Garlic grows well in clay, alluvial and sandy loam soils. Sandy loam, properly applied with fertilizer, generally produces big, compact and heavy bulbs of good quality. Heavier soils such as clay loam also give good yields if cultivated and fertilized properly. Garlic needs cool weather during the early stage of growth thus it is best to plant them on months oc October and November.
Garlic likes full sun an well drained soil. Garlic is quite tolerant to any soil types but it does best with sandy-clay-loam with pH 6.2 to 6.8. The field should drain easily - standing water can make the bulbs rot on the ground. To increase the tilth of the soil, add organic matter like well-composted manure. You also green mulch, that is plant cover crops such as clover or buckwheat and till them to the ground.
Prepare pieces of cloves in the afternoon, the day before planting. Carefully separate the cloves from each other, caring no to injure them. Choose only the big pieces for planting. Soak the cloves for 2 minutes in a solution of malathion prepared by mixing 3 tbsps in five gallons water. Treating the cloves with malathion would kill the microscopic mites that causes " tangle top" a common garlic disease. Drain off the solution and put the cloves in a clean container for planting.
Land Preparation
Plow and harrow the land thoroughly to kill weeds and to produce fine smooth, and level surface. Broadcast the recommended amount of fertilizers and mix thoroughly with the soil before leveling the field. For 1 hectare, use 125 to 175 kgs. each of Urea(45-0-0) and 14-14-14 or 12-24-12 NPK fertilizers. Mix the 2 fertilizers thoroughly. If Urea is not available, use 235 to 270 kgs. of ammonium sulphate. Mix with 115 to 130 kgs. 14-14-14 or 12-24-12 fertilizers.
After these, spread rice straw evenly on the entire paddy to a thickness of about 5 cms. Irrigate the field just enough to moist the soil. In a few days the soil is ready for planting. In planting, mark the rows with the use of parallel lines of string spaced 20 cms apart and placed jus on top of the straw mulch.
Hold the clove between thumb and forefinger and set 1/4 of the clove into the soil. Then press the soil slightly but firmly towards the clove. Plant the cloves at intervals of 20 cms. in the row. Garlic does not need much irrigation, as long as there is sufficient soil moisture, bulb formation would be normal. The plants are ready to be harvested as soon as 3/4 of the tops or leaves become fully ripe or dry. Lift the matured plants gently from the ground and then arrange them under direct heat of thw sun.
Pest an Diseases
The important pests of garlic are mites and cut worms. Cut worms can be controlled by spraying with solutions of EPN-300 at 3 tablespoons in 5 gallons water plus sticker. andImidan 50 WP at 3 tablespoons in 5 gallons water plus sticker. Against mites use Tedion V-18 at 3 tablespoons of water. Spray the plant once a week. Pink rootcan be prevented only by planting resistant varieties.
Harvesting
Many people make a istake by waiting too long to harvest. Keeping the garlic in the ground beyond a certain poin does not result in bigger bulbs, but rather dried out,split and become useless. When to harvest? When the lower third to half of the leaves turned brown, but there are still mostly green leaves high on the plant, its time to harvest. Others suggest when the hardneck scapes are standing straight up but before the pods containing the bulb is open up. You can always test dig one or two plants. Yopu should be able to see the shape of the cloves beginning to bulge through the wrapper. There is also 2 to 3 weeks in the harvest dates of sev eral varieties. Watch your plants carefully. To get the plants off the ground, don't just pull them, stlaks will break. You must dig, using a pitchfork or the like to loosen the soil. then you can lift the plant off the ground.
Dont let the bulb stay in the sun very long as it will scald, which would reduce its quality.
Sttorage
Storing garlic needs an even temperature (50-70 degrees F) and a relative humidity i the 50-60% range. Make sure they get plenty of air circulation. when storing in bulk, onion type mesh bags hanging in a well ventilated room is good. In the kitchen, a ceramic garlic keeper will do. Do not store at high humidity or i the refrigerator - they will try to sprout and their taste will not be good.
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