How to prepare garlic for planting and soil

Garlic preparation

A reliable fact: how garlic is stored depends on how it will grow later. Cloves or whole bulbs should be properly dried in the fall and placed in a cool, dry place such as a refrigerator or cellar. If they are damaged by insects, covered with mold or rot, they cannot be used. Even if the plant grows, it will be frail, small and completely unsuitable for further propagation or consumption.

Preparing spring garlic

Spring garlic cloves should be well dried in autumn, and then packed in fabric bags, cardboard or wooden boxes. The air temperature during storage should not exceed +7 degrees, and the humidity should tend to zero, since it is in such an environment that garlic continues to produce all the chemical compounds necessary for rapid growth. If you process the cloves correctly in the fall, then in the spring you will have first-class planting material.

The largest teeth should be selected, while giving preference to those that are on the outer circle - the best plants grow from them. Carefully inspect each tooth so that there are no wormholes, rot, dents on it. Disinfect in a pink solution of potassium permanganate or ash lye.

For planting, you can choose the varieties "Degtyarsky", "Kledor", "Flavor", "Messidor".

Choosing a landing site

Garlic is incredibly fond of heat, but at the same time it does not tolerate arid heat, which damages its leaves. Therefore, when choosing a place for planting, make sure that it is either at least a little shaded, or it is well moisturized.

Garlic also has a special relationship with water: during the active growing season, it needs a lot of moisture, but it cannot “swim” in water - the bulbs immediately begin to rot. Thus, an elevation can be made from the soil so that the water goes slightly lower than the underground part of the plant.

It is important to observe crop rotation, that is, replant the garlic every time, so as not to infect the earth with fungus and not to lure harmful insects. It is good if early ripening crops - potatoes, tomatoes or annual plants like melons and peppers - grew in the garden before the garlic. They saturate the soil with nitrogen and phosphorus, which allows the crop to "feast" as it grows. Be that as it may, the preparation of planting material and soil for planting begins in the fall.

Soil preparation

Garlic prefers a loamy soil rich in organic debris with neutral to low acidity. At the same time, fertilizers should be applied in late autumn, so that they are well transformed during the winter, and in the spring the cloves get an ideal soil rich in useful compounds.

For 1 square meter of land, you will need at least 1 bucket of compost or humus, you can use mullein or horse manure. Add 1 tablespoon of double superphosphate and nitrophosphate to the compost. You can also add 1 cup of dolomite flour to reduce the acidity of the soil.

The site is dug onto a shovel bayonet, then leveled with a garden rake and watered with a solution of copper sulfate. For its preparation, 40 grams of vitriol granules are diluted in 10 liters of water so that 1 liter of solution is consumed per 1 square meter.

Until spring, the beds are covered with plastic wrap.

Video "Preparing winter garlic for planting"

In this video, the secrets of preparing various types of seed for planting.