Planting garlic for the winter in Belarus is a serious event. It is important to choose quality specimens for landing, choose a date and take into account all the nuances. We will talk in detail about the planting of garlic for the winter of 2017 in Belarus.
Season
Garlic spice is planted in the spring and autumn. With autumn planting, the heads grow larger. Such garlic is more fragrant, has a sharp taste. But the shelf life is not so long. During winter lying, such garlic can rot.
Garlic planted in the spring, lies perfectly in the winter, does not decay and does not dry out.
Which planting to prefer, the gardener decides on his own. You can plant one half of the spice in the fall, and the second in the spring.
Varieties of culture
Two forms of garlic are known: non-shooting and shooting. The shape that forms the arrow is also called the “winter runner”. Arrow is a flower stalk formed in winter garlic sown after summer.
Winter garlic at the end of the summer period forms the so-called bulbs on its peduncles. Their number may exceed one hundred. These bulbs can be taken for autumn planting. But a full-fledged garlic head does not grow out of them, but a small onion-tooth bulb is obtained, which can be planted next fall to get a full-fledged garlic head.
However, it is worth considering that the size of the bulbs is not the same, and small onions form from the smallest ones. From such material, and the head will grow not too high quality. It will be possible to wait for a decent harvest of garlic of massive size and able to be stored for a long time in two or three years, this is not always convenient.
Planting a winter sheep
Planting garlic for the winter in Belarus in the form of full-fledged cloves is much more profitable in every sense compared with the cultivation of bulbs. The clove bud has a well formed embryo, and this will only have a favorable effect on the future harvest.
Experts advise taking planting copies of a rather large size. This will provide more crop. If a large garlic clove is planted, in the spring a large bulb with the largest number of cloves is formed from it. If you plant miniature teeth, then the bulbs from them will turn out to be small.
Some gardeners make a mistake, and the largest cloves are eaten, and small ones are planted in the garden. As a result, the yield decreases with each season. And all other measures to increase productivity do not help.
On planting specimens there should be no mold traces, other spots indicating pathologies. If at least one clove is affected by a stain, the entire head is rejected and not taken for planting. The upper shell should not be damaged.
Disembarkation time
Let's move on to the timing of planting garlic for the winter in Belarus. The optimal period for this is September. The climatic conditions of Belarus are such that autumn is rather short, the first snow falls in November, and may fall in October.
If you plant the spice earlier than recommended, the cloves form greens, while the roots are weakened. If you miss the deadlines and plant them later, the roots of the plant will not have time to gain strength before the onset of frost. As a result, the plant may die during a harsh winter.
Of course, gardeners with experience living all the time in Belarus observe signs and know the approximate planting dates, which they try to adhere to. For example, some have the confidence that garlic needs to be planted before the Feast of the Protection, others plant after it. Someone landed with the arrival of October, regardless of weather conditions.
There is a rule for the timing of planting garlic in the winter - the cloves should be in the soil a month and a half before the frost comes. Soil with the advent of cold weather has a temperature colder than a nine-degree mark. A month and a half or 50 days is the ideal time during which the plant has time to form a good root structure.
Planting garlic for the winter in Belarus is done on a clear, dry day. The air temperature should not be higher than 10 degrees.
Astrologer Tips
Some gardeners plant garlic in the winter on the lunar calendar, trusting the advice of astrologers. The main principles for creating such a schedule are as follows:
- "Tops" are planted during the growing moon, and "roots" on the waning. This means that plants that are cultivated for the sake of the upper part develop well if they are planted during the rising moon. And vice versa.
- There are fertile and infertile zodiac signs. If the moon has entered an infertile sign, landing is not worth it. These characters vary by culture.
So, garlic belongs to the "roots", so it is planted during the waning moon. Do not land on unfavorable days. These are the days of the new moon, full moon. Astrologers say that when planted on such dates, garlic will rot and simply turn yellow. In any case, this will negatively affect the formation of the future crop.
A good sign for spice is Sagittarius. Experts also advise planting garlic when the Moon is in the signs of Virgo, Taurus, Capricorn. The exact dates are published annually in newspapers, magazines and the Internet.
Knowing the basic principles of making astrological recommendations, you can choose favorable days when planting garlic for the winter in Belarus. This is sometimes useful, especially considering the fact that dates in different lunar calendars are often different.
Seat selection
Proper planting of garlic in the winter in Belarus is impossible without determining a place for culture.
Garlic loves well-lit places; it is a culture of photophilous. This feature should be considered when choosing a place and stop in an open area that is not obscured by a shadow.
Successful spice precursors are:
- siderative cultures;
- gourds;
- legumes;
- greens.
Not suitable as previous plants onions, potatoes, carrots, cucumbers.
Soil features
When planting garlic for the winter in Belarus, one should also consider the type of soil on the site. Spice prefers loose nutrient soils with zero pH. In order to achieve the desired composition, it makes sense to start training at least a month before the planned work.
You should not grow garlic in swampy lands where water accumulates. Clay soil and soil with high acidity are also not suitable. Usually these are peaty soils. On sandy soils, garlic grows small, because this type of land is poor, requiring abundant moisture.
Preparatory work
It is good if the beds where the culture will grow are even and rise. A suitable height is 20 cm. The width is different, usually one meter.
However, the towering beds have a major minus - the land on them dries faster. But there are pluses - after heavy rains, the water will quickly come off the bed, and in spring the earth will heat up faster under the sun.
Soil type
If the soil on the site has an acidic composition, autumn planting is generally undesirable. Better to do spring work on planting garlic. Or liming the earth - 200 grams of lime are added per meter and dug up.
If the acidity is neutral, humus is added to the ground, superphosphate and potassium sulfate, the beds are dug. You can’t bring in fresh manure. In extreme cases, you can take a rotten, lain for at least 3-4 years.
Heavy clay soils on which water stagnates are put in order at least a month before planting. The process itself is not easy, it will require special equipment, especially in large areas.
To make the soil light, you need to make a bucket of peat and sand for every meter of land, dig a bed on one bayonet of a shovel.
If the soil, on the contrary, is too light, that is, it consists mainly of sand, it is compacted with humus or clay. The clay is dried before that, crushed to a powdery state, sand is added and put on the bed. For every meter you need a bucket of sand and clay.
Peat soils are acidic; lime and sand are added to them, as was already said. After making any substances, the beds are dug up.
Planting process
Having decided on the timing and place, putting the soil in order, you can begin to land. Most often, it is the cloves that are planted. On a flat bed, rows are made at intervals of 18-20 cm and the teeth are placed. The distance between the cloves is 14-20 cm. The landing depth is 4-6 cm.
Buns are planted in approximately the same pattern, the distance between them can be reduced to 10 cm.
It is not worth making plantings too frequent; weeds sprout between them. With close plantings, caring for the crop will be problematic. In addition, bulbs in a close arrangement will grow small.
It is not worth squeezing the teeth into the garden; during the development of the roots, the bulb will be pushed up and will freeze in winter.
At the end of planting, the soil should be leveled and mulched.