Garlic Cultivation Techniques: Detailed Explanation of Seed Selection Methods and Sowing Key Points

1. Seed Selection

Garlic is propagated by cloves. For cultivating garlic sprouts in the Changsha area, early-maturing purple-skin garlic should be chosen, using medium-sized bulbs as seed. Seed cloves must undergo strict "two selections and one sorting," meaning when purchasing seed garlic bulbs, one should select bulbs with the morphological characteristics of the variety, that is, uniform in size and scale color, plump and full in appearance, relatively dry, with no "sprouting garlic" on the bulb. Before sowing, clove selection should be carried out: break open the bulb, remove those with damaged sprout tips or rotten cloves, yellow cloves, and bare cloves, and select complete, medium-sized, flat cloves for garlic sprout cultivation.

2. Sowing Period and Sowing Methods

In the Changsha area, the sowing period for garlic sprouts destined for market can be from late July to October, sown in batches. When sowing garlic early, it coincides with hot, scorching weather, making germination difficult, because high temperatures scald the seed, easily causing "oily seed" and failure to germinate; low-temperature treatment is required. Garlic cloves can be placed in a mesh bag and hung in a deep well to soak for a day and a night, or soaked in cold water and then placed in a cool, shady cave; after two weeks, when the cloves are found to have rooted and the sprout tip is showing, they should be sown immediately. Sowing wet seed at other times also results in earlier and more uniform emergence than sowing dry seed.

3. Sowing Density

Garlic sprout cultivation uses relatively dense sowing. On both sides of the prepared planting furrow, insert one garlic clove at a spacing of 3 cm, with the sprout tip facing up, inserted straight and firm, using 300 kg of seed per 666.7 sq m. After inserting the garlic, pour prepared decomposed human and livestock manure into the planting furrow, cover with a thin layer of soil, then cover with rice straw or wheat straw, or use a small arched shed covered with shade netting; some interplant hot-water cabbage between the furrow rows, which not only helps retain soil moisture for garlic and promotes early emergence, but also provides shade and cooling for the garlic to promote growth. When the garlic sprouts reach 20-25 cm in height, pull out the small cabbage.