Spring garlic

Even for truck farmers with minimal experience it's no secret that garlic can be planted in both autumn and spring. The first one has the name winter, and the second, respectively, spring. But not all of the masters of the garden business can accurately determine from the run what garlic before them - winter or spring. What distinguishes spring garlic from winter wheat, and how to properly plant and care for spring garlic, we'll talk today.

What is the difference between spring garlic and winter wheat?

In addition to different planting dates, spring and winter garlic have significant external differences. The first of these is the shape of the head. So, in winter garlic, the denticles are located in the same layer and have approximately the same size. In spring garlic, denticles are considerably larger than in winter crops, they are arranged in two rows and have different sizes. The second external sign, which allows to determine the type of garlic - is the form of the tops. In winter garlic, the tops are dense and form a solid stump, while in the spring - thin, and the stump is soft.

Planting and caring for spring garlic

To get a good harvest of spring garlic, you must follow the following rules:

1. The planting of spring garlic is usually started at the end of April, choosing for this areas with sandy loam or light loam soil and neutral reaction. The bed should be located on a small hill and well illuminated.
2. The soil in the garden is being prepared since autumn, carefully digging and adding fertilizers: humus, potassium salt and superphosphate.
3. To accelerate the germination, before planting spring garlic is kept in the cold (+2 ... + 5 degrees) approximately 1.5-2 months. Then the planting garlic is carefully sorted, culling all the sick or spoiled teeth. In this case, you can immediately sort the teeth by size, in order to subsequently plant large and small separately. Such sorting will greatly simplify the care of crops.
4. On the bed, spring garlic is planted in rows, maintaining a distance of 8-10 cm between the denticles and 25 cm between the rows. In the soil, the teeth are buried about 4-5 cm, paying special attention to the fact that the bottom of the tooth is oriented downwards.
5. After the garlic greens rise 10-15 cm above the ground, they begin to dress the garlic. For the first use the infusion of the mullein, and for the second, which is carried out in two weeks - nitrofosca. The third time garlic needs to be fed in early August, using superphosphate for this.
6. The time when to remove spring garlic, comes in August and depends on the weather. In dry weather, harvesting is carried out at the end of the month, and in rainy summer - at the beginning.