Messidor garlic: description of the variety and characteristics, rules of planting and care with photos

Description of varieties

Garlic seeds were first bred in Holland and are now distributed throughout the world. Like any variety, Messidor has its own history and external characteristics.

History of selection of Dutch crops

Holland deservedly ranks second among the top three leaders in the global market for sales of planting materials due to the high quality of seeds. Over the years, billions have been spent on Dutch selective research, and scientists have been obtaining new species that are distinguished by their special productivity, strong immunity and long shelf life.

Despite its stable position, the Netherlands continues to develop the selective institute and regularly delights gardeners around the world with new varieties of plants and vegetables.

Appearance

Dutch garlic Messidor is distinguished by a large, round white head and long, dark green leaves, 12 on each vegetable. The width of one garlic arrow is up to 2.5 centimeters, length – up to 70 centimeters. The structure of the bulbous head is simple.

Clove size and weight of bulbous vegetable

Each garlic head contains 8-14 cloves, which have a bitter taste and a distinct garlicky odor. They contain sugar (23.3%) and ascorbic acid (9 milligrams). The total weight of the onion head is from 100 to 160 grams, which allows you to collect more than 20 tons from one hectare.

How does it grow and when does it ripen?

Messidor is a winter variety, which means it grows in winter. It is distinguished by early ripeness and, unlike other winter species, in good weather it germinates already in June, in cloudy and rainy weather - at the beginning of August, in dry weather - at the end of July. Signs of garlic ripeness:

if the arrows are cut, then the main indicator will be the leaves: the lower ones will dry out and the upper ones will turn yellow;
if the arrows are left, then the shell of the air bulbs should burst;
it is necessary to dig up the ground near some vegetables - the scales of the head should be dry and strong; If it breaks easily, it means the garlic is overripe.

Garlic variety Parador ultra early

This super ultra early variety of winter garlic is called highly productive due to its excellent properties, which are described below.

Absolutely all types of soil are suitable for garlic of the Parador ultra-early variety; its planting can begin in the second ten days of October and last until the first ten days of November. So, like for some of its brothers, the optimal air temperature for it is considered to be about +5 * C. And also it should not be replanted in the same place earlier than after 4-5 years.

the head of such a root crop grows quite large and has a round, but slightly flattened shape, which reaches about 6 cm in diameter. The scales that cover the bulb are purple-white in color, they seem to be painted with stripes alternating these two colors. Each head of garlic can form about 10-12 cloves, which in turn are also covered with brown-white scales.

This ultra-early garlic of the Parador variety will be a real boon for those gardeners who cannot visit the plant very often in order to break out the arrows in time, because this variety is very resistant to bolting. It should also be noted that this variety of garlic is characterized by high resistance to viral and fungal diseases. And what is also very important is its ability to be stored for a long time.

Due to its good taste, as well as excellent commercial properties, this plant is very popular among many gardeners.

Comparative characteristics

Dutch Messidor has distinctive characteristics that give it advantages over other varieties.

Susceptibility to insects and diseases

Messidor is distinguished by high resistance to the following diseases:

bacteriosis;
various types of mold;
white rot.

Low temperature resistance

Garlic is frost-resistant, and in fields where there is no snow, it can withstand temperatures down to minus 15 °C. In places where snow falls, it is also resistant to lower temperatures - down to -21 ° C.

Necessary conditions for growing crops

Despite the unpretentiousness of garlic, gardeners should still follow simple growing rules to obtain a healthy and large harvest.

Illumination

Messidor loves light, so you should choose areas where the sun falls all day.

Humidity

When planting garlic, it is necessary to choose soil that is not flooded when snow melts or rains, as well as one where there is no accumulation of groundwater, since Messidor is not grown in wetlands.

Temperature

Despite its frost resistance, garlic should be planted at least a month before the onset of persistent cold weather, so that the root system has time to take root, although the stems and leaves have not yet had time to germinate.

