How to achieve high yields from garlic farming

Garlic is one of the crops that will give you a higher profit margin when farming is properly done. It is a cost-effective crop to grow on your farm. Garlic does not require much space on your farm or garden and is easy to grow. Garlic grows from individual cloves broken off from a new bulb.

Garlic can be used to add flavour to various meals like pilau, soups etc.  It also tastes great when roasted.

.

Keep Reading

• Tips for farming Oregano
• Farmers earn Sh1b from coffee
• Kenyan agricultural traders eye market opportunities through CIIE
• Causes and solutions of pecking in flock of birds
• Why Calf Diarrhoea is Common on the Farm

For high returns, here are some tips that a farmer can avoid:

Choose the best garlic to plant.

Plant the largest and healthiest garlic bulb you can find. It is advisable that you fetch the best quality of the seed to plant. You can ask fellow garlic growers if they have any stock to sell. Make sure their stock is organic garlic.

Planting time

Plant your cloves during the cold season. This will allow the cold to divide each clove into the bulb that will sprout. To achieve this in a greenhouse, you can regulate the temperatures.

One mistake garlic farmers do is planting during the wrong season. Ensure you don’t plant too early as it results in poor growth and bulbing. Cold temperatures inhibit the cloves to grow roots.

Preparing the soil

To grow large and healthy garlic, ensure the soil is fertile since the plants are heavy feeders. Ensure the soil has just a little nitrogen. Nitrogen-rich soil will result in the growth of large leaves and a small bulb. Do not plant where garlic had been planted recently or other plants from the onion family. 

Myfruitonseeds.com recommends one to add rich, well-balanced compost.

Planting

After you’ve broken off the bulb to cloves, plant each clove tip up and root plate down.

Spacing

Don’t plant too close as they will start competing for nutrients and sunlight. Plant in double rows or in wide beds of four to six rows with 10cm to 20cm between each clove. This will make mulching and irrigation easier. 

Mulching

This will save time consumed during weeding. Spread six inches or more after planting and add more as needed.

Finally, harvest when the lower leaves begin to yellow, fold and, begins to fall on the ground.