Do I need to rake the ground from the heads of garlic before harvesting?

Often, vegetable growers are faced with the question of whether it is necessary and possible to rake the ground from the heads of garlic? Judging by the reviews, this agricultural technique gives good results. Just do it right and in a timely manner.

Is it necessary to rake the ground from the heads of garlic and why is this done?

It is believed that uprooting favorably affects the maturation of a good harvest. They rake the earth with special garden tools up to half the bulb. There are several reasons why they rake the earth from the heads of a spicy vegetable:

• Increases the size of the bulb. The root system, especially of winter crops, is powerful and goes deep into the ground. Deepening, the roots pull the head inward. As a result, she does not get enough air, nutrients and light.
• By a bare bulb, you can easily track the state of the crop. This is important when the weather is bad, hot or rainy.
• The plant does not need to expend energy pushing the top layer of soil, and the bulbs receive enough sunlight and heat.
• The scales will be stronger and the vegetable will last much longer.

Yellowing, drying and lodging of the leaves of the plant testifies to the ripening of the crop. The scales on the bulb become dry and easily cleaned. The arrows straighten out and the boxes begin to crack.

The benefits and harms of exposing garlic in the garden

The benefits of stripping garlic, according to experienced gardeners, is that the bulb gets more sunlight, dries out faster, ripens and receives enough nutrients. In addition, the head acquires the color characteristic of the variety.

Next time it is necessary to rake the ground around the head of garlic, everyone decides for himself based on his own observations. In addition to the positive qualities, this procedure also has disadvantages:

• Since the bulb sits deep in the ground, you will have to rake a lot of earth, a hole will form. Moisture will begin to accumulate in it after watering or rains. As a result, head rot can develop and crop loss can result.
• In the event that timely loosening of the soil is carried out, the bulb will not go too deep. As a result, you can do without the extra procedure of exposing the head.

Garlic is a light-loving vegetable that does not tolerate wetlands. To achieve a good harvest, you need to choose the right place for planting, prepare planting material, leave a large distance between the bushes during planting. Care consists in regular watering, applying complex fertilizers, loosening the soil, weeding the beds from weeds.

All these features of cultivation will help to avoid mistakes and decide on the need for certain procedures.

When to dig?

When you can rake garlic in the garden depends on the variety and weather conditions. Most often, the procedure is started in early July. Carry out the procedure a couple of weeks before the full harvest. A suitable time for winter crops is the end of June; for spring varieties of garlic, the last days of July are considered the best period.

Bare garlic heads in the garden receive more sunlight. But the procedure must be carried out correctly and carefully, while simultaneously loosening the soil in the aisle. If the integrity of the bulb is damaged during the procedure, the risk of decay and infection with a fungal infection increases.

If the garlic heads went deep into the ground

Winter garlic is planted deep (the depth is equal to the height of three bulbs). Such garlic will definitely not sprout in the fall, survive the winter well and begin to grow only in the spring. A strong root system draws planting material into the ground during the fall. If the winter is very cold, then the garlic will go deep.

For garlic to sprout, there must be loose soil. To do this, in the fall after harvest and in the spring, organic and mineral fertilizers must be applied. In this case, it will not be scary when the garlic is too deep in the soil.

At the beginning of June, about 21 days before the ripe heads are dug up, the heads of garlic are freed from the ground. Whether this should be done depends on the quality of the heads, the weather, and the composition of the soil. For example, if the weather is rainy, then this technique will help reduce the risk of rotting.

About the same time, the arrows break off and stop watering, loosening the soil and fertilizing. Do not worry if the tops are juicy and thick, as they accumulate a lot of nutrients. The leaves are simply tied up to direct trace elements to the bulbs.

Cutting arrows and raking the ground promotes the growth of heads, the accumulation of nutrients in them and the rapid maturation of vegetables.

Techniques for the proper cultivation of garlic

It is best to grow winter garlic at the summer cottage.It differs from spring varieties in a large head and fewer cloves, as well as early ripening. The main advantage of spring crops is long-term storage. The heads remain dense and juicy until the summer period. Growing garlic involves not only timely watering, weeding, loosening the soil and fertilizing.

To obtain large garlic, break off the resulting arrows. During the formation of arrows, the plant slows down its growth, and all forces are directed to the growth of seed material. Just do not remove all the arrows at once, it is recommended to leave a few pieces. It is by them that the degree of maturity of the heads can be determined. As soon as the arrow straightens out and the seed box begins to crack, you can start harvesting.

Sometimes growers wonder why garlic goes deep into the ground. This may be due to loose soil, a strong vegetable root system and an initially deep planting of cloves.Garlic cloves are recommended to be planted in already prepared furrows, 5-6 cm deep. During heavy rains, the soil will be compacted, and the heads of garlic will settle even deeper in the ground.

Why tie tops?

Another technique that allows you to harvest a good harvest of garlic is tying the tops into a knot. In garlic, unlike onions, nutrients move more slowly from the leaves to the roots, and the feathers die off less quickly.

After tying the leaves into knots, changes are made to photosynthesis, there is an increased outflow of micronutrients to the underground part of the plant. The leaves begin to dry out, the bulb stops germinating and accumulates all the useful components.

Tie tops begin 5 days before the expected digging of the crop. For arrowed varieties, the arrow must be removed.Ideally, this procedure is carried out a week earlier. But this applies only to winter crops, since spring garlic does not give arrows. The leaves are slightly twisted into a tourniquet and tied in the form of a regular knot. If the tops are short, you can weave a pigtail.

Diseases and pests

Diseases and pests can cause great damage to crops. Common pests that attack garlic beds are root mites, stem nematodes, bears, weevils, and onion moths. Larvae and adults, making moves in the upper layers of the soil, contribute to the fact that the garlic goes deep into the ground. This may adversely affect the development of the head.

You can save the crop by spraying the leaves with an infusion of tobacco, pepper and wood ash. Sometimes you can not do without the help of insecticides: Actellik, Clofentezin.

Diseases such as rot, green mold, mosaic lead to the fact that the leaves dry, turn yellow, spots of various colors appear on them, the growth of the plant stops, the bulbs stop ripening and begin to rot.For example, fungicides such as Quadris, Alirin, Gamair, Fitosporin will help to cope with diseases.

To reduce the risk of disease, you need to carefully select planting material. Only large, dense, defect-free cloves are suitable for planting. They are placed in a disinfectant solution of copper sulphate, potassium permanganate or wood ash.

Advice from an experienced summer resident

The time of planting garlic depends on the type and variety chosen. Winter crops begin to be planted from mid-September to early October. Spring garlic is planted in the spring, when the threat of severe frosts is behind (around mid-April).

In the reviews of many vegetable growers you can find the following tips: “I first dig up the plot for the beds and apply fertilizer. Can be treated with peat, sand, wood ash. A week before planting, it is useful to disinfect the soil by spilling Fitosporin solution.

I deepen the garlic cloves by 6-7 cm and sprinkle with humus. In the summer shoots give shoots that are better to break off, they only prevent you from getting a good harvest.”

“Annually, we open the garlic, raking the ground from the bulbs. Thanks to this, they grow larger, taste more juicy and fragrant.”

Recommended