Required soil composition

To replenish the necessary components in the soil, before planting you need to dig up, disinfect the soil with a solution (1 gram of boric acid, potassium permanganate and copper sulfate per 1 liter of water) and add fertilizers (humus - 5 kilograms, 30 grams of superphosphate and 25 grams of potassium salt ).

It is better to choose land in which cucumbers, new potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, pumpkins or eggplants were grown. Planting in soil where late potatoes, carrots, turnips or radishes grew is not recommended. Also, Messidor should not be planted in the same place to avoid fungus or pests. If the soil is clayey or acidic, you need to add sand to it.

Features of agricultural technology

The planting material needs to be changed every 4 years, otherwise the crop will begin to degenerate, the heads will become small, and the yield will decrease. You need to select a place for the garden bed where the sun shines all day and there is no shadow. Garlic does not tolerate swampy soil, where underground and melt water accumulates.

It is not recommended to plant a varietal plant in an area where bulbous crops, carrots, potatoes, and radishes grew last season. You can’t grow garlic in one place, it will start to hurt and pick up a fungus.

After digging up the soil, which must be done in the fall, the soil is treated with a mixture that is prepared by mixing a gram of boric acid, copper sulfate and potassium permanganate in a liter of water. Some summer residents temporarily cover the garden bed with polyethylene.

Garlic cloves are sorted before planting, diseased seeds are put aside, and healthy ones are soaked in a pink solution of potassium permanganate. The soil is fertilized with humus or dry plant ash, and superphosphate and potassium salt are added.

How to plant garlic on a plot

When planting Messidor, several rules should be followed:

10 cloves (sharp part up) per running meter;
the distance between rows should not exceed 120 centimeters;
planting depth – 3-6 centimeters;
when adding sand, grooves should be made 15 centimeters deep;
cover with sand three centimeters;
deepen the cloves by 3 centimeters;
then pour water and cover with soil.

Planting dates are from October to mid-November, when temperatures can drop to -5 °C, a month before the onset of stable cold weather. You should not forget to change the planting material every 4 years so that the garlic grows large and healthy.

How are they planted?

On 1 linear meter you need to place 10 seeds. The tines go 5 centimeters deep into the ground; no more than 25 cm should be left between the rows. When growing garlic in clayey and acidic soil, a layer of sand is added to the soil; for this purpose, grooves are dug in it. The seeds are placed with the teeth facing up. The holes are watered and covered with earth.

Planting of Dutch winter varieties of garlic begins in October and continues until mid-November, when the air temperature drops to +5. Sprouts appear already in March.

Nuances of crop care

In order for Messidor garlic to please you with a rich harvest, you need to properly care for it:

if the winter turns out to be snowless, the garlic beds must be covered with agrofibre, pine needles or fallen leaves, or mulched with straw or humus;
fertilize the soil when sprouts appear, during flowering and before harvesting;
Be sure to water the garlic in dry weather, but do not flood it;
clear the beds of weeds;
Regularly loosen the soil to supply oxygen.

Reproduction methods

Messidor winter garlic propagates vegetatively and through seeds. Features of vegetative propagation:

the vegetative method or the method using cloves consists of selecting suitable planting material - the cloves must be strong, large, healthy, dense, without visible damage;
Having selected suitable material, you should soak it for two hours in an ash solution (mix 400 grams of ash with 2 liters of water, cook for half an hour, strain after cooling).

The second method of propagation is using seeds or bulbs. A bulb is an aerial bulb on a stem containing seeds inside. To obtain suitable grains for sowing, you need to take a plant that is at least two years old. In the first year, only one clove set appears from the bulbs, in the next year there is also a single-toothed onion set, but of larger size, and, finally, a full-fledged head with many garlic cloves.

Planting options for seedlings:

with transplantation and planting in the fall of the same year;
left in the ground for the winter.

Before planting bulbs, you should make sure they are ripe. The first sign is that the covering scale bursts. After this, the inflorescences, along with the arrows, must be cut off at a height of 20 centimeters and dried for 30-40 days before planting. This method of propagation lasts longer than the first, but the yield increases and the quality improves.

