bulb formation.

Summer care

In summer, watering of garlic is gradually reduced, and completely stopped at the end of June (2-3 weeks before harvest). Garlic care in June includes the last dressing. To do this, dilute 2 tbsp in 10 liters of water. superphosphate and water the garden with this solution.

Winter garlic with arrows

Taking care of garlic in July is necessary, when the arrows of winter garlic reach a height of 10 cm, they are broken out. So the plant will not expend energy on ripening "babies" and the bulbs will be larger.

For the propagation of garlic with air bulbs, it is enough to leave arrows on several plants. The rest of the technology for growing winter garlic and spring garlic is the same.

Protecting garlic from diseases and pests

Garlic is often exposed to fungal diseases, such as:

• fusarium;
• bacterial rot;
• white rot;
• black mold.

It is quite difficult to deal with them and spraying with fungicides (Bordeaux liquid, Fitosporin, etc.) does not always give the desired result. It is easier and more effective to prevent the development of these diseases by etching the teeth before planting and observing crop rotation.

Garlic yellowing problem

No less harm is caused by pests that complicate both the cultivation of winter garlic and spring garlic. The most dangerous of them are:

• stem nematode;
• onion fly.

To combat the nematode, preventive measures are used. Deep digging of the site, destruction of plant debris, planting chicory and calendula on the site will help.

To combat onion flies, root and garlic mites, as well as onion hoverflies, special solutions are used.

Onion fly remedy recipe

Pour a glass of tobacco dust and a few teaspoons of ground pepper with 2-3 liters of boiling water and insist warm for 3 days. Strain the infusion and dilute with water to 10 liters, then sprinkle with garlic. Such spraying should be carried out every 10-14 days.

Cleaning garlic from the beds

The harvest time is different for different varieties of garlic. Basically, harvesting begins in July, but it is better to determine readiness more accurately by yellowed lower leaves and by ripe and opened air capsules with bulbs. It is not worth pulling with the harvesting of garlic until the foliage dies completely. In this case, the heads will disintegrate and poorly stored.

Harvesting outdoor garlic

Advice from the gardener

Dig up garlic only in dry weather. Extracted from moist soil, it will not be stored and will rot quickly. When harvesting, you need to try to damage the roots as little as possible.

Cleaning garlic from the beds

Outcome

With proper preparation of the beds and adherence to planting technology, growing garlic in the open field will only bring pleasure, the plant will be healthy, and the harvest will delight you with an abundance. To preserve the garlic for the winter, the dug out bulbs are hung or laid out to dry in a dry, shaded place. The roots are cut from completely dry bulbs and stored as such.

All about the correct cultivation of spring and winter garlic in the open field, about what to do if it turns yellow in spring, what to water and how to feed, you will learn from this guide. The information will be especially useful for beginners, as well as for experienced gardeners. Growing garlic usually does not cause big problems, but for a good harvest, you must follow the rules of planting, care and feeding.

What is the difference between spring garlic and winter garlic

Gardeners know that there is winter and spring garlic, and what are the differences between them you can see from the table and photo:

There are more teeth - from 12 to 30 pieces, but they are smaller	An arrow sticks out in the middle of the bottom, which is surrounded by 4-12 large cloves
The bulbs are smaller and have more scales	Bulbs and cloves are larger and more productive
The teeth on the bottom of the bulb are located in a spiral from the periphery to the center, with the outer ones being larger	In the middle there is a thick and hard rod, around which the teeth
Planted in early spring	Planted in autumn
It ripens in September, it is laid for winter storage and consumed until the new harvest	Can only be stored until February

Winter garlic is more common, but in the northern regions they prefer to grow spring garlic, since the plants under winter planting can freeze out.

Garlic varieties with photos and descriptions

Most often, garlic is propagated by chives, of which there are from 4 to 12 in each bulb, and sometimes more.

Do not use grocery store garlic as a planting material. It may not be suitable for growing in your area, and in most cases it has been treated with special substances that inhibit growth. It's best to buy garlic for planting from a trusted online seed store or local nursery.

