Before planting garlic, you need to prepare the bed. But the preparation time and technology directly depends on the type of plant. For winter garlic, we need a bed in the fall, and for spring garlic – in the spring. Why is the bed for garlic prepared in advance? Planting any culture involves maintaining certain parameters. It:
- temperature regime;
- soil composition and fertility;
- soil preparation (digging, loosening);
- depth and landing pattern;
- compliance with crop rotation.
Planting bulbs without these requirements will result in reduced yield and quality of mature bulbs.
First, we determine what type of garlic we plant. Many gardeners grow both types. Winter will rise earlier and give a harvest. The heads will be larger than those of the spring, but the keeping quality is worse. On the contrary, spring is well stored, but its bulbs are smaller and it sprouts later. Therefore, by planting both types in the country, you can fully meet the need for garlic. But consider the climatic features of the region. In some areas, winter grows better, and in others – spring. A bed for garlic is prepared depending on the choice of variety.
To avoid mistakes, let’s start in order.
Site Selection
Here it is important to take into account the requirements of the plant in order to place the bed in the most advantageous place. Culture loves the sun and a moderate amount of moisture. In the area where the bed is planned for garlic, water should not stagnate, especially melted snow. Garlic will behave worse on the shady side of the site, in the lowlands. If the terrain of the site does not allow for landing a place with the necessary parameters, then the way out will be in the design of high ridges.
The second criterion when choosing a place for the beds is the observance of crop rotation. Do not plant bulbs in the same area two years in a row. Between plantings in one bed stand at least three years. It is also important to consider what culture was the predecessor of garlic in the garden.
Spring grows well on loam, winter prefers sandy loam.
Landing time
The winter species should fall into the ground no earlier than 1-1,5 months before the onset of stable frosts. Otherwise, it will sprout before the onset of winter, and the seedlings will die from frost.
After planting, the teeth should take root, this process takes 3 weeks. If the root system has managed to form, then the plant is no longer afraid of frost. It is ideal to appoint an autumn planting in the middle lane at the end of September or the beginning of October. In other regions, the deadlines will have to be shifted to the end of October – the beginning of November. Spring species should be planted in spring.
For the formation of the bulb, certain conditions are needed. The type of garlic planted at the wrong time will not give a decent harvest and quality of the heads.
Preparing beds for planting
The technology for preparing beds for spring or winter garlic is not fundamentally different. But some nuances still exist. Let’s look at the general requirements first.
Preparing a bed for garlic begins with improving the structure of the soil.
- For clay – we bring in 1 sq. meter one bucket of sand and peat.
- Peat requires the addition of sand and loam.
- Sandy – we structure with two buckets of clay soil and one bucket of peat.
To enrich and increase the fertility of the land, it is necessary to add organic matter to the garden. For any type of soil, compost or humus is suitable. Chalk or dolomite flour (1 cup), potassium sulfate (2 tablespoons), wood ash (2 cups) are added to it. Such a composition is necessary when the garden bed is located on uncultivated land. If manure has already been applied under the previous crop, then you can do without adding organic matter.
Key events
For any garlic, preparing the beds requires digging. Fertilizers in the right composition are evenly distributed over the marked area. Then they dig up the earth to the depth of a shovel bayonet, at the same time forming a bed for garlic. The optimal dimensions are a width of 1 meter, a height of 20 cm. When digging, immediately remove the roots of weeds so that in spring the seedlings of garlic do not get lost among the riot of herbs. Now the soil is loosened and the bed is left for a couple of weeks to settle.
Loosening will help to saturate the earth with oxygen, and the sediment of the soil will prevent the teeth from deepening above normal. To make the earth settle better, spill the bed under the garlic with water. Of course, if it rains, then this can not be done.
Another recommendation for summer residents. Well, immediately before planting the bulbs, shed the ground with an antifungal compound. For this purpose, you can take copper sulfate (1 tablespoon), dilute in hot water (2 liters). Then add cold water to the volume of the bucket and water the bed. A bucket will be enough for 2 m2 area. Now it remains to cover the bed under the garlic with a film and leave it alone until the planting date.
There is another way to prepare beds for garlic using white mustard seeds or a mixture of peas and oats. In this case, the technology is as follows:
At the end of summer, mineral fertilizers with organic matter are applied. This is best done in the second half of August. The number of nutritional components does not differ from the above. Dig up the bed, spill it with water for quick shrinkage of the soil. With this method, copper sulfate is not used. After planting the earth, seeds are sown in rows parallel to the planned garlic rows. Row spacing is maintained at 30-40 cm. By the time garlic is planted, green sprouts will already sprout on the beds, between which garlic cloves are planted. This technology will protect garlic beds from snow at the beginning of winter.
Two days before planting the bulbs, urea (urea) is scattered on the beds. Enough half a tablespoon per square. ground meter. In the absence of moisture, the bed is additionally watered.
Preparing a bed for spring garlic in the fall will be much more profitable. Preparations begin a little later than for winter – at the end of October.
Scatter the urea over the beds in early spring before planting. This is one of the differences in preparing beds for different types of garlic. The optimal time for spring planting is scheduled for the second half of March – the beginning of April. In this case, the crop will be ready for harvest in September.
Additional processing ridges
Proper processing of ridges for garlic will allow you to get a healthy, high-quality crop. Disinfection of the earth is an important point. It helps prevent the development of many diseases. For these purposes, gardeners use:
- antifungal drugs “Fitosporin”, “Topsin-M”;
- antiseptic “Radomil Gold” or “Acrobat”.
In addition to a solution of copper sulphate, the following are used for soil treatment:
- potassium permanganate, or rather, its strong solution of saturated color;
- Bordeaux mixture by dissolving 100 g of the component in a bucket of water;
- a mixture of boric acid, potassium permanganate, copper sulfate (1 gram of each drug per 1 liter of water).
Careful preparation of the soil in the beds for garlic ensures healthy bulbs. If you follow all the recommendations, it turns out to be not so difficult. For experienced gardeners, nutrition, loosening, ridge layout and soil disinfection are commonplace. It remains not to miss the deadlines so that the garlic rises and ripens on time. Then the piquant plant will please with a good harvest.
