Garlic is one of the popular garden crops, due to its benefits to human health and use as a seasoning. Everyone who grows this culture on their site wants to get a decent harvest, but not everyone succeeds. The most appropriate solution to the problem will be the application of fertilizing, which will make the plants strong, and the crop larger. However, it should be borne in mind that fertilizers should be applied in certain proportions and at the right time for this.
Why fertilize garlic
Topping up the cultivation of garlic is a necessary procedure. However, before embarking on fertilizer application, you need to understand what goals are being pursued. If you plan to cultivate winter garlic, then nutrients must be applied immediately when planting cloves, that is, in the autumn period. Culture at this time needs additional nutrition in order to gain strength in the winter and with the onset of spring to actively begin to develop.
Harvest of garlic, its quality and quantity, directly depends on the care of the crop, timely and proper nutrition
If garlic is planted in the spring (spring), it should be borne in mind that fertilizing in the autumn will enrich the soil with nutrients, and in the spring it will contribute to a good start to growth. In simple words, the nutrition of garlic is a kind of push. Culture needs to be replenished also in the summer. As a result, the plant becomes stronger, resistant to temperature changes, diseases and pests.
What to use for top dressing
Before planting garlic, as well as during its cultivation, the soil is fertilized with both organic and mineral substances.
Organic fertilizers and folk remedies
Garlic responds very well to the introduction of organic matter, which is especially true on depleted soils. Sometimes one autumn top dressing is enough, which will provide the plants with the necessary nutrition during the growing season. The most popular organic fertilizer is manure, which is made for digging. Some gardeners use fresh substance, but experts still recommend making humus (rotted manure). If bird droppings are used, then they must also be administered carefully, since an excessive amount can simply burn the shoots.
Humus is added to the garlic bed during autumn digging
Spring culture requires strength to grow. For these purposes, you can prepare a solution based on mullein (1 part of fertilizer in 7 parts of water). The solution is watered garlic beds, avoiding the ingress of liquid on the stems. To enrich the soil with nutrients it is quite appropriate to use compost.
Compost is an organic fertilizer that is obtained as a result of the decomposition of organic residues (plants from the garden, foliage, peat, manure, straw, etc.).
A fairly common organic top dressing of garlic is mullein infusion
Of the folk remedies for fertilizing garlic, the most common is wood ash. It can be applied both in dry form, by sprinkling row spacings, and in the form of a solution (200 g per 10 liters of water). In addition to ash, gardeners use salt, for which a solution of 3 tbsp is prepared. l salt per 10 liters of water. Also common salmon is ammonia, which is sprayed with garlic (25 ml of ammonia in 10 liters of water).
Mineral fertilizers
Top dressing of a particular culture is carried out to replenish nutrients in the soil. When using only organic components, it is not always possible to achieve a balance of batteries. The choice of fertilizers and their quantity depends on the fertility of the soil. Among the most common mineral dressings, the following are used:
- carbamide (1 tbsp. per 10 liters of water);
- nitroammophosk (60 g per 10 l of water);
- superphosphate (50-60 g per bucket of water);
- urea (1 tbsp. per bucket of water);
- nitrophoska (2 tbsp. per bucket of water).
To make the nutrient solution more effective, some components are recommended to be combined. So, with the introduction of nitrogen and phosphorus (1: 1.5) into the soil, greens will develop better, and nutrients will accumulate in the head.
Garlic can be fed not only with organic, but also with mineral fertilizers
After rain or watering, it is quite appropriate to apply fertilizers in a dry form. The composition may be as follows: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (in the ratio of 8:15:35). To determine the quantity and composition of fertilizers, a number of important factors must be taken into account:
- how fertile soil is on the site and what is its acidity;
- climatic features of the region (precipitation, frost);
- Illumination of the site;
- garlic precursors (the best previous crops are cereals, zucchini);
- variety of culture (ripening dates, conditions for growth and development).
To determine the acidity of the soil using special probes or instruments. In accordance with the testimony, the soil is deoxidized or vice versa, increase acidity. Under garlic, you need to select a site with neutral and fertile soil.
Video: how to feed garlic so that the heads are large
Features of foliar top dressing
Garlic can be fed not only by fertilizing the soil, but also by the foliar method. In this case, the plants receive nutrition through the stems by spraying. Thus, it is possible to deliver nutrients in a short period of time.
Foliar top dressing is an addition to the main one, so using it only will be wrong.
