How to Grow Garlic and Ginger Intercropped? Detailed Explanation of Key Planting Techniques

Intercropping garlic and ginger can make full use of land and conditions such as light, temperature, water and fertilizer, using the ginger plot idle in winter to grow garlic, changing one cropping per year into two croppings per year, which can raise the multiple cropping index, increase yield and significantly boost returns. Generally, monocropped ginger yields 2300 kg per mu; intercropped ginger yields 2250 kg per mu, garlic 1025 kg, and garlic scapes 700 kg. Intercropping raises net income by 3200 yuan per mu compared with monocropping. In addition, ginger is a shade-tolerant plant and cannot tolerate strong light, requiring moderate light intensity in the early growth stage. By intercropping garlic and ginger, the garlic seedlings provide shade, which saves labor and materials. At the same time, garlic can release a bactericidal substance that can effectively prevent the occurrence of ginger blast. The intercropping cultivation techniques for garlic and ginger are introduced as follows:

I. Apply sufficient base fertilizer and prepare the beds carefully. Choose a plot with medium fertility and good drainage and irrigation conditions, broadcast 5000 kg of farmyard manure and 50 kg of calcium superphosphate per mu, plow 30 cm deep, harrow fine and level, and open beds in an east-west direction, 120 cm wide, of which the bed furrow is 20 cm wide and the bed surface is 100 cm, and apply 100 kg of ternary compound fertilizer in furrows.

II. Carefully select good varieties and properly handle the seed ginger pieces. When planting garlic, choose garlic with large cloves and no disease as seed, and discard split cloves and rotten cloves; when interplanting ginger, choose ginger pieces that are disease-free, not rotten, not shriveled and not damaged for sprouting, and strictly discard thin and weak ginger pieces or those with brown, water-soaked or softened flesh. Place the ginger pieces under moist sand conditions at a temperature of 22-25°C and a relative air humidity of 70%-80% for sprouting, which can make the ginger sprouts plump without excessive growth.

III. Sow at the appropriate time and plant at a reasonable density. Use plastic film mulching to sow garlic seed, in an east-west direction, with beds 120 cm wide, planting 6 rows, with a plant spacing of 10 cm, and 37,000 plants per mu. On the bed surface, plant 3 rows of garlic and leave one 30 cm wide intercropping row. Garlic sowing can be done by punching holes after mulching, or by opening furrows, sowing and then mulching; after seedlings emerge, break the film to let the seedlings through and seal the openings with soil. Ginger is sown in holes, with a row spacing of 60 cm and a plant spacing of 20 cm, 5500 plants per mu, keeping the depth and plant spacing as consistent as possible for easy management.

IV. Apply formula fertilizer in stages. With sufficient base fertilizer applied, garlic basically needs no topdressing after sowing; after harvesting the garlic scapes, apply 10 kg of urea per mu along with watering, serving one fertilizer for two purposes; when ginger grows to 2 branches, apply 15-20 kg of compound fertilizer as topdressing, and in the vigorous growth period apply another 35-50 kg of compound fertilizer to meet the ginger's fertilizer needs.

V. Strengthen watering and drainage management. Ginger needs a large amount of water in the late growth stage, and the ground should be kept moist but not dry. Ginger and garlic are afraid of both drought and waterlogging, so attention must also be paid to drainage to prevent ginger rot. In addition, soil should be hilled up in stages, and the field should be cultivated and weeded.

VI. Pay attention to the prevention and control of pests and diseases. After garlic turns green in spring, spray 800-fold 90% trichlorfon solution to control garlic maggots. For the control of ginger blast, on the premise of carrying out crop rotation for more than three years, select good varieties, and when diseased plants are found, remove them promptly and spread quicklime in the diseased holes for disinfection. When ginger borers (that is, stem borers) are found, spray 500-600-fold 50% fenitrothion emulsion or 800-fold 80% dichlorvos emulsifiable concentrate, or spray 1500-fold decis or sumicidin for control.