Eight steps for meticulous pre-winter management of garlic

Land preparation and fertilization. Choose fertile loam or sandy loam soil where onions, garlic or Chinese chives have not been grown before. Before ploughing, apply 7500 kg of high-quality farmyard manure and 200 kg of soybean cake per 667 sq m. Or apply 100-150 kg of ternary compound fertilizer and 5000 kg of farmyard manure per 667 sq m. The land should be levelled and harrowed fine. Along with land preparation, use 1.5-2.5 kg of phoxim granules per 667 sq m, mix with an appropriate amount of wheat bran and soybean cake to make poisoned bait, and scatter it into the soil clods of the ploughed land to kill white grubs, wireworms, mole crickets and other underground pests.

Selecting garlic seed. Before sowing, grade and select the garlic cloves and sow them separately. When grading, remove the basal plate from the garlic cloves; extremely small cloves are generally not used.

Sowing at the right time. Early October is the suitable sowing period, and sowing should be completed in one go on a sunny day. When sowing, open furrows 5 cm deep according to the row spacing, arrange the garlic cloves in sequence with the back seam line facing the same direction, with a plant spacing of 6-7 cm, planting 50,000-55,000 plants per mu. After sowing, rake the soil level and fine to facilitate watering and film covering.

Film covering after sowing. There are two methods of film covering: first, build up adequate soil moisture before sowing, sow with sufficient moisture, and cover with film after sowing. Second, when the soil is dry at sowing, water thoroughly once after sowing, and cover with plastic film after the water has infiltrated.

Cultivating strong seedlings. Overwintering garlic seedlings should be short and sturdy, healthy but not over-luxuriant. The cultivation measures are: (1) Assisted film breaking. 3-5 days after sowing, promptly help the garlic seedlings that are pushing against but have failed to penetrate the plastic film by breaking the film manually. (2) Early application of seedling fertilizer. After full emergence, immediately apply 7-8 kg of urea per 667 sq m. (3) Watering for overwintering. After the Beginning of Winter and before the soil freezes, water once for overwintering to help prevent cold and resist freezing.

Heavy application of twelfth-month fertilizer. The twelfth-month fertilizer should be mainly organic fertilizer. Generally apply 1000-1200 kg of fully decomposed pig, sheep, rabbit manure and ash per 667 sq m; if organic fertilizer is insufficient, apply 25 kg of special garlic fertilizer per 667 sq m. At the same time, increase the application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. Apply 25 kg of phosphorus fertilizer, 10-15 kg of potassium fertilizer or 50 kg of compound fertilizer per 667 sq m.

Loosening soil and weeding. (1) Chemical weeding. After garlic sowing and before emergence, use 100 g of 50% napropamide or 100-150 ml of 33% pendimethalin per 667 sq m, spray with water to seal off and kill pre-winter weeds. (2) Loosening soil and weeding. Seize favourable opportunities to do a good job of loosening soil and weeding; this not only eliminates winter weeds in the garlic field and accelerates soil maturation, but also improves the soil, raises the surface temperature, promotes garlic root growth, enhances stress resistance, prevents the garlic seedlings from growing too luxuriantly before winter and suffering freeze damage, and helps them overwinter safely.

Clearing ditches. Garlic likes moisture but fears waterlogging. In winter, before the soil freezes, ditch clearing must be done well, ensuring that all ditches connect with one another, and the cross ditches and main open ditches must be cleared and deepened to ensure unobstructed drainage and irrigation, improve disaster resistance, and ensure high and stable garlic yields.