Technology for growing winter garlic and caring for it with video
The culture of garlic is demanding on growing conditions. How to grow large winter garlic on a personal plot, how to protect plantings in the winter, how to feed, what is the irrigation regime. The answers to these questions lie in the biological characteristics of the plant.
Winter garlic - biological features
Culture adapts well to climatic conditions, winter-hardy, tolerates low temperatures well. Germination of roots in winter varieties occurs at 0 degrees, and with an increase in temperature to 3-5 degrees, their intensive growth begins.The plant is demanding on moisture in the periods immediately after planting and in the spring, when active new leaf formation begins. Growing winter garlic in the open field allows the plant to form a sufficient root mass in the autumn period and maximize the use of soil moisture reserves in early spring.
The thin root system of the plant is very demanding on soil fertility, and is located at a depth of 10-20 cm. This must be taken into account when preparing the beds. Light, well-fertilized, slightly acidic soils are suitable for cultivation. To get a good harvest, it is necessary to create conditions under which winter garlic has time to take root before the onset of cold weather. Wintering and growth intensity with the onset of spring depend on the formation of the plant in the autumn period.
How to grow a good crop of garlic?
The needs of the plant form a list of work that needs to be done in the fall, spring and summer. An extended growth period affects planting rules.It is necessary to provide for the protection of plants in the winter, to support young shoots with additional top dressing in the spring. How to get high-quality bulbs of a valuable vegetable crop in open ground.
After harvesting winter garlic, quality bulbs are selected for autumn planting. And the ridges begin to prepare at the end of August. According to the technology of growing winter garlic, in the fall you need to select and prepare a site for planting, plant a crop in time and provide plants with protection in the winter.
Choose a site
When planting winter garlic, it should be borne in mind that the plant is demanding on light, it rots when waterlogged for too long. Therefore, the area under the ridges with bulbs should be open and located on a hill to avoid flooding with snowmelt and rainwater.
Agricultural technology for growing winter garlic requires mandatory compliance with crop rotation. Predecessors for the plant can be vegetables with early harvesting dates. It is best to plant plants after legumes, pumpkin, early varieties of cabbage, spicy greens.
You need to grow a crop on highly fertile sandy loam or loam. Ridges for sowing are prepared for a month, they are digging for every 1 m2 half a bucket of humus, 15-20 g of potassium s alt and 30 g of superphosphate. With high acidity, the soil is deoxidized in advance by adding 250-300 g of lime. Fresh organic matter is not introduced into the culture. They dig the ground to a depth of 18-20 cm, level and maintain it in a clean condition. Before planting, the beds are watered abundantly with water.
Important! Compliance with planting dates and timely harvesting is the key to a good harvest of winter varieties of garlic.
Timing
A good harvest of garlic depends on timely planting. Depending on the climatic features of the region, the timing of planting the plant varies. In areas with a warm climate (Central Asia, Kazakhstan), where plants are able to overwinter with leaves, garlic is planted in September. In central Russia, garlic is planted in early October so that it has time to take root, but does not sprout. In the south of the country, these dates are moved to the end of October. The planting date is calculated so that 40-45 days remain before the winter cold and garlic cloves can grow roots 10-15 cm long.
Planting garlic
2-3 weeks before planting, selected bulbs are kept for 2-3 weeks at a temperature of 3-5 degrees. A couple of days before planting, the heads are divided into slices. In winter varieties, the teeth are aligned in size and generally do not require calibration. Large, good garlic is obtained from cloves with a diameter of at least 10 mm.
We plant the culture by the line method, based on one linear meter of 15 large cloves or 20 medium-sized with a distance between lines of 30-40 cm. It is advisable to deepen the cloves to a depth of 10-12 cm. guaranteed to overwinter. Peat and humus are used, which are poured with a layer of 1.5-2 cm. With the onset of the first spring heat, such mulch contributes to the rapid heating of the soil, prevents the formation of a crust, and retains moisture. What to do in areas with unstable snow cover. The question is not idle. It is customary to accumulate snow in the planting area to prevent freezing and retain moisture.
