Content
Before planting the garlic, you need to prepare the garden bed. But the preparation time and technology directly depends on the type of plant. For winter garlic, we need a garden bed in the fall, and for spring garlic, in the spring. Why is the garlic bed prepared in advance? Planting any crop involves maintaining certain parameters. It:
- temperature regime;
- composition and fertility of the soil;
- soil preparation (digging, loosening);
- landing depth and pattern;
- compliance with crop rotation.
Planting bulbs without considering these requirements will result in reduced yield and quality of mature bulbs.
First, we decide what kind of garlic we plant. Many gardeners grow both types. The winter crop will rise earlier and yield the 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 take into account the climatic features of the region. In some areas, winter grows better, and in others - spring. The garlic bed is prepared depending on the choice of the variety.
To avoid mistakes, let's start in order.
Seat selection
Here it is important to take into account the requirements of the plant in order to place the garden bed in the most advantageous place. The culture loves sun and moderate moisture. On the site where a garden bed is planned, water should not stagnate, especially melted snow. Garlic will behave worse on the shady side of the plot, in the lowlands. If the relief of the site does not allow allocating a place with the necessary parameters for landing, then the exit will be in the design of high ridges.
The second criterion when choosing a place for a garden bed is compliance with crop rotation. Do not plant bulbs in the same area for two years in a row. Between plantings in one bed, they are kept for at least three years. It is also important to consider which crop was the predecessor of garlic in the garden.
Spring grows well on loams, winter prefers sandy loam.
Landing time
The winter species must enter the ground no earlier than 1-1.5 months before the onset of stable frosts. Otherwise, it will rise 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 frosts are no longer terrible for the plant. It is ideal to schedule 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. The spring species should be planted in the spring.
For the formation of the bulb, certain conditions are required. The type of garlic planted at the wrong time will not give a decent harvest and the quality of the heads.
Preliminary preparation of the beds for planting
The technology for preparing beds for spring or winter garlic is not fundamentally different. But some nuances still exist. Let us first dwell on the general requirements.
Preparing a bed for garlic begins with improving the structure of the soil.
- For clayey - we bring in 1 sq. meter, one bucket of sand and peat.
- Peat requires the addition of sand and loamy.
- Sandy - we structure with two buckets of clay soil and one bucket of peat.
To enrich and increase the fertility of the land, organic matter must be added to the garden. Compost or humus is suitable for any type of soil. Chalk or dolomite flour (1 cup), potassium sulfate (2 tbsp. L.), Wood ash (2 cups) are added to it.Such a composition is necessary when the bed is located on untreated land. If manure has already been applied under the previous crop, then you can do without adding organic matter.
Main activities
For any garlic, the preparation of the garden bed requires digging. Fertilizers in the desired composition are evenly distributed over the marked area. Then they dig up the earth to the depth of a shovel bayonet, while simultaneously forming a bed for garlic. The optimal dimensions are 1 meter wide, 20 cm high. When digging, immediately remove the roots of weeds so that in spring the garlic shoots are not 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 soil sediment will prevent the teeth from deepening above normal. To help the earth settle better, pour water under the garlic bed. Of course, if it rains, then you don't have to.
Another recommendation for summer residents. It is good immediately before planting the bulbs, spill the earth with an antifungal compound. For this purpose, you can take copper sulfate (1 tbsp. L.), Dilute in hot water (2 l). Then add cold water to the volume of the bucket and water the garden bed. A bucket will be enough for 2 m2 area. Now it remains to cover the bed under the garlic with foil 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. It is better to do this in the second half of August. The amount of nutritional components does not differ from the above. They dig up a bed, spill it with water for quick shrinkage of the soil. With this method, copper sulfate is not used. After settling the land, the seeds are sown in rows parallel to the designated rows of garlic. The spacing of the rows is maintained at 30-40 cm. By the time the garlic is planted, sprouts of greenery will already sprout in the beds, between which cloves of garlic are planted. This technology will protect the garlic beds from snow at the beginning of winter.
Two days before planting the bulbs, urea (urea) is scattered in the beds. Half a tablespoon is enough for one square meter. meter of earth. In the absence of moisture, the garden is additionally watered.
It will be much more profitable to prepare a garden for spring garlic in the fall. Preparation begins a little later than for winter crops - at the end of October.
Scatter urea over the beds in early spring before planting. This is one of the differences when preparing beds for different types of garlic. The optimal time for spring planting is scheduled for the second half of March - early April. In this case, the crop will be ready for harvest in September.
Additional processing of ridges
Proper processing of ridges for garlic will allow you to get a healthy, high-quality harvest. Disinfection of the ground 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 sulfate, 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 garlic beds ensures healthy bulbs. If all the recommendations are followed, this turns out to be not so difficult. For experienced gardeners, nutrition, loosening, bed layout and soil disinfection are commonplace. It remains not to miss the deadline for the garlic to rise and ripen on time. Then the spicy plant will delight you with a good harvest.
