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As you know, garlic can be grown in two ways: planted for the winter or in early spring. However, despite the frost resistance of winter varieties, it is important to know how and at what depth to plant cloves. The climate in the Urals and in the Moscow region is significantly different from that in Siberia, therefore, the approach to planting is also different. The topic of this article is how to plant garlic for the winter.
When to plant
You need to plant garlic in the fall, shortly after you remove the predecessors from the garden. Be guided by the weather of your region in the autumn-winter season: you need to plant a crop 30-50 days before the first frost. As you understand, in the Moscow region it can be the beginning or middle of November, while in Siberia it can be the middle or end of October.
Thus, you can plant garlic for the winter from the end of September to the end of October. According to the lunar calendar, the optimal landing dates are September 26, 27, 30, and October 1, 4, 5, 11, 12. During the time elapsed from the moment of planting until the onset of cold weather, the plant has time to develop a root system and take root in the soil, which makes it easy to survive the winter.
How to plant
It is important not only to decide on the landing date, but also to properly prepare the site for this event. Of course, we are talking about fertilizing and disinfecting the soil, marking under the beds and forming holes. You can’t ignore the preparation of the seed, because you can’t just stick garlic cloves or bulbs in so that they grow as they have to.
Preparing garlic
The first stage of preparing garlic for planting is the pre-treatment of the seed material, that is, the cloves. If you are planting garlic for the first time, then make sure that the acquired cloves meet the following requirements:
- were grown in your region;
- were of the same sort;
- were not collected from diseased plants;
- stored correctly.
Only large cloves are worth choosing, as they germinate best and give a larger yield. It is they who need to be soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate or copper sulfate for a day. To prepare a solution of potassium permanganate, dilute the crystals in water so that it turns pink. Or, dissolve 1 tablespoon of copper sulfate in 10 liters of water.
Thus, you will not only disinfect the cloves, but also increase the plant’s immunity to many fungal diseases.
Landing site preparation
In order for the plants to survive the winter well, it is necessary to properly prepare the soil on the site. It is important to choose the right predecessors and observe crop rotation. Garlic grows well after cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, pumpkins, zucchini and berry bushes. That is, mainly after annual crops, which are characterized by rapid vegetation. But after potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, radishes, turnips, carrots, it is better not to plant. The fact is that even taking into account fertilizer, the soil will not have time to recover over the winter, and you will get a doubly depleted site.
Garlic grows well in loamy, neutral soils, so take care to bring the acidity of the soil back to normal.
About a month and a half before planting, that is, in early August, apply fertilizer to the soil. For 1 square meter you will need: 1 bucket of compost or horse manure humus, 1 tablespoon of nitrophoska, 10 g of superphosphate, 1 cup of dolomite flour. A layer of soil 20 centimeters deep should be carefully dug up, then leveled and proceed to the second stage of fertilization. Mark holes for garlic, pour copper sulfate over them, dissolving 10 g of the drug in 40 liters of water. As soon as you finish watering – cover the beds with a film.
To what depth
It is important to correctly determine the landing depth.
If you plant a clove too close to the surface, the plant will not survive the winter, if, on the contrary, plant it too deep, the sprouts will germinate much later.
In the holes prepared in August, 15-17 centimeters deep, pour 2-3 centimeters of river sand. Put cloves in each hole and then mulch with peat mixed with sawdust.
If you are growing a plant from bulbs, then they should be placed at a depth of 3 centimeters, trying to place them more closely to each other. The distance between the bulbs should not exceed 2-3 centimeters.
Before the onset of cold weather, you can cover the beds with polyethylene or roofing material. If they promise a snowless winter, do not remove the shelter, but if it still snows, remove it so that the snow creates a natural shelter.
Once again, briefly about how to grow winter varieties of garlic:
- Be sure to observe crop rotation and not plant a plant two years in a row in the same place. This will help increase the yield and protect crops from fungal diseases. Keep track of what crops grew in the garden before garlic: cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, pumpkins, zucchini, berry bushes will be the best predecessors.
- Be careful with the application of organic fertilizers. Manure will be a good help for winter growth, but without auxiliary soil treatment with dolomite flour or lime, you are more likely to harm the garlic than help it grow.
- Don’t forget to treat the garlic cloves before sowing. Use copper sulfate or a pink solution of potassium permanganate for this. Sow only whole, not spoiled cloves.
- Be careful when planting – do not damage the cloves, try not to deepen them excessively into the soil so as not to complicate the development of the root system.
- Cover the beds with garlic after watering. Thus, you stimulate the plant to grow faster, which will help you meet the winter cold, so to speak, fully armed.
Video “Device for planting garlic”
See what garlic planting technology with a special device can be applied to get the maximum yield with the minimum of effort.