Garlic Cultivation and Management Techniques: Mastering Timely Sowing and Rational Fertilization
SummarySoil preparation: Fertile, loose, well-drained sandy soil is best, and continuous cropping should be avoided. Sowing: For garlic grown for bulbs, sowing from early September to early October is appropriate, and no later than mid-October; for garlic grown for green garlic, sowing in mid-to-late August is appropriate. Fertilization: Apply base fertilizer, seedling fertilizer, winter fertilizer, bolting fertilizer and foliar spray fertilizer rationally. Management: After the seedlings emerge evenly, use bamboo strips to transplant and thin the seedlings. Pest and disease control: Mainly prevent and control Phytophthora blight and coffee bean weevil. Harvest: Generally from early April to early May.
Garlic is a common vegetable in our daily lives. It is a crop that is not tolerant of drought and grows better under moist soil conditions. Below we will introduce the cultivation method of garlic.
Garlic Cultivation and Management Techniques
1. Soil preparation before planting
For garlic cultivation, it is suitable to choose fertile, loose and well-drained sandy soil. It is best not to practice continuous cropping. Generally, deep plowing is about 15-20cm, and together with deep plowing, apply about 1000-1500 kg of barnyard manure per mu, build beds about 2 m wide, then dig drainage ditches well. The bed surface needs to remain level and loose.
2. Sowing time
It is best to choose garlic varieties with strong stress resistance. Generally, for garlic grown for bulbs, sowing from early September to early October each year is appropriate, and it must not be later than mid-October. If it is grown for green garlic, sowing in mid-to-late August each year is appropriate. When sowing, use hole planting, with 2—3 cloves per hole, spacing of 17×20cm, and keep the depth at 0.02-0.3m. After sowing, cover with a layer of plant ash or pour on a layer of muddy sand slurry. The general sowing rate per mu is about 120-140 kg.
3. Fertilization management
Fertilization mainly includes base fertilizer, seedling fertilizer, winter fertilizer, bolting fertilizer and foliar spray fertilizer.
Base fertilizer: Before soil preparation, apply 20-25 kg of ammonium bicarbonate, 4-5 kg of potassium chloride, 8-10 kg of calcium superphosphate, or 15-20 kg of compound fertilizer per mu.
Seedling fertilizer: Generally at the stage when all seedlings have emerged and the third leaf is beginning, apply 1500-2000 kg of livestock manure and urine per mu, plus about 5 kg of urea.
Winter fertilizer: That is, a supplementary fertilizer applied to the crop from this winter to the next spring, generally applying about 10 kg of ammonium bicarbonate and 1000-1200 kg of human and livestock manure per mu.
Bolting fertilizer: During the bolting stage of garlic, apply 15 kg of urea per mu.
Foliar spray fertilizer: When the garlic bulbs are in the rapid expansion stage, spray 0.2-0.3% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution per mu, preferably around Grain Rain.
4. Field management
After garlic seedlings emerge evenly, bamboo strips can be used to transplant and thin the seedlings. After thinning the seedlings, fertilization should be accompanied by timely loosening of the soil and weeding. Loosen the soil once around Great Cold, and in late February of the next spring, clear the drainage ditches in time. If dry weather occurs, irrigate the furrows in time for drought resistance.
5. Pest and disease control
The main pests and diseases of garlic include Phytophthora blight and coffee bean weevil. Generally, 100 g of 25% carbendazim can be mixed with 50 kg of water per mu for spraying to control Phytophthora blight. For coffee bean weevil in garlic, aluminum phosphide can be used for fumigation at 3—5 g per cubic meter.
6. Timely harvest
Garlic scapes are generally harvested from early April to early May each year. When the upper part of the garlic scape bends downward, or when it extends 0.1 m above the leaf tip, it should be harvested in time, and the garlic base should be trimmed clean, spread in the sun on the spot for about 2-4 days, and then stored.
Garlic Growing Environment
1. Temperature: Garlic prefers cool environmental conditions. The lowest temperature of its living environment is -5℃, and the highest is 26℃. After garlic passes through dormancy, it can sprout and root at 3-5℃. The suitable temperature for stem and leaf growth is 12-16℃. The suitable temperature for flower stalk and bulb development is 15-20℃. When it exceeds 26℃, the physiological functions of the garlic plant become imbalanced, the stems and leaves gradually dry up, and the underground bulbs also stop growing. In areas where the average winter temperature is below -5℃, autumn-sown garlic cannot overwinter naturally. Garlic plants complete vernalization after about 30-40 days within the low temperature range of 0-5℃.
2. Light: Garlic that has completed vernalization will begin flower bud and bulbils differentiation only under long-day and relatively high temperature conditions. Under short-day and cool conditions, it is only suitable for stem and leaf growth. Bulbil formation will be inhibited, so whether spring-sown or autumn-sown, it must go through low temperature and long-day conditions.
3. Water: Garlic is a shallow-rooted crop and likes moist environments but fears drought. Therefore, before and after sowing, it has relatively high requirements for soil moisture so that it can sprout and root quickly. In the early seedling stage, irrigation should be reduced, and cultivating and loosening the soil should be strengthened to promote root development and prevent the seed cloves from rotting from moisture. By the flower stalk elongation stage and bulb expansion stage, this is the vigorous stage of garlic growth and development and also the stage with the greatest water demand. The soil is required to remain moist frequently, while near maturity, soil moisture should be reduced to avoid garlic neck rot and clove scattering, blackening of garlic skin, and reduced quality caused by high humidity, high temperature and lack of oxygen.
4. Soil and nutrition: Garlic does not have strict requirements for soil type, but fertile loam is suitable. Soil that is loose, breathable, and has good water retention and drainage performance provides an ecological environment conducive to bulb growth and development, with large and uniform garlic bulbs, good quality and high yield. The most suitable soil pH is ph5-6. If too acidic, the root tips become thickened and stop extending; if too alkaline, the seed cloves are prone to rot, and small bulbs and single-clove garlic increase, reducing yield.
Garlic Pest Control Techniques
1. Garlic purple blotch. In the early stage of the disease, spray 75% chlorothalonil wettable powder 500-600 times solution or 64% oxadixyl wettable powder 500 times solution, 40% dabufudan wettable powder 500 times solution, 58% metalaxyl·mancozeb wettable powder 500 times solution, 50% iprodione wettable powder 1500 times solution, once every 7-10 days, for 3-4 consecutive treatments. Generally, there is a relatively obvious and good effect.
2. Garlic leaf blight. Usually, field management needs to be strengthened, rational close planting should be carried out, comprehensive nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should be increased, biological multi-antibacterial fertilizer should be added, strong seedlings should be cultivated, and drainage should be carried out in time after rain to prevent water accumulation in the field. It can be sprayed with 75% chlorothalonil or 65% zineb 500 times solution, 50% yekujing powder 1000 times solution, or 10% shakujing powder 400-500 times solution.
Garlic begins to be planted every year in September and October. In the early stage of planting, a good planting site needs to be selected and drainage work should be done well. Later field management is also very important. Fertilizer and water management and pest and disease control are all indispensable. Only when all these tasks are done well will garlic have high yield and excellent quality.