Peculiarities of care during the summer period
In early spring, when the temperature rises to 6-8 degrees, the first shoots appear. When the danger of frost has passed, we open the ridges if additional shelter has been installed on them.Leaf germination usually begins at the end of April. Caring for planting a plant consists of maintaining soil moisture, loosening row spacing, top dressing, and timely removal of flower stalks. Caring for winter garlic in the warm season involves watering in the absence of rain, top dressing, mandatory weeding with loosening row spacing, removing peduncles, and strict adherence to harvesting dates.
Irrigation
Culture is demanding on moisture at certain stages of the growing season. The plant needs water immediately after planting and in the early spring . Outdoor care is made easier by high soil moisture in autumn and early spring.
- A month after germination, for three weeks there is an active formation of leaves. During this period, garlic is watered every 4-5 days.
- The second stage begins 60-65 days after germination and is associated with the beginning of the growth of teeth and the appearance of arrows. In the absence of rain, irrigation is carried out every 2-3 days. If the summer is rainy, then the plants do not need to be watered.
- Watering should be stopped a couple of weeks before the planned harvest. Dry soil and air speed up the process of bulb ripening. Massive yellowing of the leaves will tell you when to stop watering.
Often, when the tops of a plant turn yellow, what is happening is associated with a lack of moisture. Before starting heavy watering, check one of the plants. Perhaps the feather is turning yellow due to pests or root rot.
Feeding
Cultivation and care without fail imply top dressing during periods of active formation of leaves and bulbs. As fertilizers for winter garlic, complex dressings containing potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen are used. Top dressing with manure and other organic matter attracts pests. Therefore, before you feed the plants, stock up on wood ash, which is poured into the aisles for protection.
The first dressing of winter garlic is aimed at enhanced plant nutrition during the period of intensive leaf growth with the onset of spring warming. Top dressing is carried out with ammonium nitrate, spending 10-15 g per square meter. area meter.
At the next stage, support the growth of the bulbs by feeding the plants with nitrogen-potassium fertilizers in mid-June.
The last one is held with the advent of the seventh sheet. Use per planting meter 10 g of potassium chloride and 20 g of superphosphate. Garlic fed in this way is able to be stored longer, forms larger bulbs.
Attention! Timely removal of arrows from garlic increases the yield by 40%.
Additional care tips
Care for winter varieties of garlic in the summer differs only in terms, in comparison with spring varieties.But it is the timeliness of certain types of work that is important for the cultivated crop. An example is the removal of arrows in winter varieties. If you miss the moment, the culture will begin to massively shoot, then you will have to say goodbye to a large harvest.
- To increase the yield of winter varieties, it is necessary to remove the peduncle in time. It draws on itself a large share of food. What to do if you want to collect valuable seed material, but it's a pity to lose the harvest. You still have to make a choice. Leave a few plants for bulbs. For the rest, the garlic arrow is broken out a week after the appearance. This method allows you to increase the yield by 40-50%.
- As the size of the bulbs increases, they begin to rake the earth from it. This helps unhindered growth and intensive formation of protective scales. Reception does not take long. When caring for garlic during weeding, you can rake the earth along the way.Of course, any work requires additional time. But the obligatory procedure for loosening row spacings can be combined with raking the earth from the bulbs.
All methods of garlic cultivation are aimed at obtaining a decent harvest. With the harvest approaching in July, you need to be especially careful to correctly assess the degree of ripeness. An overgrown bulb falls apart into slices and is not able to be stored for a long time.
The garlic is ready for harvest when the lower feather dries out and turns yellow en masse, and the upper level of the leaves begins to fall. It is urgent to start cleaning. If it is not possible to remove the culture on time, what to do in this case? Garlic is best harvested unripe than overgrown. If the feather turns yellow at the tips, then the process of bulb formation is in full swing. Harvested bulbs, after harvest, will be fed from the leaves and will be safely prepared for the dormant period.
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