We will tell you how to grow garlic, the cultivation schedule, tips on how to grow it, what to prepare, and how to plant, care for, harvest and store it. We will introduce how to grow garlic, which can be easily grown even with a planter, without using chemical pesticides or chemical fertilizers as much as possible.
Tips on how to grow garlic
■ Basic information on garlic
- Botanical Name : Allium sativum
- Plant Type: Vegetable
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun
- Soil pH: Slightly Acidic to Neutral
This time, I will tell you in detail about the garlic cultivation schedule, tips on how to grow garlic, and how to care for it. In addition, based on the concept of “organic cultivation method”, we will introduce a method that does not use chemical pesticides or chemical fertilizers as much as possible.
Difficulty of cultivating garlic
Once planted in the fall, garlic can be easily grown without any special care. When you think of “garlic cultivation,” you can imagine a large farm that you often see in commercials, but you can also grow it in a planter.
Garlic cultivation schedule
Garlic is planted from September to October. In cold regions such as Aomori, it is better to plant early, and in the west of Kanto, it is okay to plant late. The balls grow larger after spring, so adding fertilizer around that time and then scraping the garlic buds to prevent them from blooming are the main tasks until harvesting.
What to prepare and how to plant garlic
■ Prepare garlic for seeds (garlic seed ball)
First, prepare garlic for seeds (garlic seed balls). It is said that producers select good garlic from the garlic harvested that year and use it as seed garlic for the following year.
Seed garlic can be obtained by mail order. There are not so many garlic varieties, but there are warm-season varieties south of Kanto (such as early Ichishu) and cold-season varieties of Tohoku (such as white six pieces), so choose the one that suits your area. ..
Also, the difference from the edible garlic sold in supermarkets is that it does not suppress germination. Most edible garlic suppresses germination by placing it in the refrigerator for long-term distribution and then drying it. Garlic has the property of not sprout when placed in the refrigerator, so be careful not to store it in the refrigerator after you get the seed garlic.
■ Make good soil anyway
As for preparation, “make good soil anyway” is all that is needed. This is common to all vegetables, but since it takes more than half a year to grow such nutritious vegetables, soil is still an important point. When growing in a field, pour in plenty of ripe compost and mix well with a shovel or hoe until the soil is fluffy. Ripe compost has the effect of improving drainage and water retention, so this will make the soil highly fertilizing.
Also, if you use chemical fertilizers often and the soil is inclined to acidity, add alkaline soil conditioners such as “magnesium lime” and “wood ash” to neutralize it. After improving the soil in this way, organic fertilizers such as bokashi fertilizer are added, and garlic is planted there.
When using potting soil (pre-blended soil) in a planter, add about 20 to 30% of ripe compost and mix, add bokeh fertilizer (about a pinch for a planter of about 70 cm), and mix well.
■ Points on how to plant
Seed garlic is loosened into bunches, divided into individual pieces of phosphorus, and planted at intervals of 7 to 8 cm with the buds facing up to a depth of about 5 cm.
How to care for garlic
Winter will come a while after the leaves come out, but there is no need to take measures against the cold, and we will continue to grow them while watering them appropriately. Since April is the time when the balls grow large, we will put bokeh fertilizer on both sides of the plant at this time to add fertilizer.
There is only one thing that must be done in the care of garlic, which is said to be “very easy”. It is to prevent flowers from blooming. Around May, the stem grows and a flower like a green onion vortex is attached to the tip, but when the flower blooms, energy goes to the flower, and the important bulb (eating part: bulb) The part that looks like) will not grow large. Therefore, the stem grows and is cut off from the middle of the stem before the flower blooms. This part can be eaten as stir-fried food as “garlic sprouts”.
How to harvest and store garlic
From May to June, it is time to harvest when the lower leaves start to turn yellow. Do this while the foliage remains bluish. If you are late, the ball will break. After harvesting, like onions, cut off the tips and roots and hang them in a well-ventilated place.
Let’s plant the garlic that has sprouted!
Have you ever bought garlic for food that has sprouted and can no longer be used? In such a case, let’s plant it in a planter.
As mentioned at the beginning, garlic for seeds and garlic for food are the same, so if they grow well as they are, they can be harvested as garlic for the following year.
On the other hand, if you get garlic for seeds and it is too much, you can put it in a net and store it in a well-ventilated place, and you can use it for food.
