Abstract

This article introduces typical method used in China to grow garlic. Soil selection, planting season, fertilizer application and diseases and pest control ways are discussed too.

Chinese garlic should be planted in fertile, loose sand soil with good water drainage ability. Planting period should be chosen between mid-August to mid September. If it is for the purpose of growing green garlic sprouts, garlicseed should be sowed before mid-August. If it is for the purpose of growing garlic bulbs and stems, seeds may be sowed at end August or early September.
 
Before sowing, you should spread enough base fertilizer. Normally, for each mu(666m2) you should spread 2000+ kg of well-composted pig/sheep/duck or other livestock wastes, 30kg of acid phosphate, 5kg of potassium sulphate. For acid soil you should also spread 50-70 kg of caustic lime in order to adjust the PH value of the soil.   After ploughed fallow, make soil smooth with a rake. Then make small plots of farm land with the raked soil. Each plot width with the ditch is 1.4m. Before sowing, use 100g of 50% prometryn powder solved in water to get rid of weed.

Normally green garlic sprouts can be collected between October and next March. Garlic stems can be collected between March and April. Garlic bulbs can be collected between April and May. Each mu you may sow about 50-70kg of garlic seeds. You need to grade the garlic cloves from big to small, so that garlic sprouts can grow uniformly. Distance between each row and each column should be 10x15cm, and garlic cloves depth in the soil should be just letting the soil covering the seeds. After sowing, you should cover with pig manure or rice haulm, and spread with diluted human wastes. Later on, water should be poured to preserve the moisture of the soil and help sprouts to grow. Seedling emergence normally takes only 10-15 days.

Garlic needs a lot of fertilizers. Top dressing should start as soon as sprouts reach 3-5cm. Each 15 days, each mu need to apply 1000g human wastes or 10g of urea. Such spreading should last 3-4 times. 2 months after sprouting, you may start to collect green garlic sprouts time after time until March. Normally you can get more than 1000g green sprouts each mu. Each time you collect green sprout, you should  make one top dressing. In early March and end March, you need to make a big spread of 15kg urea accompanied by water pouring in order to improve the garlic stem and bulb grow.

Major garlic diseases are white rot, leaf blight and purpura. Once it happens, you may use 70% thiophanate methyl or 50% carbendazim mixed in water to pour into the ground. Major garlic pests are garlic maggot, onion thrips and others. You may use 50% phoxim 500 times solution to pour the roots to prevent garlic maggot.
For onion thrips, you may use 40% dimethoate or 80% DDVP to prevent.

From April to June, when garlic bulbs begin to expand, you should spread fertilizers and pour water appropriately until late stage of garlic bulb expanding. Then you should pay attention to filed drainage to prevent open bulbs caused by rotten garlic skin. Garlic stems can be collected once it outgrows the leaf sheath for 10cm. Normally each mu you may collect 200kg or so of garlic stems. When garlic leaves turn withered and yellow, you may choose a sunny day and pull the complete stool off the ground, bundle them into beams, hang them at  shady and cool place waiting for sale.