Garlic varieties are divided into two groups:

1. Shooters - they have a flowering shoot coming out of the center of the bulb - an arrow ending in an inflorescence. It consists of bulbs (air bulbs) and flower buds, which subsequently dry out without forming seeds. A sign of ripening in them is the yellowing of the leaves and arrows. All arrowed garlic varieties are considered winter garlic.
2. Non-shooting - in such plants only leaves develop during the growing season. These varieties can be both winter and spring.

The best varieties of garlic for planting before winter

For podzimny planting, varieties with high winter hardiness are recommended.

Shooters

Dubkovsky is a medium-ripening variety - 98-114 days pass from germination to harvest. Productivity 5.6 kg per 10 m2. Bulbs weighing 30 g, round-flat, dense. There are 10-12 cloves in an onion. The taste is spicy. Recommended for growing in the Krasnodar Territory, Kurgan, Rostov and Pskov regions.

Jubilee Gribovskiy is the most common variety of the middle term - from germination to drying of leaves 83-122 days pass. The yield is high - an average of 12.5 kg per 10 m2. Bulbs of 20-30 g, round-flat, with large cloves. The taste is very spicy. The variety is relatively winter hardy, resistant to drought, major pests and diseases, and adapts well to different weather conditions. For cultivation in the northern and central regions of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine.

Otradnensky is a mid-late variety - it takes 95-135 days from germination to drying of leaves, universal use. The yield is very high - 12-13.5 kg per 10 m2. Bulbs over 30 g, round-flat, each with up to eight cloves. The variety is very winter hardy. Good for growing in the Primorsky Territory and Mordovia.

Sail - a variety of medium ripening - time from germination to harvest: 96-108 days. Yields a yield of 6 to 10 kg from 10 m2. Bulbs weighing 30–47 g, round-flat, dense, well stored, they contain 7–10 cloves. The taste is spicy. The variety is winter-hardy. Recommended for growing in Voronezh and Nizhny Novgorod regions, Ukraine, Stavropol Territory and Kazakhstan.

Siberian - medium term - from germination to harvesting 81-113 days, universal. Yields on average 5.8 kg per 10 m2. Bulbs weighing 20-30 g, round-flat, with medium-sized cloves (4-5 pcs.). The taste is spicy and semi-sharp. Suitable for growing in Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Omsk and Tomsk regions.

Non-Shotgun

Novosibirskiy is a variety of medium early ripening period - 68–82 days pass from germination to harvesting, universal purpose. Productivity 5-6 kg per 10 m2. Bulbs weighing up to 30 g, round, well stored. There are 9-13 cloves in the onion.The taste is semi-sharp, delicate. Recommended for Novosibirsk and Kemerovo regions.

Saki is an early variety - it takes 100-115 days from germination to yellowing of leaves, universal use. Yield 4,2 kg per 10 m2 Bulbs weighing 20 g, flat and round-flat, with wide cone-shaped cloves. There are 11-13 of them in the onion. The taste is spicy. Well suited for growing in Crimea.

Garlic varieties for planting in spring

Among the spring varieties, a particularly large role belongs to the numerous local forms, which are usually very well preserved. Among them:

• Danilovsky (variety of the Yaroslavl region).
• Bryansk, Ufimsky (varieties of Bashkortostan).
• Cheboksary (grade of Chuvashia), etc.

Garlic varieties quickly degenerate, so they need to be changed periodically.

What soil is needed for garlic

Garlic grows well on fertile loose light sandy loam or loamy soil, in non-flooded areas, with sufficient sunlight; tree-shaded areas are not suitable for this crop. It does not tolerate either excessive moisture or prolonged drying out of the soil.

It is good if the bed is located on a sunny hillock and is protected from the wind by a fence, trees or shrubs. In spring, water should not stagnate there.

Before planting, the soil is dug up, loosened, the roots of perennial weeds are selected and carefully leveled.

When digging, humus (1-2 buckets) and wood ash (2-4 kg) are added per 1 m2. Instead of ash, you can take superphosphate and potassium salt (15-20 g each).

