How to Grow Garlic: A Detailed Guide to Planting Methods and Care Tips

To grow garlic, you should first sprout the cloves; after sun-drying and soaking, the cloves sprout faster and more evenly. After preparing the beds and sowing, spray with pesticide, prevent weeds, and water promptly; water 3-4 times during the growing period to keep the soil moist. After the green-up stage, loosen the soil and fertilize; 24-28 days after pulling the scapes, harvest on a sunny day.

1. Land preparation: Before planting garlic, plow the land once to a depth of 20 cm. Make beds according to the water source; the beds should be 80 m-100 m long and 4.2 m-4.4 m wide.

2. Seed selection: Small garlic cloves should be pure white, free of scars, and free of smooth skin. The best weight for seed cloves is about 5 grams.

3. Timely sowing: The best time to sow is late September to early October, when the outside temperature is around 17 degrees; before planting, sun-dry the small cloves for 1 day-2 days.

4. Reasonable dense planting: The spacing between plants should be 16 cm-17 cm, and the spacing between rows should be about 20 cm. After sowing, cover with about 1 cm of soil, and then lay plastic mulch over the soil. Finally, water the plastic mulch a little.

5. Irrigation: (1) Mulch water: Water immediately after sowing, making sure not a single plant is missed. This watering must be sufficient. (2) Strong seedling water: Water in early April. If the soil temperature is above 15 degrees, water as well. (3) Scape emergence water: This watering should be done when the garlic scapes have just emerged. (4) Bulb enlargement water: Water after pulling the garlic scapes.

6. Plastic mulch covering: Covering with plastic mulch slows soil moisture loss and can slightly raise soil temperature. After covering with plastic mulch, pull it tight and cover both sides with soil; otherwise, strong winds will lift the plastic mulch.

7. Releasing seedlings: When the garlic sprouts have just grown out, immediately puncture the plastic mulch covering the garlic sprouts.

8. Manual weeding: The temperature is low while garlic is growing, but because of the plastic mulch, weeds still grow where the plastic mulch covers the soil. At this time, we must pull the weeds by hand.

9. Pulling garlic scapes: When the top of the garlic scape bends slightly downward is the best time to pull the garlic scapes. Pull garlic scapes between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

10. Fertilization: In late September, apply organic fertilizer once. When watering in early April of the second year, apply topdressing, and when watering in mid-April, apply topdressing again.