How to Grow Laifang Garlic? A Detailed Explanation of Key Cultivation Techniques

Laifang Township in Qingliu County has a long history of garlic cultivation, and the garlic it produces has a strong aroma and a unique flavor.

I. Land preparation and fertilization for garlic.

Garlic has string-like fibrous roots with a relatively weak capacity to absorb water and nutrients, and its bulb grows and swells in the soil, so garlic should be cultivated on plots with loose soil, good drainage and rich organic matter. Although garlic has wide adaptability, sandy loam is still preferable. Because sandy loam is loose, it is suitable for root development, with early green-up, early bolting, large bulbs with a strong pungent flavor, and easy lifting at harvest.

The plot for cultivating garlic should be plowed and the beds sunned immediately after the previous crop is harvested, and the land should be prepared and beds made again before sowing. Base fertilizer should be applied before plowing. Because garlic has a long growing period, high population density and a large fertilizer requirement, generally 2000-3000 kg of high-quality organic fertilizer per mu is applied, together with 20-30 kg of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. Organic fertilizer must be fully decomposed; if raw fertilizer is used, it will burn the garlic roots during fermentation and also cause underground pest problems. The land should be prepared finely and beds made, with a bed width of 1.5-1.7 m, preferably oriented east-west.

II. Cultivation techniques for autumn-sown garlic.

1. Sowing.

① Sowing at the right time. The most suitable period for sowing garlic is generally mid to late September. The weather in September is cool, which is suitable for garlic seedlings to emerge and grow. If sown too early, the seedlings grow too vigorously before overwintering and consume nutrients, which reduces their overwintering ability and may also undergo vernalization again, causing secondary growth and the formation of multi-cloved garlic the following year, reducing garlic quality. If sown too late, the seedlings are small, with tender tissues, weak roots, less accumulated nutrients and lower cold resistance, and many die during overwintering. Therefore, the sowing period of garlic must be strictly controlled.

② Reasonable close planting. Close planting is the basis for increasing yield. The yield of garlic scapes and bulbs is determined by the number of plants per mu, the number of cloves per plant, and scape weight and clove weight. Appropriate close planting should be carried out according to the characteristics of the variety so that there are more plants per mu. Generally, about 30,000-35,000 plants per mu is preferable, with a row spacing of 8-10 cm and a plant spacing of 6-8 cm, using 75-100 kg of seed per mu.

③ Sowing method: "Plant scallions deep, plant garlic shallow" is the experience gained by farmers through many years of practice. The generally suitable sowing depth for garlic is 2-3 cm. There are two sowing methods for garlic: one is insertion, that is, inserting the seed cloves into the soil, then covering with soil and firming it; the other is furrow sowing, that is, opening a shallow furrow with a hoe and sowing the seed cloves into the soil at intervals. After opening one furrow, the soil dug out is at the same time used to cover the seed cloves in the previous row. After sowing, cover with soil about 2 cm thick, firm the soil and water thoroughly. To prevent drought, two layers of rice straw or other moisture-retaining material may be spread on the soil. Planting should not be too deep; if too deep, emergence is delayed, the false stem is too long, the roots absorb more water and nutrients, growth is excessive, and the formation of the bulb is hindered from swelling by soil compression. However, planting should also not be too shallow; if too shallow, the cloves are prone to "popping out" during emergence, the root zone is prone to water shortage at the seedling stage, and root development is poor.

2. Field management.

① Topdressing: Although garlic seedlings have nutrients from the seed cloves during the growth period, timely topdressing is still necessary to promote seedling growth and increase the nutrient area of the plants. Because the garlic root system has a weak capacity to absorb water and fertilizer, quick-acting fertilizer should be applied as topdressing to avoid nutrient deficiency and yellowing leaf tips. Garlic is generally topdressed 3-4 times, divided into:

Seedling-promoting fertilizer: after the garlic seedlings have all emerged, apply 1 application of dilute human excrement and urine to promote the seedlings; do not apply ammonium bicarbonate, to prevent burning the seedlings.

Vigorous growth fertilizer: 60-80 days after sowing, apply heavily 1 application of decomposed human and livestock manure plus chemical fertilizer, 20-30 dan per mu, 10 kg of ammonium sulfate, and 5 kg of potassium sulfate or potassium chloride. Apply early to promote vigorous seedling growth and thick stems and leaves, so that when the mother clove rots there is little or no yellowing of leaf tips.

Bulb-swelling fertilizer: because the temperature is still not high when the bulb swells, and the bulb-swelling period is correspondingly long, in order to promote bulb enlargement, quick-acting nitrogen and potassium fertilizer must be applied before harvesting the garlic scapes. For example, apply 5-10 kg per mu of nitrogen-potassium compound fertilizer; if urea is applied alone, about 5 kg is sufficient, and too much must not be applied, otherwise it will cause the young buds of the already formed cloves to turn green and grow leaves again, consuming the nutrients of the cloves. Topdressing should be carried out before harvesting the garlic scapes; after the scapes are harvested, there are abundant nutrients to promote bulb swelling. If topdressing is carried out after harvesting the scapes, it easily leads to excessive vegetative growth and reduced yield. If the soil is relatively fertile and the garlic leaves are thick, large and dark in color, the bulb-swelling fertilizer may be omitted. Because bolting is late and the temperature is relatively high, garlic is generally harvested about 20-25 days after the scapes are harvested, so the bulb-swelling fertilizer may also be omitted.