The acidic soil is limed. The garden bed is prepared two weeks before planting, as it should settle a little so that the garlic cloves do not go deep into the ground.

What to soak garlic before planting

Before planting, the garlic is treated with a weak solution of trace elements (one tablet is dissolved in 1 liter of water) or infusion of birch wood ash: 1 tablespoon of ash is thoroughly stirred in 1 liter of hot water and the garlic is soaked overnight.

To avoid the most common disease of garlic - downy mildew, the cloves are heated for 12 hours at 40 C before planting and treated with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid.

Growing garlic outdoors

The bulbs and chives in winter garlic are larger and more productive than in spring garlic, but the latter, due to the many scales, is stored longer. Better to grow both forms outdoors.

When and how to plant winter garlic

Chives of winter garlic are planted before winter after harvesting vegetables
cultures. The largest and healthiest bulbs are chosen for planting - without a single spot. Small teeth are discarded, only large ones are planted. It is very important to do it on time.

• In central Russia, planting dates are usually recommended from September 15–20 to October 5, several weeks before the onset of stable November cold weather.
• Winter garlic is planted in the central regions of the Non-Black Earth Zone in the third decade of September.
• In the Moscow region, the best planting time is from September 25 to October 5.
• In the northern regions, the dates are moved to earlier ones, in the southern regions - to later ones.

Such planting dates are due to the fact that the cloves must take root well before the onset of stable winter cold weather.

Following such advice, amateur vegetable growers are often mistaken if in late September - early October, after cold weather, a relatively warm weather suddenly sets in. And then not only the roots, but also the shoots begin to grow actively, and the subsequent November frosts destroy them.

With a delay in planting, the teeth do not have time to take root until the end of October and hibernate poorly. In the spring, such seedlings are sparse and frail at best. To avoid mistakes, it is advisable to know a long-term and reliable weather forecast.

Planting scheme for winter garlic

Teeth of the same size are planted in two lines. The landing pattern is as follows:

• the distance between the rows is at least 20 cm;
• between cloves in a row - 8–10 cm;

Planting depth depends on the type of soil: on light soils, it is 8-10 cm from the top of the clove to the soil surface, on heavy soils - 5-6 cm. Shallow planting of garlic can lead to the fact that when the temperature drops to minus 15 C, a significant part of the plants may die.

For each square meter, you need 50 cloves, or 300 g of garlic (6-7 heads).

Although garlic is a cold-resistant crop, in November-December, the snow "coat" is still too unreliable and thin, so it is better to insulate the garden bed by sprinkling it with peat, well-rotted manure or loose compost soil with a layer of 2 cm.

Such mulching will do a good job in early spring, as the soil will warm up faster. In addition, mulch will keep the soil surface from crusting and help retain the moisture that garlic needs. As a result, this technique alone noticeably stimulates the development of young plants, increasing the yield by 10-15%.

How to grow winter garlic from bulbs (air bulbs)

Usually, air bulbs are used to obtain planting material - sevka. One or two days before harvesting the garlic, the arrows are cut off, leaving 2–3 cm above the bulb, tied into sheaves and left under a canopy for 25–30 days.

If you plant bulbs before winter, next year they will give single-tooth bulbs (sets), which will be the planting material.

Before sowing the bulbs - air bulbs are separated from the arrows by shaking, then calibrated. The smallest ones (less than 2 mm in diameter) are not suitable for sowing, as they produce very small single-toothed bulbs. It will take three years to grow them into bulbs that can be divided into cloves.

Bulbs are sown in the third decade of September, like chives, on the ridges with lines, between which a distance of 10-15 cm is left. On one square meter of the ridge, 8-10 g of bulbs are sown to a depth of 3-4 cm. Crops are mulched with peat or humus layer 2 cm.

The next year after the emergence of seedlings, the plants are fed with nitrogen and potassium fertilizers: 10-15 g of ammonium nitrate and 5 g of potassium salt per 1 m2. The crops are watered, the aisles are shallowly loosened, the weeds must be removed.

