When is it customary to harvest winter garlic in the Urals
Growing winter garlic in the Urals requires special knowledge. Many novice farmers are concerned about the timing of the harvest. First of all, one should take into account the peculiarities of the climate in order to understand when garlic is harvested in the Urals.
Harvesting winter garlic in the Urals
Ripening period
The ripening time will greatly depend on how high-quality care the farmer can provide and climatic characteristics. The ripening period of winter garlic is 100-110 days from the moment the first shoots appear, spring garlic ripens 15-20 days longer.
It is very important to provide good plant care during the summer. If the summer is too dry, additional watering is needed, otherwise the teeth will be small, shriveled.
Tips for gardeners
It is important to remember that garlic cannot tolerate acidic soils at all.
- When planting winter varieties, fertilizers should be applied in advance, under the previous crop.
- The introduction of nitrogenous fertilizers during the growing season will help to significantly improve the keeping quality of garlic in the future.
- If the soil is depleted, then at all stages of growth it is recommended to make additional fertilizing to activate it, this will also speed up the ripening process and improve the quality of the fruit.
An important step in ensuring the quality of the crop is cutting the arrows. The moment of the formation of arrows cannot be missed, otherwise the roots will be small. They should be removed when they reach a height of 10 cm from the ground level. If you do not remove the arrows, the roots will quickly become unusable, and they certainly will not lie down in the winter.
Features of varieties
Winter garlic of hybrid varieties has a high resistance to fungal diseases, and also ripens faster. Below is a list of hybrid varieties suitable for breeding in the Urals.
- Scythian belongs to mid-season varieties. It can multiply by denticles or air caps. The bulb has a dense pulp, the scales on it have a lilac hue. Has a high resistance to bacteriosis and white rot.
- Gradekovsky - early ripening, winter type of garlic. Ripens within 80-86 days. The denticles, like the scales, are painted in a pale lilac shade.
- Bashkir also belongs to the early maturing species. Matures in 85-90 days. The cloves are dense, have a pungent pungent taste. The scales of the bulb are pale purple, almost white, the airy bulb is painted in a bright purple color.
- Lyubasha - this species is quite popular in the Urals. Its shelf life is 10 months from the date of harvest. The variety is distinguished by high drought resistance and frost resistance. Ripens in about 100-110 days.
- Bogatyr - has proven himself in the Urals. A feature of the species are the heads, consisting of 10 heads. Its yield is completely unaffected by the peculiarities of care and the type of soil. Ripening usually takes 90-100 days.
Definition of ripeness
There are several ways to make sure winter or spring garlic is ready to harvest. The soil around the stem should be gently scooped up with your hands and the bulb should be examined.If the structure of the husk is dense, you can start cleaning. Otherwise, the earth must be gently shoved back, covering the rhizome.
Garlic must be ripe
Another indicator of ripeness is the terrestrial part of the plants. The foliage begins to change color from green to yellow, falls on the ground. The main stem becomes soft. Cracks appear on the inflorescences. The husks from the heads should peel off easily. Plants should be checked not on one row, but on all plants at once, in order to be completely sure that all the bulbs are ripe.
2-3 weeks before harvesting, you should stop watering the plants in order to be able to control the ripening process. In addition, this move helps protect the bulbs from fungal attack. You can also remove the arrows and knot the yellow leaves. This will redirect all nutrients to the rhizome and prevent the plant from developing the ground portion at this stage.
Harvest
One of the most crucial moments when growing winter garlic in the Urals is harvesting from the beds.
Having determined that the crop is fully ripe, it is very important to start harvesting immediately. When overexposed in soil, the plant loses many of its properties and is worse stored in winter. It does not matter which species was grown on the site: spring or winter.
Garlic should not be removed, unless in a situation when there is slush on the street. Then it is better to wait until the weather is normal. It is best to harvest garlic in dry, calm weather, when the sun does not bake too much. It is better to dig up roots in the morning or in the evening.
Dig up the garlic very carefully so as not to damage the heads. Use a pitchfork or a shovel for this. It is highly discouraged to shake off the soil from root crops with a shovel or pitchfork; this must be done with a glove. When all the fruits are on the surface, they should be thoroughly dried. This will help rid the roots of some bacteria and help preserve the crop in winter.
Ideal if you can leave the heads in the sun for several hours. The drying process will take about 5 days. Then the tops should be cut, leaving 5 cm of the stem. Another option for preparing for storage is rinsing the heads in cool water. After that, they should be hung up to dry so that the water drains into the pan. After drying, the stems are cut, and the roots are left to dry for a week under a canopy.
What threatens untimely cleaning
If the garlic is not removed from the beds in time, the consequences can be dire:
- the husk cracks;
- overdried heads begin to disintegrate into separate teeth;
- some parts of the bulb begin to re-root and germinate.
Any delay can threaten a complete loss of the crop. Garlic may become unusable. Compliance with the rules of cleaning, drying and storage guarantees high safety throughout the entire winter period. Do not forget that watering and fertilizing should be stopped a month before digging.
How to preserve the harvest
The keeping quality of root crops depends not only on correct harvesting and adherence to deadlines. When storing root crops, it is important to ensure normal indoor conditions. Over the years, many ways have been invented to preserve root crops until spring. The oldest method is storage in braids. Garlic braids are hung in dry, dark rooms.
Another safe bet is storage in nets or linen bags. The nets must first be soaked in saline and dried. If the room is slightly humid, you should sprinkle the root crops with onion husks. It will absorb excess moisture and allow you to preserve the garlic. Store winter garlic at a temperature not exceeding 10 ℃.
Final part
When growing a garlic crop in the Urals, one should take into account the climatic conditions of the region in order to understand when it is best to start digging up root crops.You should not rely only on the standards described in the books, you should also take into account the characteristics of the varieties. When growing garlic, you should give preference only to zoned varieties.
The ripening time will largely depend on the care and growing conditions. The type of soil also plays an important role. Garlic crops will stagnate in acidic soils, so regular application of a certain type of fertilizer will help speed up the ripening process.