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Growing garlic is considered an economically profitable activity. Its planting and subsequent care do not require special knowledge, and the high resistance of the culture to cold and disease allows you to collect a fairly decent harvest from one hundred square meters. Usually, winter varieties of garlic are planted for sale, as it has a higher yield, which, however, also depends on many factors.
The yield of garlic
Garlic is a high-yielding crop – if you follow the rules of planting and proper care, you can grow 1-100 kg of product on 150 weave, while planting a plot of one weave requires about 10 kg of planting material.
However, the yield of a crop can depend on many factors, which we will discuss in detail below. But first of all, you need to name the following:
- Landing time. It is known that winter varieties allow you to get a higher yield due to the large weight of the heads, but summer (spring) varieties can be stored longer.
- Culture type. To increase yields, varieties with large heads, resistant to diseases and well preserved, should be chosen.
- The climate of the region. Despite the fact that cloves germinate even in cold soil, too severe winters can lead to partial freezing of winter crops. At the same time, too warm climate contributes to premature germination of teeth.
- Weather. If all the previous factors are easy to take into account and control, then you can’t argue with the weather. Very often, plants die because the summer turned out to be rainy or abnormally hot.
Naturally, by growing garlic bulbs for sale, each farmer expects to get the maximum yield from each hundred square meters. But before calculating how much useful product can be removed from one hundred square meters of land, analyze well whether the climate of your region is suitable for large-scale cultivation of garlic.
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How to get a rich harvest
Garlic does not belong to capricious crops, but in order to obtain a high and high-quality crop, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of its cultivation. First of all, it is necessary to create suitable conditions – to choose the right place, prepare the soil, select and process seeds for sowing. Further, one should strictly adhere to the rules of agricultural technology, as well as have time to harvest the crop on time and save it.
Proper preparation of soil and garlic for planting
Poor soil or improper soil preparation is one of the most common reasons why the yield of garlic per hectare is reduced. Thin sprouts cannot break through hard and heavy soil, so the plants develop poorly, which, of course, affects the total yield. Whatever variety is planted, winter or summer, the bed for planting must be prepared in advance.
The site for winter varieties is dug up 2–4 weeks before sowing the teeth, for summer varieties – from autumn, so that in April, as soon as the snow melts, seeds (teeth) can be planted. The earth is dug up to a depth of 20–30 cm, fertilizers are applied to it, and they are allowed to settle a little.
The place for the garden bed is crucial – the site for planting garlic cloves should be located in an open, well-lit place. It is important that the site is not in a lowland, as water will accumulate on it, and this can lead to rotting of the roots and death of plants.
Winter garlic grows best on loose sandy soils. During digging, humus or compost 5 kg / 1 m², as well as superphosphate (30 g) and potassium salt (20 g) are introduced into the soil. If the soil is heavy, river sand is added to improve its drainage properties.
Soil acidity should be neutral. If the soil in your area is slightly acidic, you should add lime 1 glass / 1 m² or dolomite chips in the same amount. A couple of days before planting the teeth, ammonium nitrate 10 g / 1 m² is introduced into the soil.
Sometimes solutions of salt or copper sulfate are used to disinfect the soil. It is believed that after such treatment, the garlic does not get sick and grows better. Disinfectant solutions are prepared in the proportion of 40 g of vitriol per 10 liters of water, or 1 glass of salt per 1 bucket of water. Means plentifully water the earth about a week before planting.
Seed material must also be prepared before planting in the ground. To begin with, the largest and healthiest heads should be selected, then divided into individual teeth.
Spring garlic begins to cook about a month before sowing. To do this, the teeth are placed in the cold (refrigerator) for 2-3 weeks. Stratification (cooling process) contributes to the fact that getting into a humid and warm environment, the teeth begin to grow especially intensively.
Winter garlic does not need stratification – it only needs disinfection before planting. To disinfect the teeth, solutions of salt, vitriol or potassium permanganate are used. In a saline solution (3 spoons / 5 l of water), the seeds are kept for 2 minutes, in a solution of potassium permanganate – a couple of hours, in a solution of vitriol (1 spoon / 10 l of water) – no more than 1 minute.
After that, the teeth can be planted in the ground.
Sowing
Winter garlic is sown in late September – early October, when the soil cools down to 10-12 ° C. Approximately 1,5 months remain before the onset of constant cold weather – this time is enough for the teeth to take root and germinate to a depth of 8–10 cm, but do not have time to sprout.
On a pre-prepared bed, longitudinal furrows are made 8–10 cm deep at a distance of 10–20 cm from each other. There are various planting schemes for winter varieties: single rows at a distance of 12–15 cm or double rows at a distance of 8 cm and 20 cm between rows.
Some vegetable growers sprinkle sand or ash on the bottom of the row to prevent premature rotting of the teeth in case of a rainy autumn.
If you are growing garlic in a dry, temperate climate, this procedure is not necessary.