Planting garlic in open ground

When to plant garlic in the ground

Planting of garlic in the ground is carried out early - no later than the first ten days of April, but since it is difficult to dig frozen soil at this time, the area for spring garlic is prepared in the fall. Planting garlic in the fall is carried out during the period from the second half of September to mid-October, so that it has time to form a strong root system, penetrating 10 cm deep, before the cold weather, but at the same time does not have time to start growing.

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Soil for garlic

The soil for garlic needs to be fertile and neutral, but this crop grows best in loam. The soil should not be dry, but avoid planting garlic in lowlands where melt and rainwater can accumulate. The area for garlic needs to be deeply dug up in the fall, adding 30 g of superphosphate, 20 g of potassium salt and a bucket of humus per m². In the spring, all you have to do is level the area with a rake.

After which you can plant garlic

The best precursors for garlic are any cabbage, zucchini, pumpkin, beans, peas and green manure, the worst are onions, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes and garlic itself. And for plants such as strawberries, wild strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, gooseberries and black currants, garlic planted nearby will protect against insect pests. The proximity of garlic will also benefit plants such as roses, gladioli and tulips, since garlic repels not only slugs, caterpillars and borers, but even moles do not dig their holes near the places where this crop grows.

How to plant garlic in open ground

Have you ever heard the phrase “garlic seeds”? Or “growing garlic from seeds”? It’s strange if you’ve heard, since garlic does not form seeds and reproduces vegetatively – by cloves, and winter varieties can also reproduce by aerial bulbs.

The harvest directly depends on the quality of the planting material, so 2-3 weeks before spring planting, place the cloves in the refrigerator for stratification, then sort them by size, discarding diseased, twisted, damaged, soft, too small or irregularly shaped, as well as those that they were left without a shell. After this, the cloves selected for sowing are disinfected for two hours in an ash solution: 400 g of ash are diluted in 2 liters of water, boiled for half an hour and cooled.

The ash solution can be replaced with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or a one percent solution of copper sulfate, in which the teeth are kept for 12 hours. Then the slices are germinated at room temperature, wrapped in a napkin moistened with water, which is placed in a plastic bag for 2-3 days, although this stage of preparing the seed is not necessary.

As soon as the soil temperature reaches 5-7 ºC, prepare the bed by making grooves 7-9 cm deep at a distance of 20-25 cm from each other, plant the cloves in them vertically with the bottom down at intervals of 6-8 cm. The planting depth is , equal to twice the height of the clove - something about 5-6 cm. If you place the cloves in the furrow with the edge facing south, the green feathers of the garlic will be able to receive the maximum amount of spring sun, which will increase the yield and make it easier for you to care for the garlic.

How to deal with bean pests

If the soil is moist from melted snow, watering will not be necessary after planting, but if the soil is dry, water the area as much as possible. Spring garlic germinates at a temperature of 3-4 ºC, the seedlings are not afraid of frost, but the garlic will be grateful to you for mulching the soil with peat.

Planting garlic before winter

We have already written about how to plant garlic in the fall, especially since planting winter garlic is done in the same order and according to the same principle as planting spring garlic, but the area for garlic is prepared not six months, but two weeks before planting , and a layer of coarse sand or ash 1.5-3 cm thick is poured onto the bottom of the furrow to prevent contact of the seed with the soil and protect it from rot. Winter garlic, as a rule, is larger than spring garlic, so the largest cloves are planted at a distance of 12-15 cm from each other, and those that are smaller, at a distance of 8-10 cm. And the depth of winter planting should be greater - 15-20 cm .

The bulbs are sown at the same time to a depth of about 3 cm according to the 2x10 pattern - next year they will turn out to be single-toothed bulbs, which, when planted again, you will get full-fledged garlic bulbs. Mulching the area with dry peat or a mixture of soil and sawdust for the winter is mandatory: mulch protects the garlic from frost, and its layer should be no thinner than 2 cm. If very severe frosts hit and there is no snow, cover the area with film or roofing felt, which can be removed when the snow starts to fall. Under snow cover, winter garlic can withstand twenty-degree frosts.