When the leaves turn yellow and dry, the plants are dug in, the single-toothed bulbs are selected from the soil, dried and prepared for autumn planting.

Plant one-toothed onion sets in the same way as chives. In the second year, normal shooting plants and bulbs, dividing into cloves, are obtained.

Growing garlic from bulbs (how to rejuvenate garlic) - video

Aerial bulbs can also be sown in spring. To do this, they are stored in a cold (2–5 ° C) or warm (18–20 ° C) room in unmilled sheaves. This way they are better preserved. Early spring sowing of air bulbs after cold storage is almost the same as for winter sowing.

After storage in a warm (18–20 ° С) and early spring sowing, well-developed plants grow: their growing season is longer than that of plants under winter sowing and cold storage. They give large sets, but later ripening.

If you didn't have time to sow garlic in early spring, you can do it in June. In this case, the plants do not form a bulb and continue to grow until the onset of winter. After overwintering in the soil, the next year they grow and develop in the same way as the arrowhead garlic plants grown from the cloves, but produce a smaller bulb.

How to plant spring garlic in spring

Two to three weeks before planting spring garlic in the open ground in the spring, the storage temperature of the planting material is reduced from 18-20 to 2 C. Immediately before planting, the heads are divided into cloves and the largest of them are selected.

After preparing the soil, it is carefully leveled with a rake, longitudinal grooves are made, the distance between their centers is 20 cm, between the cloves is 5-6 cm.

Planting depth is 2-3 cm. The teeth should be planted in the center of the groove, bottom down.Seedlings begin to appear in 13-15 days.

Outdoor garlic care

Caring for garlic plants consists in systematic loosening to a shallow depth (4-5 cm), so as not to damage the root system, in killing weeds, watering and feeding.

How to water garlic

During the period of active growth of garlic plants, the soil should always be moist. The lack of a sufficient amount of moisture reduces the yield, reduces the number of cloves in the bulbs.

Spring garlic is more moisture-loving than winter garlic and needs watering. Watering is necessary until mid-June. But garlic also does not tolerate waterlogging of the soil.

How and what to feed garlic after winter so that it does not turn yellow

The leaves of winter garlic begin to grow very early, when the snow has not yet melted everywhere. However, gardeners often see pale yellow and frail instead of bright green young shoots. The reason lies in insufficient plant nutrition. So that the garlic planted before winter does not turn yellow, in the spring water your plantings with a solution of ammonium nitrate (dissolve the fertilizer matchbox in a bucket of water).

Do the second feeding around mid-May. At this time, it is customary to feed the plants with a mixture of mineral fertilizers: ammonium nitrate, superphosphate and potassium salt (10, 20 and 10 g per 1 m2, respectively).

How to water the garlic in spring so that it does not turn so yellow if you want to do without the "chemistry"? In this case, it is better to use organic fertilizers for feeding, for example, a weekly infusion of fresh chicken manure (compared to mullein, it contains more nitrogen).

If the plantings dry up, water the soil abundantly, starting from the third decade of May and throughout June. The earth is periodically loosened with a hoe, I weed the weeds, preventing their regrowth.

The last, third, time they feed the garlic at the end of June, when the bulbs are finally formed. Summer nutrition is an infusion of mullein (1 liter of fertilizer is diluted in a bucket of water) or an infusion of weeded weeds growing on a compost heap, in the same concentration. You can limit yourself to feeding with superphosphate (5 tablespoons per 10 liters of water). Since this fertilizer is poorly soluble in water, it is preliminarily boiled for 30 minutes in a mug of water, stirring often.

How and what to feed spring garlic

Spring garlic shoots begin to appear 13-15 days after planting. With mass seedlings, the soil surface must be loosened and fertilized with nitrogen fertilizer. To do this, 15 g of ammonium nitrate is dissolved in 10 liters of water and evenly poured into the grooves at the rate of 10 liters per 1 m2. When the liquid is absorbed, the grooves are closed with dry soil.

The second feeding with nitrogen and potassium (potassium chloride) fertilizers should be given in the phase of formation of four leaves at the rate of 20 g per 10 l of water.

