1.0 Places to plant garlic
In China, from South to North, the mainly places to plant the garlic are Yunnan, Henan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Liaoning. The harvesting will start from the Yunnan, which begin around the April. Then, Henan and Jiangsu will harvest May; Shandong and Hebei harvest after the middle of May, Liaoning will harvest at the end. Now, Henan and Shandong to offer 80% garlic in China.
1.1 Time to plant garlic
Garlic is a good complement to many dishes. Plant garlic in the fall, usually between September 15 and November 30, after the first light frost of the year. Keep bulbs intact until right before planting. Break bulbs into individual cloves and plant the largest, healthiest looking cloves with the basal plate – the point where the cloves attached to the bulb – down and the pointed shoot-end up, 6-8 inches apart. Cover with 2 inches of soil and a 6-inch layer of mulch.
1.2 Time to Germination
Cloves may begin to sprout through the mulch in 4-8 weeks, depending on the variety and the weather conditions in your region. Do not be concerned. The plants may suffer some frost or a light freeze and still survive the weather.
1.3 Special Considerations
Garlic plants must be vernalized (overwintered) in order for their bulbs to develop. Do not remove mulch in the spring; it helps control weeds, preserve moisture and provides nutrients as it decomposes. When garlic shoots begin to emerge in early spring, ensure even soil moisture by supplying 1 inch of water per week throughout the growing season. Garlic does not compete well with weeds so keep weeds under control early to ensure a bountiful harvest. Scapes are the curly flower stems that often form as the garlic matures. Cut or break them off after they are 10 inches long and reserve them for eating.
1.4 Common Pests and Diseases
Garlic can suffer damage from nematodes, botrytis rot, and white rot. However, the biggest threat to garlic is weeds. Keep your garlic bed clean and make sure to plant garlic in well-fertilized, loose soil.
1.5 When and How to Harvest Garlic
Harvest after 3 or 4 leaves have died back and there are still 5 or 6 green leaves remaining on the plant – sometime in May depending on the year and your climate. Do not wait too long or the bulbs will begin to separate in the ground. Loosen the soil with a shovel or pitchfork and then dig the garlic carefully. Do not pull the stalk or it will separate from the bulb. Gently brush most of the dirt off. Tie plants in a bundle of 6-8 plants and hang in a shaded, dry, well-ventilated shed or garage. Leave plants hanging for 4-6 weeks so that bulbs can cure.
Garlic is vegetatively propagated rather than grown from seeds. To regrow garlic, keep bulbs intact until no more than 1-2 days before replanting, then simply pull apart garlic bulbs and plant individual cloves as described above. Some garlic varieties will produce seeds if scapes are not removed from the plants, but these seeds will not be true to type
1.6 The healthy of garlic
Garlic is a common spice with many health benefits, mainly due to its diverse bioactive compounds, such as organic sulfides, saponins, phenolic compounds, and polysaccharides. Garlic is commonly consumed and has a long history of being utilized as a traditional medicine in China. In recent decades, numerous studies have demonstrated the remarkable biological functions of garlic, including antioxidant, cardiovascular protective, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, and antibacterial properties. Investigations have increasingly focused on black garlic, a processed garlic product with increased polyphenol and flavonoid contents, as well as better antioxidant properties.
The major active components of garlic are its organosulfur compounds, such as diallyl thiosulfonate, diallyl sulfide, diallyl disulfide, diallyl trisulfide, E/Z-ajoene, S-allyl-cysteine, and S-allyl-cysteine sulfoxide. In general, organosulfur compounds in raw garlic have higher digestibility than those in cooked garlic. In addition, saponins were found to be more stable in the cooking process. The total amount of saponin in purple garlic was almost 40 times higher than that in white garlic, and several saponin compounds were only found to exist in purple garlic, such as desgalactotigonin-rhamnose, proto-desgalactotigonin, proto-desgalactotigonin- rhamnose, voghieroside D1, sativoside B1-rhamnose, and sativoside R1. Moreover, garlic contained more than 20 phenolic compounds, with higher contents than many common vegetables. The main phenolic compound was β-resorcylic acid, followed by pyrogallol, gallic acid, rutin, protocatechuic acid, as well as quercetin. Furthermore, garlic polysaccharides were reported to contain 85% fructose, 14% glucose, and 1% galactose.
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