Preparing the garden for garlic
The key to a rich harvest is the right choice of a planting site and careful preparation of the garlic bed. Consider how to prepare a garlic bed for planting in the fall.
Preparing the garden for garlic
Time to get ready
You need to prepare the garden 4-6 weeks before planting, immediately after harvesting the main crops on the site.
The optimal time for planting cloves in the ground is late September-early October for central Russia; early November - for the southern regions. Before the onset of frost (10-15 days), the plant forms a root system, due to which it successfully survives the winter.
Determination of the landing site
Garlic is a culture that is demanding on the soil and the sun, therefore, a garden bed for it is arranged in the most comfortable and even place of the site. The plant does not like excess moisture; it should not be planted in lowland and shaded areas.
Melted snow should not lie in the future garlic bed: moisture destroys the sprouts. If the site is located on a hill, the wind will blow off snow from the ground, and the culture is threatened with freezing.
If the site is completely located in the lowland, the beds for winter garlic are made high, strengthened on the sides with boards or slate: this allows the soil to warm up better and makes it less wet.
The future garlic bed should be away from the paths.
Crop rotation
We change the beds in places
The vegetable grows poorly for 2 years in a row in one place: the culture tends to deplete the soil. The periods between landings in one place should not be less than 4-5 years.
When planting garlic, take into account which culture grew before that. Bad predecessors are:
- potatoes;
- tomatoes;
- onions (all varieties).
This is because crops have common diseases and are affected by the same pests; such crops tend to severely drain the soil.
The crops after which it is recommended to plant winter varieties are:
- cereals;
- legumes;
- zucchini and cucumbers;
- pumpkin;
- pepper;
- eggplant;
- early varieties of cabbage;
- radish and summer radish;
- leafy greens;
- perennial herbs;
- berry growers.
A feature of these crops is a short growing season, the soil after harvesting has time to recover.
The selection of the future neighbors of the spicy vegetable is important for the success of the harvest. Culture gets along well with:
- beans;
- cabbage;
- parsnips;
- tomatoes;
- leafy greens.
Neighborhood with beets, radishes, carrots and spinach has a bad effect on the growth of winter varieties.
Soil structure
Good garlic on loose soil
The best soil for garlic is considered to be light, loose loamy and sandy loam soils, chernozems. Heavy loamy soils are not suitable for crops: they trap moisture and reduce crop yields. The acidity of the soil should be neutral.
Preparing a bed for garlic in the fall for winter varieties must necessarily include improving the structure of the soil. If the soil is loamy, adding sand and peat will help: a bucket for each square meter of the site. Sandy soil is improved by adding peat (bucket per 1 sq.m.) and loam (2 buckets per 1 sq. m.). A bucket of sand and loam per 1 sq. m of plot must be added to peat soils in order to improve their structure.
Fertilizing a bed for garlic in the fall can be a universal improver. Compost or humus will do. It is strictly forbidden to apply fresh manure to the soil when preparing beds for garlic: it is a source of weed seeds and negatively affects the culture. In addition, to reduce the acidity of the soil and improve it, make:
- wood ash (half-liter jar per 1 sq. m of the plot);
- chalk - 250 g per 1 sq. m;
- potassium salt - 20 g per 1 sq. m.
Organic fertilizers may not be additionally applied if the soil has already been fertilized before planting the previous crop. Nitrogen fertilizers, necessary for the formation of the leaf mass, are not used in the fall: they are washed out of the soil during the winter.
Site formation
Preparing the right bed for garlic in the fall begins a few days after harvesting the vegetables. The selected place is carefully cleaned of weeds and their roots, the required amount of components is added to improve the soil, manure.
The earth is carefully dug to a depth of 20-25 cm. The width of the autumn garden bed for garlic should not be more than a meter, the height - 20-25 cm. If necessary, its edges are strengthened with boards. The dug-up area is covered with foil and left for several weeks.
During this time, the soil will be compacted, its structure will improve. A vegetable planted in such soil will not go deeper and will form a large head. If there is no rain, the dug-up earth is watered with water: then the soil will settle better.
Soil disinfection
Green garlic
10-15 days before planting, the soil is treated with antifungal compounds. Usually, a solution of copper sulfate is used for this at the rate of 10 g per 2 liters of hot water. Diluted vitriol is topped up with cold water to 10 liters. On a garden bed for garlic in 5 sq. m you need 2 buckets of such a solution.
Instead of vitriol solution, use:
- strong dark pink solution of potassium permanganate;
- Bordeaux mixture at the rate of 100 g per 10 liters of water;
- store drugs Fitosporin (antibiotic);
- disinfecting compounds Acrobat, Radomil.
Antiseptic soil treatment is an effective prevention of fungal and viral diseases of the culture. The cultivated land is covered with a film, which is removed only before planting the cloves.
Green bed
This method allows you to get an excellent harvest without dressing the soil, suitable for regions where the planting of the vegetable takes place in September-October. To properly prepare a bed for garlic for planting in the fall using this method, you must:
- choose a place and form a site in early August;
- apply organic and mineral fertilizers in 7-10 days according to the usual scheme;
- mark the soil for planting after 5-7 days, sow a mixture of peas and oats parallel to the furrows so that the distance between the rows does not exceed 30 cm;
- plant cloves or one-teeth in the aisles in due time.
For the period of planting, the formed seedlings of green manure will be visible. They will protect the rooted plant at the beginning of winter, and in the spring the green mass will become an additional fertilizer for the sprouts of the spicy vegetable. With this technology of forming a site for planting, additional disinfection is not required.
Conclusion
The preparation of the garden for garlic, the application of fertilizers should be supplemented by the choice of healthy planting material from a productive crop variety, well adapted for the area.