Next, we proceed directly to the landing. The teeth are buried vertically in the ground, with the bottom down – it is necessary to ensure that they do not lean during sprinkling with earth. The distance between large teeth is approximately 10 cm, between medium ones – 8 cm. It is better not to use small specimens – they will lag behind in growth.
The teeth are deepened so that 4–5 cm remain to the soil surface. With a shallower planting, they can freeze out. Next, the furrows are covered with soil, compacted a little and the bed is covered with a 2-3 cm layer of mulching organic material – peat, humus.
Spring garlic is sown in early spring one of the first – in early April, but no later than the first decade of the month. Spring varieties feel great in cold soil and are even able to germinate at a temperature of 6 ° C, so you should not be afraid that the teeth will freeze. Winter garlic at this time can be freed from mulch so that it does not swell.
Care
Garlic is unpretentious in care. In early spring, winter beds must be carefully and shallowly loosened so as to only soften the crust, but not damage the plants that have not yet sprouted.
When the soil dries out, starting in May and throughout June, seedlings may need to be watered. How much and when to water depends on the weather: if it is hot and dry, you can water it every 3-4 days, if the weather is cloudy and cool – 1 time in 7-10 days. In rainy weather, the beds are not watered. 2-3 weeks before harvest, watering is completely stopped to allow the heads to dry and ripen.
Arrows often form on winter garlic. They must be removed as they appear, since the size of the heads and, accordingly, the yield depend on this.
For the entire growing season, garlic is fed three times:
- when the first shoots appear, a solution of urea (1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water) or liquid mullein is poured under the root;
- after about 2 weeks, they are fed with nitroammophos (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water), for winter plants it is useful to add a little humus to the soil;
- spring varieties must be fed again before ripening with organic matter or phosphorus-potassium mixtures; for winter, this top dressing is not necessary.
It is important to accurately calculate how much fertilizer to apply for each 1 m² of beds, since excessive fertilizing harms garlic: organic ones lead to soil compaction and an increase in green mass to the detriment of the bulbs, while mineral ones affect the quality and taste of the bulbs.
Fighting diseases and pests
Garlic is considered a disease-resistant crop, since it contains many bioactive substances and esters that give plants high antiseptic properties. However, sometimes it happens that the leaves become covered with rusty spots, turn yellow, and deform. If the cause of this phenomenon is a lack of moisture and nutrients, then watering and spraying with nutrient solutions solve the problem.
But if the cause of plant disease lies in the defeat of fungal or any other microbial flora (powdery mildew, fusarium, bacteriosis, rot, mold), then treatment with medicinal preparations such as Bordeaux mixture, copper sulfate, copper oxychloride, Fitosporin is indispensable.
Very often garlic beds are attacked by insects: onion moth, root and soil mites, caterpillars, nematodes. When insects or clutches of their eggs are found, the plants are treated with ash solutions or sprinkled with mixtures of ash and lime in a ratio of 1: 1, sand and naphthalene (10: 1) with a frequency of 1 time per week. All procedures (spraying, watering) are carried out in the evening, when there is no sun, and only during the growing season, before harvesting, the beds are not watered with anything.
The main preventive measures are prolonged heating of the teeth after digging, their disinfection before planting, and crop rotation. It is very important not to plant a crop for more than 2 years in a row in one place, and also carefully monitor who was the predecessor of garlic – many vegetable crops infect the soil with harmful microorganisms, which negatively affects growth and yield.
companion plants
Despite the fact that garlic itself is sometimes exposed to diseases and is eaten by insects, for neighboring plants it is a natural fungicide – a means to combat fungal infections. In addition, the garlic aroma is not to the taste of many insects, and the phytoncides secreted by the plant suppress the activity of pathogenic bacteria in the ground, which contributes to the improvement of the soil.
Beds with potatoes and tomatoes will benefit from the neighborhood with garlic, since Colorado potato beetles do not like its aroma. Next to him, these crops also suffer less from rust on the leaves and late blight. Planting garlic next to cabbage and strawberry beds will protect the plants from being eaten by caterpillars and snails.
Garlic will also become a useful neighbor for many other vegetables: carrots, cucumbers, any greens, leafy salads. He will save them from annoying flies and fleas, often eating the ground part of vegetables. To get rid of insects, teeth are planted even between bushes and rows.
Some berry bushes will be grateful to garlic for the “partnership”: currants, raspberries. It is noted that these horticultural crops suffer less from aphids from such a neighborhood, which often eats their leaves. Of the flowers, gladioli, tulips, and especially roses feel great next to garlic. Next to an antiseptic plant, their leaves do not become stained, but remain green all summer.
At first glance, it may seem that garlic is a real healer for neighboring plants. However, not for everyone. Not a single legume categorically coexists next to it. Peas, beans, lentils, and beans grow poorly next to garlic, practically do not bloom, which affects their productivity.
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