Garlicis one of the most popular onion vegetables, valued for its taste, nutritional value and healing properties. It is also useful for the gardener to prepare natural preparations against plant diseases and pests. No wonder so many people want to grow garlic on a plot of land. See how the planting andcultivation of garlic on the plot looks likeand whatgarlic diseasescan threaten your crops.
Common garlic - Allium sativum
Properties and use of garlic
Garlicis a vegetable that has been known for centuries. It was cultivated in China in antiquity. Even in the Bible, garlic is mentioned in the book of Numbers. Syreniusz, a doctor of Anna Jagiellonka, gives in his Herbarium as many as 100 therapeutic recommendations relating to garlic. Currently, medicine uses garlic to lower blood pressure, to regulate the digestive system, garlic also prevents calcification of the arteries. Garlic in the form of a compress is used on difficult-to-heal wounds and ulcers. Above all, however, garlic is a commonly used addition to dishes. It is worth mentioning that in addition to common garlic, discussed in this article, there is also decorative garlic, valued for its beautiful inflorescences, as well as wild garlic, which has similar healing and bactericidal properties but is gentler on the stomach.
Garlic - cultivation on the plot
If we want togrow garlic on the plot , we need to ensure a suitable substrate and position.Garlic prefers fertile and deep soil. If we have soil poor in minerals on the plot or in the garden, it is necessary to fertilize it with organic matter. The soil should not be too dry, moderate humidity is ideal. The garlic stand should be sunny and sheltered.
If you are using a vegetable crop rotation on the plot, then forgarlic cultivation , a pea, broad bean or bean forecrop is ideal. We should also remember never to plant garlic in a place where garlic or other onion vegetables were previously grown. Garlic also requires regular watering, especially in the period from mid-May to mid-June. It is best to only water the soil around the plant so as not to wet the onion.
Garlic - planting on the plot
Before planting garlic, the soil should be dug to a depth of about 25 cm.Spring garlic is planted in the spring- from the end of March to the beginning of April, and in the fall,winter garlic is planted at the end of October It is worth knowing that garlic planted in the fall will form larger heads and will mature for harvest earlier than garlic planted in spring.
It's not worth itplanting garlicthat we bought at the grocery store as it may not grow anything out of it. The best is a properly preparedgarlic for growing on the plot , which can be purchased at a garden store. Divide the garlic head into cloves just before planting it into the ground, remembering that each clove should contain a piece of heel! Only the largest cloves should be planted.
Plant the garlic cloves in this wayin rowsat a distance of 20-30 cm (depending on the amount of space). Plants in rows should be spaced 6-10 cm apart, depending on the size of the cloves. We dig the cloves into the ground vertically downwards, with the heel down, 3-5 cm deep in the spring. In autumn, the cloves should be planted a little deeper, i.e. 5-8 cm.
Garlic plantedin autumn ripens in July of the following year, while garlic planted in spring - in August.A symptom of maturity is yellowing and drying of the leaves in garlic producing inflorescences, and the collapse of the pseudo-stem in garlic without inflorescences. Remember that it is always better to harvest the garlic a little earlier than too late.
Garlic - diseases and pests
The most dangerousdiseases of garlicinclude fungal diseases caused by fungi of the genus Fusarium. Infections with these fungi are manifested by rotting of the base of the heel and rotting of the whole onion. The fungi strongly attack the root system, so infected garlic is easy to pull out of the ground. Warm and humid weather favors infections, especially in hot summers.
Another fungus that causes disease with symptoms similar to Fusarium is Pyrenochaeta terrestris. This fungus causesa garlic diseaseknown as pink root rot. Plants end their vegetation prematurely, the roots turn pink. The heads are not fully developed.The disease also develops in warm and humid summers. Fortunately, it is rare.
Penicillium fungi also cause a serious disease - green rot of garlic. The pathogen most often attacks damaged plants during the growing season. A characteristic greenish bloom of spores forms on the surface of the plant, and the tissue under the bloom turns into a brownish, rotten mass.
A commondisease of garlicis also white rot, which is a consequence of not supervising the crop rotation. The development of this disease is also favored by compact, very moist soil and longer periods of coolness.
Diseases of garliccan also be caused by bacteria and viruses. Bacteria cause the cloves of garlic to rot, mainly during its storage. And the symptoms of viruses on garlic are yellow, chlorotic, often mosaic-shaped streaks and stripes on the leaves, as well as slower growth and weaker yielding. Virus-infected plants should be removed, and for the next plantings, he althy plant material from a trusted source should be selected.
Preventing garlic diseasesis first and foremost ensuring crop rotation, cultivating garlic on permeable soils, not flooded, using only the highest quality seedling material. You should also be careful not to damage the cloves during planting, care or harvesting. A very good way to prevent diseases isdressing garlic bulbsin fungicides such as: Rovral Flo 255 SC (concentration 0.4%) or Sumilex 500SC (concentration 0.3%) with the addition of such preparations such as: Funaben T mortar (0.2-0.4%), Sarfun T 450FS (0.2-0.4%). In such a prepared suspension, soak the garlic cloves for 30 minutes. Then dry them. You can also dry the onions with: Funaben T mortar in the amount of 4-6 g per 1 kg of cloves or Sarfun T 450 FS 2-5 mg per kg of cloves.
Garlic can also be attacked bygarlic pests , which include mainly snails, soil nematodes and onion larvae.Therefore, regular snails control in the garden should be carried out, and the appearance of nematodes and cream is prevented by rotating and dressing the bulbs.The occurrence of onion cream can also be reduced by planting garlic in rows alternating with carrots. Planting carrots next to garlic is beneficial for both vegetables, because the smell of the garlic will scare away the dangerous carrot pest, which is the carrot leaven.
Katarzyna Matuszak
