Good afternoon, my reader. Shelter is required for winter garlic in the central and northern regions. For these purposes, you can use not only humus, sawdust and non-woven material, but also fallen leaves, which will serve as fertilizer for the vegetable.
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Shelter in the fall
Insulate the garlic bed not immediately after planting, but two weeks after the arrival of stable cold weather. In medium-sized regions, this period occurs around mid-autumn (November). Fallen foliage is poured over the bed with a layer of no more than 15-30 cm. Make fences around the edges of the area to prevent the wind from blowing the leaves around. For this, you can use any material, for example, old slate or boards.
The benefits of foliage insulation:
- litter is able to pass air and retain heat;
- garlic cloves are protected from severe frosts;
- under the influence of humidity and low temperatures, the leaf plates are destroyed, and under the influence of bifidobacteria and fungi, they are converted into humus;
- the soil in the garden becomes loose and moist - such conditions are well suited for the development of garlic;
- there is a containment of the growth of weeds in the spring;
- fallen foliage resists the washing out of nutrients from the soil.
When spring comes, rake the leaves off the garden bed with a light rake. Remove them from the plantings, as they are compressed, and garlic can rot from this. Timely cleaning of foliage will help get rid of dangerous parasites and fungi that have overwintered in the soil.
Collect the fallen leaves in bags in the fall and use in the spring and summer when mulching for various garden crops.
Do not insulate garlic with plant leaves that are affected by any disease. It is better to get rid of such foliage: take it out of the site, bury it or burn it.
Spring dressing for garlic with foliage compost
Fallen leaves are a good raw material for composting for spring feeding. During this time, active growth stimulants are required for garlic.
Useful properties of humus from leaves:
- contains nitrogen and phosphorus substances;
- has an acidic reaction;
- improves soil texture;
- quite simple preparation.
For the manufacture of humus, you can use the foliage of any garden trees. Leaves affected by diseases are also suitable, because during decay, all pathogenic microflora dies, and in garlic and in all garden trees, fungal diseases are different.
However, the gardener is interested in getting fertilizer quickly, and foliage from different trees can rot at more than one time:
- alder contains the largest amount of nutrients;
- aspen - valuable in composition, but pressed into layers, it is advised to mix it with the leaves of other plants;
- oak - tough, rotting with difficulty, such a layer needs frequent loosening;
- horse chestnut foliage, needles must be chopped before use;
- walnut foliage contains substances that can inhibit the growth of bacteria.
Collect litter in dense and dark bags, do not tamp. In about 1.5-2 years, the compost will be ready. There are two ways to speed up this process:
- Mix leaves with grass, add ammonium nitrate there and fill everything with water.
- Add preparations for quick maturation of the compost. You can use the "Hobbit" and "Biodar", as well as "Biocompostin" or "Baikal EM1".
Tie the bag tightly, create ventilation with a fork: pierce the bag 2-3 times on both sides and place it under a canopy in a dark place. Shake it periodically. The finished fertilizer has a homogeneous and friable consistency, smells of forest soil. After a couple of weeks after melting the snow cover, apply it to the ground. Add wood ash in the ratio of one glass per square meter. m.
For a garlic bed, you can use a young substrate with pieces of undecomposed foliage. It can be used as mulch. During the spring period, organic fertilizer will ripen in the garlic bed, making the soil more nutritious. Leaf compost is especially useful when growing garlic on sandy or heavy clay soil.
Do you use leaf litter compost for garlic?
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