The third top dressing - potassium and phosphorus (superphosphate) fertilizers - in the phase of the seventh leaf - at the rate of 20 g per 10 l of water, solution consumption 10 l per 1 m2. After each feeding, the garlic is watered.

Tips on how to grow large heads of garlic

Around the twentieth of June, garlic throws out flower arrows, at the end of which air bulbs (bulbs) develop. A few of the most powerful arrows that appear first can be left for seeds. The rest are gradually removed at the stage of formation, when they are good as vitamin greens for salads and canning.

Timely breaking of the arrows at the very base, from the leaf axils, increases yield and allows you to grow large garlic.

Do I need to tie the garlic after breaking the arrows? Tying the garlic arrows in a knot, practiced by some growers, does nothing, since the development of the arrows does not stop, and a good half of the nutrients do not enter the bulb.

Harvesting and storing the harvest of garlic

Stop watering the garlic a few weeks before harvest. To determine if the garlic is ready to harvest, inspect several bulbs by thoroughly cleaning the dirt.

When to dig out garlic planted in the winter

A sign of the ripening of garlic is the cessation of the formation of new leaves. In non-streaked varieties, the leaves turn yellow, in those with shooters, the caps on the bulbs crack, dense wrappers form on the bulbs, the head becomes ribbed.

As soon as the leaves begin to turn yellow and dry, it means that the garlic is ripe. Now it is impossible to hesitate with cleaning - if there is a delay, the teeth break the wrapper and crumble, such heads will be unsuitable for long-term storage.

Garlic is harvested in dry weather. Ripe bulbs are dug out with a pitchfork, carefully picked out of the soil and laid out in rows for several days to dry in the sun.

Then the roots and stem are cut with pruning shears, leaving about 1.5 cm. If the stem is shorter, you can damage the hard scales of the cloves, and then the garlic will be poorly stored.

When to harvest spring garlic

Depending on the variety and weather conditions, spring garlic ripens at the end of August or September. The main signs of ripeness:

• lodging of tops;
• drying of the lower leaves;
• yellowing of the upper leaves;
• dying off of roots (they become thin, dark).

Choose dry weather for cleaning. It is impossible to delay harvesting, since in rainy weather the garlic forms new roots and germinates. The bulbs are dug in with a shovel or pitchfork and picked from the soil. Dry them in the air or indoors until the leaves are completely dry.

Then the bulbs are cleaned of the remnants of adhered earth, the roots and the false stem are cut off 4–5 cm above the shoulders. After that, the garlic is finally dried (it should rustle during tedding) and put into storage.

How to store garlic in the winter at home to keep it dry

It is better to process the main part of the crop immediately and make preparations for the winter. The rest is stored until spring in a room where in winter it keeps a rather low, but positive temperature with low air humidity. The prepared heads are placed in boxes, baskets or mesh bags, they can be woven into braids.

At a temperature of 1-3 C, they will remain juicy and fresh for a long time, and until spring they will not germinate or dry out.

Experienced growers know how to properly store garlic at home at room temperature. There are two reliable methods suitable for a city apartment:

1. Well-dried heads of garlic are folded into a canvas bag, tied and put into a plastic bag, leaving it open.
2. Another method - you need to take a jar or a saucepan, pour a 2-3 cm layer of salt on the bottom, then put the heads of garlic and add salt again, etc. The top row must be covered with salt, but it must not be wet.

What can be planted after garlic next year

Garlic can be returned to its original place only after four to five years. As an exception, this is possible, but only if an infection has not accumulated in the soil during the first year of cultivation, which is easy to check if you carefully examine the heads of garlic grown there. If he is completely healthy, without the slightest signs of any lesions, you can take a chance and plant garlic in the same place for the next year, but not more.

It is undesirable to plant onions after garlic, since these crops are affected by the same diseases.

Here's what you can plant after garlic:

• cucumbers;
• zucchini;
• pumpkin;
• early harvested root vegetables and early cabbage;
• all legumes and greens.