Save THE SECRETS OF the GARLIC HARVEST so as not to lose it!

Secret 1: Planting As usual, everything starts with planting material. If something is wrong with it, you can not count on the harvest. Therefore, for some time now I have been growing garlic in a two-year culture: in the first year, single-teeth are obtained from air bulbs, and in the second year they already give strong and healthy garlic heads with large teeth.

I sow bulbochki always under winter, simultaneously with the planting of garlic. Theoretically, this can be done in the spring — the single-teeth ripen quickly, and they have enough time. Only here it is problematic to save bulbochki seeds in winter at home. And with winter sowing and planting, there is only one danger: not to guess with the deadline.

If planted too early, during thaws or a prolonged warm autumn, garlic can go into growth. As a rule, it does not die at the same time, but it weakens, and it no longer gives a good harvest. If you are late with planting, garlic will not have time to take root and prepare for winter, which will also inevitably affect the results next season. I sincerely do not advise you to navigate by the calendar: our climate is becoming more and more unpredictable from year to year, nature presents surprise after surprise, and what was considered an axiom 10 years ago may not work now. We have to follow the weather forecast every autumn, look closely at natural phenomena, trying to guess the right dates by signs. From the moment of planting winter garlic until the onset of persistent cold weather, about a month should pass — that's what we proceed from in the calculations. A bed with planted garlic is not bad to mulch with peat, cover with a lapnik or straw. By itself, garlic winters well, but lapnik will help to delay snow, and this is not only shelter from frost, but also moisture, so necessary in spring.

Secret 2:
about the care, or "as you trample, so you will break" To be honest, garlic does not require much care. But, as in the case of onions, there are activities that should not be neglected: loosening, weeding and watering. If the soil is fertile enough, filled with everything necessary in advance, you can do without fertilizing (on a well-treated, fertilized loam, I did not additionally feed garlic during the season, but I did not have to complain about the harvest). With increased acidity of the soil, it is useful to pour ash on the bed; if you notice that the surface of the earth "turns green", turns sour, it must be done.

Weeding is especially important in spring, while the seedlings are very young. Weeds are rampant at this time, and can take away from garlic the light and nutrition it needs. Then there is usually enough periodic loosening — at the same time the grass is removed. Garlic is very responsive to loosening, it does not like compacted soil. But watering is a delicate matter. If there is not enough moisture, the leaves will turn yellow and dry ahead of time. But excess moisture provokes rot, and the taste of the teeth deteriorates: they become watery. And then such garlic is stored worse. We start watering when the spring moisture leaves the soil, and we finish it a month before harvesting. The rest of the time — according to the weather and needs. So I would be glad to write specifically how many times you need to pour garlic and in what quantity — but my experience says that there is no such rule. For example, even in the current hot and dry summer, my friend practically did not have to water the beds on her low—lying plot with moisture—intensive peat soil - and I spent the whole summer on my sands with a hose: in the evening you will pour abundantly, and by the morning - the Sahara Desert… So all the norms here turn out to be akin to the "average temperature in the hospital")) Yes, and don't forget to carefully break out the flower arrows as they appear. But not all! We will certainly leave a few pieces: for seeds and as "beacons", by which we will determine the harvest period.

Secret 3:
crop rotation as prevention Garlic is often affected by diseases and pests. And pathogens and pest larvae in the soil are often preserved. And planting a plant in the same place for several years in a row (or planting it after crops subject to the same misfortunes), we are taking a great risk. It's like a lottery: either he will get sick, or the problems will be avoided. Do we need it?.. If we want a good harvest of healthy garlic, it should not be returned to its former place earlier than in 3-4 years. Moreover, if there is still a problem — the affected heads were found during harvesting, it would be nice to do soil improvement. Well, at least sow siderates — the same mustard, for example, or plant marigolds with calendula. Let me remind you that garlic should not be planted after garlic, onions and potatoes. It is possible and necessary — after legumes, cucumbers, cauliflower and early white cabbage.

Secret 4:
harvesting Like onions, garlic is very important to remove in time and dry well. Winter garlic is generally stored unimportantly, and if you still tighten or hurry up with cleaning, but do not really dry the heads, we will ruin all the results of our labors with our own hands

Do not neglect the weather forecast: if heavy and prolonged rains are promised, it is advisable to dig up garlic before they begin. And the heat is able to accelerate maturation, as this summer, for example. Again, as in the case of onions, it is better to remove garlic a little earlier than to overdo it in the garden. Overripe heads crumble, fall apart into individual teeth — they are no longer subject to storage, only for processing. On the other hand, if you hurry too much, immature garlic will wither very quickly — young heads can be removed selectively, for winter preparations, but not for storage. How to guess? It is believed that a sign of maturation is the yellowing of its leaves by about a quarter of the length from the top. But this is an unreliable guideline: leaves can turn yellow from drought, from lack of nutrition, from diseases or damage to the root system, from uncomfortable conditions (too dense or waterlogged soil, increased soil acidity, and so on). You can focus on the duration of the growing season: usually winter garlic ripens 100-110 days after the emergence of seedlings. But, depending on the variety, there are also possible options.

I usually look at the flower stalks. Bulbochki, while they are not ripe, are "packed" in cases — as soon as this shell bursts, it's time to remove the garlic. But this summer, this landmark has also failed: the heads have already ripened by the end of July — their outer shells have dried up, — and the bulbuls are just now, a week and a half or two later, the shells begin to open…

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