Spring garlic care in the garden
Spring garlic is used in cooking, folk medicine and cosmetology. It is not difficult to grow it, and storage will not be a hassle. Consider how to grow spring garlic in the country, what varieties you should pay attention to and how to properly store it in winter.
Spring garlic care in the garden
Before proceeding to the description of the process of growing a crop, let's talk about the difference between winter garlic and spring garlic. Winter garlic is planted before winter, spring garlic, which is also called summer garlic, is planted in spring. The difference between these types of vegetable crops is that winter varieties do not differ in keeping quality, while spring varieties remain until spring. Outwardly, a spring garlic bulb does not differ from a winter garlic bulb.
Landing dates
Spring garlic is planted in the spring. Determine when to plant spring garlic based on weather conditions. As soon as the soil warms up to 5-6 ° C, they begin to plant the culture. Do not delay planting, since spring garlic develops worse at temperatures exceeding 10 ° C than at 5-6 ° C. In addition, at an air temperature of 10 ° C and above, the growth of its leaves slows down. As a rule, a suitable temperature regime is in late April. In regions with a cold climate, it is better to plant a crop in the first decade of May.
Another important point is soil moisture. Successful root formation occurs provided there is a sufficient amount of moisture, therefore, it is impossible to delay planting cloves or seedlings. They are planted in a viscous soil.
Spring garlic is not afraid of short-term spring frosts. This means that you should not take any measures to warm the landings.
Soil selection
Spring garlic is grown on neutral grounds. Sandy loam and loamy soils are best suited. At the same time, fertilizers are necessarily applied to the soil in the fall, therefore, from that time on, it is determined where to plant the garlic.
The best fertilizer for this crop is compost. For every 2 sq. m. make a bucket of compost or humus. Wood ash and mineral fertilizers are also added to the soil. For 1 sq. m should have 3 glasses of ash and 20 g of fertilizers. The choice is stopped on complex mineral fertilizers.
Spring garlic is a light-loving plant that does not like wind. It must be grown on a site that satisfies both requirements as much as possible. The plant especially does not like the northern cold wind. In low-lying areas, where moisture is retained, the plant rots.
Crop rotation
Crop rotation is an important agrotechnical measure for this crop. You cannot grow a plant in the same area every year. Soils become infected with fungal and bacterial diseases typical of garlic. In addition, parasite larvae remain in the soil. The landing site is changed every 3-4 years.
Another need to change the land plot is due to the fact that garlic takes certain nutrients from the soil, as a result of which the soil for growing this crop becomes poor.
The plant needs nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Accordingly, crops that require other nutrients should be planted after and before the garlic. The best precursors for spring garlic are squash, cucumber, cabbage, or squash. It is also permissible to plant garlic after herbs, cereals and legumes.
Do not plant cabbage, peas or beans near the plant. It oppresses these cultures. Strawberries, currants, cucumbers, potatoes, gooseberries, roses, gladioli or tulips will become good neighbors.
Variety selection
Planting, growing and caring for spring garlic will not cause much trouble if you choose the right variety. The best today are the following varieties of spring garlic: Gulliver, Yelenovsky, Casablanca, Solent, Veleten, Alkor, Flavor. They are all resistant to fungal diseases. Let's take a closer look at the Yield and ripening period of each variety.
- Gulliver. It is a large arrowhead variety. Gulliver needs 85-95 days to ripen. Bulb weight varies between 100-120 g. The bulb consists of 4-5 cloves. The variety has a large bulb diameter. Productivity - 98 tons per hectare.
- Yelenovsky. The ripening period of this non-shooting Russian variety is 90-95 days. Bulb weight varies between 13-36 g. Up to 6 cloves are formed in one bulb. Productivity - 32 tons per hectare.
- Casablanca. The ripening period of the variety bred in Holland is 85-90 days. Bulb weight varies within 45-50 g. In one medium-sized onion, from 8 to 12 cloves are formed. Productivity - 90 tons per hectare.
- Solent. The ripening period for this large and non-shooting English variety is 108-112 days. Bulb weight varies in the range of 80-130 g. From 9 to 18 cloves are formed in one bulb. The yield of the Solent variety is about 20 tons per hectare.
- Veleta. This non-shooting Ukrainian variety is suitable for both spring and autumn planting. Unlike winter varieties, it keeps well in winter. The variety needs 87-90 days to ripen. Bulb weight varies between 30-50 g. A medium-sized bulb consists of 8-10 cloves. Productivity - 20 tons per hectare.
- Alcor. The ripening period of this Russian variety, which gives arrows, is 85-95 days. Bulb weight varies between 15-35 g. In one bulb, 4 to 6 cloves are formed. Productivity - 30 tons per hectare.
- Flavor. This is a non-shooting large French variety. Ripening period - 90-95 days. The mass of the bulb, which looks unusual due to the arrangement of the cloves in 2 rows, varies between 70-80 g. From 15 to 20 small cloves are formed in one bulb. Productivity - 40 tons per hectare.
The varieties that shoot the arrow are propagated by cloves and seeds. A single-tooth is grown from the seeds, from which, after planting, a full-fledged head of garlic grows. Reproduction of non-streaked varieties occurs with cloves. They do not give seeds.
Landing
Garlic rises quickly
Conventionally, the planting of spring garlic can be divided into several stages. Let's dwell on each of them separately.
