It's the right time to plant garlic in winter, garlic farmers, don't miss out

I. Choosing and preparing the land. Garlic has string-like roots with a relatively weak ability to absorb water and nutrients, and the bulbs grow and swell in the soil, so for planting garlic you should choose loose soil that is easy to drain and irrigate, rich in organic matter, fertile and soft, and with strong water retention, such as sandy soil; good half-sand half-mud land is beneficial to the root growth of garlic. The planting site generally needs proper deep plowing, sun-whitening, and can be made into high beds or flat beds, with bed width 1-3 1-7 m and trench width 0-5 m. The bed mud should be broken up and the bed furrows leveled so that drainage and irrigation are convenient.

II. Applying enough base fertilizer. Garlic has a strong tolerance for fertilizer and a relatively high demand for the three elements nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, with nitrogen fertilizer as the main one, phosphorus fertilizer secondary, and potassium fertilizer even less important. The base fertilizer is mainly compost; mix garbage, burned soil, plant ash, etc. evenly, add 60 kg of phosphorus fertilizer, 50 kg of potassium fertilizer, or 80 kg of compound fertilizer, mix well and compost until decomposed, and apply 1800-2000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer per mu, so as to meet the growth needs of garlic. If it is relatively fertile vegetable land, a little less can be applied.

III. Planting early at the right time. The sowing period can be from late October (around "Frost's Descent") to early November (around "Start of Winter"), and the garlic bulbs are harvested from late February to early March of the following year. Before planting garlic, you should choose garlic cloves that are free of pests and diseases, plump, and with part of the basal disc, and sow them directly by dibbling into the soil. The plant and row spacing is 9 x 12 cm, and the usual seed rate per mu is 60-75 kg.

IV. Fertilizer and water management. (1) Mulching with straw. After the garlic seeds are planted in the mud, a layer of straw should be spread over the bed surface to prevent the sun from damaging the garlic seeds, reduce the direct impact of heavy rain, watering, and fertilizing, and also reduce water evaporation, keep the soil often moist and soft, and benefit the growth of the garlic root system. On the edges of the beds, you can also sow choi sum and Chinese cabbage between the rows as a substitute for mulching, then remove the vegetable seedlings at the transplanting stage, so as to increase land use efficiency. At the same time, weed several times so that the garlic seedlings grow normally. (2) Irrigation. After sowing is completed, quickly irrigate the field, and sprinkle the bed surface along with the irrigation; after the bed surface is completely soaked, immediately drain the trench water, or leave a small amount of trench water, and afterward water according to the weather and the moisture of the bed surface, so as to keep the bed surface half dry and half wet, and never allow too deep standing water. (3) Topdressing. Generally, garlic fields are fertilized 3-4 times. The first time is 10-12 days after planting when seedlings emerge, applying a seedling-promoting fertilizer, with 500 kg of dilute human manure and urine plus 3-4 kg of urea mixed evenly and splashed on per mu. The second time is 30-40 days after planting when the seedlings are uniform, applying 800 kg of human manure water per mu, or 5-6 kg of urea. The third time is 50-60 days after planting, applying 1000 kg of human manure water per mu, or 8-10 kg of urea, or 20-25 kg of compound fertilizer, and 6-8 kg of potassium chloride. The fourth time is 70-75 days after planting, to promote rapid bulb swelling, applying 1500 kg of human manure water per mu, or 10-15 kg of urea, 8-10 kg of potassium chloride, or 40-50 kg of compound fertilizer. After each fertilization, spray clear water once to prevent burning the leaves and causing them to turn yellow and wither.

V. Pest and disease control. The main pests and diseases of garlic are soft rot, yellow-leaf flower disease, coffee bean weevil, and so on. For disease control, spray 500-fold 25% carbendazim solution. For insect pests, spray 1500-fold 90% crystal trichlorfon solution. For leaf blight and downy mildew, spraying 500-fold 75% chlorothalonil solution is effective.

VI. Harvesting at the right time. Garlic bulbs can be harvested 20-30 days after the garlic scapes are harvested. However, you cannot wait until the aboveground leaves are all withered; if spring is warm and there is a lot of rain, and harvesting is too late, they are prone to rot, and after harvest the garlic cloves easily separate and do not store well. After harvesting, dry them in the sun for a few days, then bundle and braid them into bunches, and stack or hang them in a cool, dry place for use as seed. Or smoke them with fire and then export them in batches.