Detailed Explanation of High-Quality Cultivation Methods and Technical Key Points for Export Garlic

Export garlic has relatively high quality requirements, and only by adopting scientific cultivation methods can garlic quality be ensured.

1. Sowing: Choose soft, fertile, well-drained sandy soil. Before planting, water, plow and harrow, and apply sufficient farmyard manure such as cake fertilizer and human excrement and urine. Plots whose previous crop was scallions or chives are not suitable for planting garlic. Select seed garlic that is medium in size, has few cloves, and is free from mildew, rot, damage, or insect damage for sowing. Clove-gapped garlic cannot be used as seed. Sow around the Autumn Equinox. Use a narrow hoe to open shallow furrows for dibbling, then cover with soil and level it, requiring consistent depth. 30,000 plants per mu, with a plant spacing of 11.7-13.3 cm and a row spacing of 20-23.3 cm, and a seeding rate of 100-125 kg per mu.

2. Field management. ① From after sowing to around the Beginning of Spring, carry out management for full seedling emergence, strong seedlings, and safe overwintering. Sandy land must not be irrigated after sowing and before seedling emergence; clay soil should be watered within 5 days after sowing, and after watering the surface soil should be properly loosened by harrowing. When the seedlings are 13 cm tall, hoe and loosen the soil between plants and rows. After watering and after rain, the soil should be hoed. After entering winter, water less. After the Winter Solstice and before the soil freezes heavily, water once thoroughly, then cover with about 6.6 cm of farmyard manure. For the green-returning fertilizer, apply 10 kg of urea or 30 kg of ammonium nitrate per mu. After the Spring Equinox, garlic's demand for fertilizer and water increases, and quick-acting fertilizers such as urea can be applied with irrigation. ② From Qingming to after Guyu, garlic bolts and cloves grow rapidly, and the soil should be kept moist. Stop watering 5-6 days before harvesting the bolts. ③ If garlic does not bolt or does not bolt completely, the growth of the garlic bulbs will be affected. When harvesting garlic bolts, use a thick iron needle to pierce horizontally at about 15 cm above the ground to cut off the garlic bolt, pinch the base of the garlic bolt with one hand, and with the other hand firmly grasp the bolt stem and gently pull it upward. ④ After harvesting the bolts, water once every 3-4 days, apply 15-20 kg of urea per mu, and stop watering one week before harvesting the garlic. ⑤ Garlic bulbs should preferably be harvested around Xiaoman, not too early or too late. During harvest, the garlic bulbs must not be punctured, bruised, or have their skins broken.

3. Pest and disease control. Pay attention to crop rotation and avoid applying undecomposed fertilizer (especially human excrement and urine). Apply pesticide during land preparation to kill underground pests. In plots where garlic maggots occur, use flood irrigation to drown the garlic maggots. If serious pest damage occurs, spray with 2000-3000 times diluted dichlorvos or dimethoate solution for control.

4. Post-harvest processing. After garlic is harvested, avoid rain and sun exposure, and promptly grade and select. According to garlic bulb diameter, divide into three grades: above 6 cm, 6 cm to 5 cm, and unqualified (below 5 cm). Use a knife to cut in a circle 3-4 times along the root whisker part of garlic that meets export standards, cutting the root whiskers clean so that the root whisker part protrudes slightly; after drying, this part just flattens, making it less likely for cloves to separate. Promptly bundle garlic into handfuls or braid it, hang it in a ventilated, light-avoiding place, and dry and store it. Around the end of June, before selling the garlic, cut off the dried garlic bulbs leaving 1.5 cm of bolt stem outside, remove the old outer skin of the garlic bulbs that was next to the soil, and make them fresh, clean, and intact.