- Before planting spring garlic, you need to prepare the planting material. The heads are divided into teeth. Small teeth are not suitable for planting. They are only suitable for growing seed. All planting material is soaked for 12 hours in a solution of nitroammophoska (6 g per 1 liter of water). 30 minutes before planting in the ground, the cloves are soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Garlic is soaked to speed up the root formation process. The variety is suitable for growing in central Russia.
- Before planting spring garlic in the ground, prepare a site. Presowing preparation includes loosening and assessing soil moisture. Loosening is carried out using a rake. Next, they look at the degree of soil moisture. The area should not be excessively wet. If necessary, allow the earth to dry out.
- Furrows are made for planting vegetable crops.According to agricultural standards, the distance between the rows should be about 27 cm.The culture is planted to a depth of 3-3.5 cm.According to the planting scheme, the distance between the teeth should be at least 6 cm.Large teeth are laid out at a distance of 10 cm.
- The planting material is laid out. It is placed on the surface of the ground, not pressed. Otherwise, the soil inhibits the development of the root system.
- The planting material is covered with soil. The planting of spring garlic does not end there. The beds are lightly leveled with a rake and covered with a layer of mulch. For mulching, humus is used, which saturates the earth with nutrients. An alternative is compost or peat.
The first leaves appear 10-14 days after planting. The active development of leaves begins when the temperature rises to 10-14 ° C.
To increase the yield of the crop, a month before planting, the cloves are transferred to a colder room (cellar or garage, for example).
Care
Caring for a vegetable crop includes watering, feeding, loosening the soil and destroying weeds. Loosening of the beds is carried out on the second day after watering. During loosening, weeding is carried out.
Watering
Watering the beds should be moderate, from the first day after planting, otherwise the culture will rot. Depending on weather conditions, in early spring, watering is carried out 1-2 times a week, and closer to summer - 3-4. After the bulb has formed, the frequency of watering is reduced to 1 time per week. As a rule, the formation of the bulb ends after the appearance of 6 leaves. Watering is stopped in the second half of August.
The lack of moisture can be judged by the dried tips of the leaves. Vegetable crops are watered exclusively with settled water. Be sure to loosen the soil after watering: The earth crust prevents the penetration into the air.
Top dressing
Top dressing of spring garlic involves the introduction of organic and mineral fertilizers into the soil. The first time the plant is fed after the appearance of the first shoots. This should be nitrogen fertilization. Mullein, bird droppings, or herbal infusions will do. It is permissible to simply spread humus on the beds. After feeding, watering is carried out. It is undesirable to feed plants with fresh manure.
After 14 days, a second feeding of the vegetable crop is carried out. It involves the introduction of liquid mineral fertilizers. Preference is given to complex fertilizers.
After the formation of 6 leaves, a third top dressing is performed. It involves the introduction of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. Wood ash can be used. An alternative option is mineral fertilizers. Ash feeding can be continued until mid-August.
When growing crops on fertile and well-cultivated lands, you can do without top dressing.
Cleaning and storage
The shelf life of spring garlic depends on how correctly the harvest is harvested and prepared for storage.
Cleaning
To understand when to harvest spring garlic, you need to monitor the condition of the leaves. In a mature culture, they turn yellow and wither. As a rule, spring garlic is harvested in the second half of September. In the southern regions, the culture is dug up earlier than in the north-west of the country. You can speed up the ripening process of the culture. To do this, each leaf is tied in a knot. Leaves should be tied in weak knots. This action is performed 30 days before harvest.
Dig the crop only in sunny weather. During cleaning, they act carefully: mechanical damage to the teeth negatively affects their keeping quality. Harvesting from the garden immediately after harvesting is not worth it. It should dry in the open air for 40-60 minutes. If the soil is wet, spread the crop on a tarp.
Harvesting can be done manually or using special equipment.
Storage
After harvesting, the garlic is sent to the attic or garage to dry.You can dry ripe heads in the fresh air, but they should be under a canopy. Exposure to direct sunlight negatively affects the shelf life of the crop. The heads can be dried on nets or suspended. If drying is carried out in a suspended state, then the heads are tied in bundles of 4-5 pieces.
After finishing drying the crop, cut off the dried leaves and weave the heads into braids. To preserve the harvest at home until spring, the leaves are cut at a distance of 6-8 cm from the neck. You can store crops in linen bags or cardboard boxes, but braided garlic lasts longer than bagged or boxed garlic.
Diseases
In the spring, it is important to provide the vegetable crop with proper care, otherwise it will be struck by an ailment.
The nature of the disease is determined by the appearance of the plant.
Fungal diseases
The most common diseases are fusarium, white rot, rust, neck rot, black and green mold. All of these diseases are caused by fungi. You can identify fungal diseases by the appearance of the leaves. Yellow spots appear on them, which darken over time. The teeth either become watery and start to rot, or shrivel and dry out.
Treatment of these diseases is impossible - you have to destroy the affected plants. The main preventive measure is the observance of crop rotation and the use of good planting material. After sowing, diseased plants grow from the affected teeth.
Viral and bacterial diseases
These diseases are less common. Cloves damaged by bacterial diseases are poorly stored. Their bottoms rot or sores appear. Symptoms of viral diseases are slow growth, deformation and chloroticity of the leaves.
To treat the listed ailments, pesticides are used. The last processing is carried out 30 days before harvest. A preventive measure is the treatment of planting material with TMTD.
Pests
Vegetable crops are susceptible to attack by stem nematode, onion fly, onion moth, onion leaf beetle and onion grinder. For the prevention and control of pests, pesticides are used. There are also folk remedies, but they are ineffective.