When is the right time to plant garlic?

Garlic is usually cultivated as an annual or biennial crop in agricultural production. It has strong cold resistance and can grow at lower temperatures, but the most suitable growth temperature is between 12-25℃. Let’s learn together when is the best time to plant garlic?

1. Planting garlic in the open field

The optimum temperature for garlic germination is 16-20℃, and the sensitivity to temperature makes the choice of sowing time particularly important.

In North China, garlic is usually sown in the eighth month of the lunar calendar. If the seeds are sown too early, not only will it be difficult for them to germinate, but the garlic cloves will easily rot in a hot and humid environment; if the seeds are sown too late, the plants will not grow enough and will be easily damaged by frost in winter. Garlic seedlings need to grow 4 to 5 true leaves before winter to enhance their cold resistance.

Use row sowing method, keep the row spacing at about 20 cm, use a furrow opener to dig furrows with a depth of about 5 cm. Select evenly plump garlic cloves, place them in the trench at intervals of 15 cm, then cover with soil and water thoroughly. Garlic needs to be watered in time after sowing because it has a high demand for water during germination. After the seedlings emerge, loosen the soil and weed in time, which will help maintain soil moisture and temperature, thereby promoting the healthy growth of the seedlings.

2. Planting garlic with mulch

Since mulch can increase soil temperature, the time for mulch-covered sowing is usually about half a month later than open-field sowing. Sometimes, in order not to affect the growth cycle of garlic, mulch covering can be used even if the sowing time is late.

The sowing method is the same as open-field planting, the difference is that before sowing, it is necessary to ensure that the soil has sufficient moisture. After sowing, cover the soil but do not water immediately. Instead, cover the ground film directly. The mulch film can maintain soil moisture, which is beneficial to the emergence of garlic seedlings . During the germination period, close observation is required. Once the seedlings emerge, use an iron stick to make a small hole above the seedling so that the seedlings can smoothly emerge from the film, instead of directly peeling off the film.

3. Greenhouse garlic*

In the north, although garlic is grown in greenhouses, it is not common. Since the sowing time is difficult to control accurately, the growth of garlic is often not as good as that grown in the open field. However, if the goal is to harvest green garlic shoots, growing garlic in a greenhouse during the winter is still a good option.

Now is the time to sow garlic. Friends who want to plant garlic can choose the appropriate time according to the actual climatic conditions in the area. If you have any other questions about this kind of garlic, you can also leave a message.