How to grow garlic? Remember the planting methods and timing

Scallions, ginger, and garlic are common ingredients in our daily lives, and they are also widely grown food crops. Although they are easy to grow, there are tricks to achieving high yield and high quality. Below, let's find out how garlic is grown? What are the timing and methods?

1. Basic facts about garlic

1. Garlic is actually just a general term for plants in the garlic genus, and it is also called garlic bulb, garlic head, hu garlic, hu, single-clove garlic, and single-clove garlic head. Although garlic is grown over a very wide area in China, it was introduced from the Western Regions during the Qin and Han dynasties, so it can be said to be a “foreign species.” Garlic originated in the highland regions of western Asia, and today its main production areas in China are Hunan, Shandong, Jiangsu, and other provinces.

2. Garlic is a shallow-rooted crop with five main roots. Its longest roots can grow to more than fifty centimeters. A grayish-white or pale purple membranous tunic generally wraps around a bulb of six to ten cloves; garlic leaves are flat, and it flowers every summer.

3. Besides its edible value, garlic also has quite good medicinal value. Garlic can cleanse and kill bacteria, prevent and treat tumors and cancer, lower blood sugar, prevent diabetes, and so on; in addition, holding garlic in the mouth can relieve wind-cold cough, and roasting garlic and applying it to hemorrhoids is also greatly beneficial.

2. Garlic planting time and methods

Mastering the planting time and methods bears on the quality and yield of garlic, so below is a detailed introduction to garlic planting time and methods!

1. Before planting garlic, the soil must be prepared. Generally, the plowing depth is kept at about twenty centimeters. When plowing, the soil should be finely worked, raked level, and raked firm. The length of the beds is determined according to actual conditions.

2. For seed used in sowing, generally select seed that is pure white, free of scars, sugarized, smooth-skinned, and red-veined, with each clove weighing about five grams. Seed like this has a much greater chance of producing a high yield after sowing.

3. Garlic is generally sown from late September to early October, when the temperature is about seventeen degrees. However, China is vast and differences in temperature and weather are quite obvious, so sowing times differ among regions. For example:

(1) Garlic sowing time in Shandong: the best sowing period for garlic in southeastern Shandong is October 1-15; in the central and northern areas, it is recommended to sow garlic on October 1-10, because sowing too early or too late is not conducive to the garlic seedlings safely overwintering.

(2) Garlic sowing time in Hebei: generally around the Mid-Autumn Festival, that is, garlic can be planted after the corn harvest.

(3) Garlic sowing time in Jiangsu: the garlic planting time in Jiangsu is every September, and harvesting generally begins one after another in late May of the following year.

4. When planting garlic, the density must be controlled well. Generally, about two plants per mu are planted. After planting the garlic, water it thoroughly and generously; around April of the following year, water it a second time, and water a third time when garlic scapes first appear; the final watering is after the garlic scapes are harvested.

5. There are basically two fertilizations for garlic. One is the base fertilizer applied before planting. The base fertilizer is generally farmyard manure mixed with urea, potassium sulfate, and the like, deeply plowed and mixed into the soil. The second is topdressing. Generally, in April of the following year after planting, apply urea and monopotassium phosphate solution.

6. During garlic growth, pay attention to preventing and controlling pests and diseases such as leaf blight, purple blotch, soft rot, and garlic maggots. Apply different agents according to different symptoms. In addition, promptly remove diseased garlic to avoid infecting other healthy garlic.

If you are growing garlic in pots, you can choose to plant in autumn. When planting, do not bury it entirely in the soil; leave the sprouting end exposed. Usually place it in a sunny spot and spray water appropriately to keep the soil moist.