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Almost all gardeners grow garlic. Those who have been engaged in culture for many years know very well that top dressing of garlic in the spring is a mandatory procedure. Without it, it is difficult to grow a good crop. Feeding a spicy vegetable is not so difficult, the main thing is proper care and the choice of the right fertilizer.
After top dressing, the plant gains strength, grows not only greens, but also a large head with many vigorous fragrant cloves. Therefore, it is not worth forgetting, and even more so neglecting the spring feeding of spicy culture. Our article is intended for beginner vegetable growers, but we think it will be interesting for the “old men”.
Types of garlic
Garlic can be planted before winter or early spring, as soon as the soil is ripe. The planting method also affects the name of the species – winter and spring.
Cloves planted in autumn germinate very early, releasing green feathers. Spring garlic is only planted at this time. Naturally, the ripening of these types of spicy vegetables occurs with a difference of almost a month.
The first dressing of garlic, whether winter or spring, takes place in early spring. Vegetables receive the first dose of trace elements and nutrients from a well-fertilized garden bed.
Spring fertilizer of garlic, like all the previous ones, is combined with regular watering.
Top dressing of both types of spicy vegetables is carried out three times in the spring. The first spring top dressing of winter garlic is carried out immediately after the snow melts, and spring – after 3-4 feathers appear. Second time in 14 days. Third time in June when heads are formed.
What to feed
The question of what fertilizers to feed garlic in the spring quite often arises among gardeners, especially beginners. It should be noted that in the spring you need to fertilize the bed with garlic with humus or compost well, add wood ash to the soil. If gardeners do not neglect mineral fertilizers, then ammonium nitrate (20-25 g) is applied per square meter to stimulate the growth of green mass.
During the first spring feeding use a solution of urea (carbamide). One tablespoon is enough for a ten-liter container. Urea is poured on each square of 3 liters.
Second time in spring garlic is fed with nitrophoska or nitroammofoska. When preparing the solution, you will need two large spoons per 10 liters of clean water. Garlic beds need 4 liters of this nutrient solution per square. This useful fertilizer for garlic will feed the plants with phosphorus.
Fertilizing garlic beds in early spring with mineral fertilizers does not end there. The third time use superphosphate. The working solution is prepared from two tablespoons of fertilizer per ten-liter watering can. This portion of the solution is enough for two square meters of garlic beds.
How to care for garlic in the spring, you can learn from the video:
Leaf nutrition
Top dressing of garlic and onions in spring and summer is carried out not only under the root, but also along the leaves. In other words, foliar plant nutrition is one of the principles of proper care. Vegetable feathers are able to receive trace elements through the green mass. You can use any mineral or organic fertilizers, only the solution needs a lower concentration.
Spray the spicy vegetable in the evening or early in the morning before the sun has risen. Foliar top dressing is carried out twice during the vegetative season. But in order to get a rich harvest of garlic, so that a large number of cloves form in the heads, you do not need to give up root dressings.
Feathers turned yellow, what to do
For vegetable growers who started growing garlic for the first time, the question arises why the leaves turn yellow, despite the care, how to deal with the problem. To return the plants to their previous appearance, you must first find out what is the cause. Most often, the leaves may turn yellow due to a violation of the vegetable growing technology, pest attacks, or you simply forgot to feed the garlic in the spring.
If the plants were not fed in a timely manner, root or foliar dressing of garlic can be used to eliminate yellowed feathers. For watering under the root in a bucket of water, 1 tablespoon of fertilizer.
Saline
Watering plants with a saline solution saturates the soil with sodium and chlorine. Add 10 tablespoons to 3 liters of water. Up to three liters of solution are poured onto one square. Salt is not only a top dressing for garlic in the spring, but also helps to get rid of onion flies, aphids, secretive proboscis. Salt solution is also used in case of yellowing and drying of feathers.
Folk remedies
Many vegetable growers use people-tested means to feed garlic: wood ash, ammonia, yeast nutrient mixtures.
Wood Ash
Previously, our grandmothers used ash for almost all garden crops. When planting garlic, it was added in dry form before digging the ground, sprinkled under the plants. Ash solutions for feeding were also widely used: 100 grams of ash was added to a ten-liter bucket, mixed well and poured into the grooves between plantings. Then they covered it with soil.
Sal ammoniac
Ammonia is treated with garlic plantings not only as a fertilizer, but also as protection against pests. It contains ammonia with a pungent odor. It repels pests, primarily the onion fly and the secretive proboscis. Plants get the nitrogen they need. It is easily absorbed by plants, but does not accumulate in them. Therefore, the ammonia solution can be safely poured under the garlic or sprayed with it. Add 3 tablespoons of the solution to a bucket of water. Such procedures can be carried out several times per season.
Chicken droppings
When feathers are yellow or stunted, chicken manure is often used. It contains a large number of useful elements for plants:
- cobalt;
- wrinkle;
- zinc;
- sulfur;
Chicken manure will improve the structure of the soil, beneficial bacteria will develop better in it. And this, in turn, will have a positive effect on productivity. In addition, watering garlic beds with chicken manure in early spring will help the plants cope with temperature changes.
One part of the litter is poured with 15 parts of water and left to ferment. So that the unpleasant smell does not interfere with working in the garden, it is better to cover the container. The finished solution will become dark in color. Add 1 liter of infusion to a bucket of water.
Carrying out the spring dressing of garlic with chicken manure accelerates the growth of plants.
Yeast dressing
Nutrition for spicy vegetables can be made from wet or dry yeast. The main thing is not to overdo it, otherwise the effect may be negative.
Yeast (10 g), sugar (5-6 large spoons), chicken manure (0,5 kg), wood ash (0,5 kg) are added to a ten-liter container. Fermentation lasts no more than two hours. The resulting composition is added one liter per ten-liter bucket and watered under the root.
To summarize
Caring for planting garlic is not so difficult. Of course, novice gardeners will have to work hard, study useful materials. The main thing to remember is that you need to comply with agricultural standards.
Plant nutrition during the vegetative period should be not just the norm for gardeners, but a duty. Only in this case can you get large heads of spicy vegetables.