Gardeners plant garlic either in the spring, to obtain a harvest at the end of summer, or for the winter. In this case, the garlic heads ripen earlier and grow larger. Dobrynya garlic is one of the varieties that are most often planted for the winter. Let's figure out what attracts gardeners to this variety and how to properly plant, care for, collect and store the heads.
Description of the Dobrynya variety
Dobrynya is a late-ripening variety of garlic. Harvesting occurs 130 days after spring germination. Resistant to cold weather conditions, which is why it is so popular in the Russian Federation.The variety is also planted abroad and a high-quality harvest is obtained. The plants are powerful, the leaves reach a height of 55 centimeters. The tops are characterized by a rich green color with a white coating on the feathers. The leaf width reaches 2.5 centimeters.
The variety is propagated by seeds, cloves and bulbs. When cultivated in private plots, the variety gives a high yield - up to 2.5 kilograms per 1 square meter.
A head of garlic reaches a weight of 65 grams, and produces from 9 to 13 cloves. The upper scales are light gray, almost white. The shell of the cloves in the bulb is purple. Peeled garlic cloves are almost white in color and have a creamy tint. The taste is garlicky, sweet and medium spicy. The fruit consists of 41% dry matter, 100 grams of the vegetable contains up to 9 milligrams of vitamin C, sugar 23.5% of the total mass and 7.1% sulfur-containing substances.
Positive qualities and applications
Due to its positive qualities, the variety is grown not only on private plots, but also on large farms, and gives excellent results. Advantages:
- High yield.
- Frost resistance.
- Resistance to fusarium.
- Quality harvest.
- Wonderful garlic taste and aroma.
There is only one drawback - the variety dries out and rots during long-term storage, so when stored for more than 4 months, 20% of the harvest is lost.
The use of the described variety of garlic Dobrynya among Russian housewives is extensive. This is an excellent seasoning for meat and fish dishes; cloves are added to marinades to give a special taste to cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms and salads. Used as an additive to first and second courses. Garlic is also used in folk medicine to treat colds and runny nose.
Agricultural technology for growing the variety
Garlic is intended for growing in open areas. In order to ultimately get a rich harvest, you need to plant it correctly and take care of the plantings.
Landing place
As a rule, winter garlic is not a picky crop and grows even on dehydrated, unfertilized soils. But gardeners choose a place for planting after strawberries or wild strawberries, tomatoes and potatoes. Because this vegetable, when growing, restores the mineral balance of the soil due to the high sulfur content in the fruits.
Choose a sunny place for planting, because the plant needs at least two hours of exposure to the sun for good fruit ripening. Also, for better growth, the soil is fertilized with superphosphate and potassium fertilizer before planting. After fertilizing and digging, the beds are allowed to rest for two weeks.
Preparation of material for planting
The cloves intended for planting are carefully inspected for rotting and damage in the form of dark-colored dots. Such fruits are unsuitable for cultivation. The bottom should be smooth and light, without dark inclusions. The size of the teeth should be taken into account; the larger they are, the larger the head will grow in the future. Separate the heads into cloves immediately before planting, so that the planting material does not have time to dry out and deteriorate.
Planting material into the soil
To plant winter garlic, rows are formed in the beds at a distance of 20–25 centimeters from each other. Leave a distance of 10–15 centimeters between plants. The planting depth is chosen to be 5 centimeters so that at least 3 centimeters of soil remains above the cloves. If you plant garlic higher in winter, it may freeze and disappear.. The cloves are planted bottom down, then sprinkled with soil and mulched with straw, sawdust or spruce paws.
Caring for Garlic
Garlic plants are low maintenance. The characteristics of caring for garlic are such that to get a good harvest, you just need to water, loosen, and weed the soil.
Watering is carried out several times a week. In dry weather, once every two days. Fertilizing is carried out before the bulbs begin to ripen. Otherwise, the taste of garlic will spoil. The first feeding is done two weeks after the teeth have sprouted. 10 grams of ammonium nitrate are added per square meter of planting beds. A month later, the beds are again fed with a solution of nitroammophoska, and 40 grams of fertilizer are added to a 10 liter bucket of water. The last time the plants are fertilized is in mid-June - they are fed with superphosphate, dissolved 40 grams per 10 liters of water.
Harvest and storage
It’s easy to find out when it’s time to harvest garlic - the heads are ripe and ready for harvest, when the leaves turn yellow and lie on the bed, and the scales become dense. With these indicators, you need to immediately begin harvesting, otherwise the shell will crack and the heads will fall apart into cloves. This garlic cannot be stored.
The heads, along with the tops, are taken out of the ground and placed on a bed to dry in dry and sunny weather. If it’s raining outside, it means that the crop needs to be hidden under a canopy or indoors to dry. The garlic dries for about two weeks, after which the heads are cleaned and, depending on the storage method, the tops are cut off completely or partially.
For storage, whole heads are selected without signs of rotting; there should be no dark spots on the surface. The husk is light beige in color. Such heads will remain until spring.
In order for garlic to be stored for a long time, it must be properly prepared for wintering. People choose different storage methods.
- Some braid the heads and hang them on the walls of the house, making it easy to watch the harvest all winter. He is in front of the owner.
- Others sprinkle the fruits with salt or cereal and close them in jars.
- Still others place the heads in a box and cover them with layers of straw. This garlic is stored in the cellar.
Whatever storage method you choose, you need to monitor the stored crop. If one head rots and the rest of the crop lies nearby, then all the garlic heads may disappear. During storage, diseased fruits are removed.
Over many years of growing experience, the Dobrynya garlic variety has received positive reviews for its taste, ease of growing and caring for plants. Even an inexperienced gardener who has only superficial knowledge of caring for this crop can grow these fruits.