The best time to carry out the procedure is evening hours or cloudy weather. The foliar method feeds the culture 2 times per season. The most common fertilizer for this purpose is a solution of wood ash. As the plants develop, the introduction of certain nutrients may be required, which can be judged by the external state of the stems. So, if the green part of the plants turns yellow, then garlic lacks nitrogen fertilizers. In this case, it is necessary to spray with a urea solution. If the aboveground part becomes lighter, then this indicates a lack of potassium. To replenish the element, you can spray with a solution of potassium salt. It is worth considering that the doses of mineral fertilizers for foliar top dressing should be half as much as with root application.
Foliar feeding of garlic allows you to deliver nutrients to the crop in a short time.
Seasonal nutrition
Planting of winter garlic is done in the fall, and the crop is obtained from it earlier than from spring. Both types need feeding. However, winter culture still needs autumn recharge.
Fall
Before fertilizing, you need to consider that garlic painfully tolerates a change in the acidity of the soil. If the planting of garlic is done according to the rules, then the preparation of beds should be done 1-2 weeks before the expected date of planting. Some gardeners use ready-made compounds, and someone is engaged in the preparation of fertilizers on their own. The following substances are used as autumn top dressing:
- 1 bucket of humus;
- 1 tbsp. l double superphosphate;
- 2 tbsp. l potassium sulfate;
- 0.5 l of wood ash.
In the autumn, nitrogen fertilizers do not contribute. The need for them arises in early spring, as soon as the snow melts. They provide the active development of the root system and the growth of the aerial parts.
Garlic responds very well to top dressing with wood ash
In the spring
With the advent of spring, winter garlic begins to germinate and needs to be fed. As a rule, it is carried out 6-10 days after the snow melts. As for spring culture, it is fed a little later, when the active growth of stems begins.
Garlic does not like waterlogging, so top dressing should be done in conjunction with watering.
The first spring recharge is carried out using urea (1 tbsp. L.), Diluted in 10 l of water. With the prepared solution, pour the garlic bed at the rate of 2-3 liters per 1 m². After 2 weeks, a second top dressing is carried out, with both spring and winter garlic. The main ingredient in this case is nitrofoska or nitroammofoska. You will need to dilute 2 tbsp. l 10 liters of water and spend 3-4 liters per 1 m².
Video: spring dressing of garlic
In summer
The next feeding is in mid-June. During this period, the formation of the head begins and its mass increases. Accordingly, the plant needs additional nutrition. The timing of fertilizing for spring and winter garlic is approximately the same, but it should be borne in mind that winter crops ripen earlier. Therefore, you need to adhere not only to the timing, but also pay attention to how plants develop.
If fertilizers are applied ahead of schedule, the stems and arrows will begin to develop rapidly, and at later dates, the food will be useless.
To form large heads of garlic, the use of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers is necessary. Therefore, top dressing involves the introduction of the following substances:
- 30 g of superphosphate;
- 15 g potassium sulfate;
- 10 liters of water.
A ready-made solution will be enough to fertilize a 2 m² bed. If desired, you can replace potassium sulfate with wood ash at the rate of 200 ml of ash per 10 liters of water.
Garlic siderata
The garden on which the planting of winter garlic is planned is preferably planted with green manure, such as white mustard or phacelia.
Siderata - plants that are grown with the aim of their subsequent incorporation into the soil to improve its structure, enrichment with nitrogen and prevent the growth of weeds.
Garlic can be planted not only after planting siderates, but also directly in them. Sideral crops are sown in rows, and between them form grooves for planting garlic. The best plants for disinfecting the soil are vetch and mustard.
It is recommended to plant garlic together with or after green manure, which improves the soil structure and enriches it with nitrogen and trace elements
Co-planting garlic with green manure has the following advantages:
- before the onset of cold weather, siderates will have time to grow up and will serve as a shelter for garlic from frost;
- in the spring, a dried-up and over-ripened mass of siderat plants will prevent excessive evaporation of moisture;
- soil microorganisms, due to which the substances necessary for garlic are supplied, are fed with siderates.
All this suggests that the sowing of green manure crops is an important agricultural technique that not only enriches the soil with nitrogen and trace elements, but also returns its lost fertility.
At first glance, it may seem that garlic can be grown without fertilizing. In this case, the harvest will be appropriate. If the goal is to get large heads, then you can not do without fertilizers. Timely and proper application of nutrients will achieve the desired result.
