Rocambol (photo) cultivation in the suburbs - planting, varieties and care
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PODMOSKOVNY ROCAMBLE - OR ONION OR GARLIC
A gardening club friend once gave me a fist-sized, pearl-white onion, consisting of several large cloves, spicy smelling of garlic, with the words: "You will not know sorrow with this wonderful vegetable." Indeed, a species little known to us grows without hassle, is tasty and healthy.
ROCAMBOL - TWO IN ONE: AND ONION AND GARLIC
Official name rocambole - combing onion, popularly - rocambole, elephant onion, Spanish and horse garlic.
This perennial of the onion family is not the fruit of selection work, but a natural, apparently hybrid form. It is found in the wild in Southern Europe, Central Asia, in our country - in the Caucasus and in the Crimea.
The eye rejoices when in early spring its dense emerald trunks appear on the still black empty earth. In appearance, rocambole resembles a leek, but with a garlic aroma. Pale green wide leaves with a silvery wax coating come out of the trunk.
The signs of garlic include dividing the bulb into cloves, the growth of a flower arrow with spiral curls and straightening it by the time of flowering.
But there are also differences - baby bulbs both on stolons and under the integumentary scales of the bulb, as well as the flowering of some forms and varieties and the formation of non-viable seeds.
The lush flowering of rocambole begins in July. An arrow shoots up with a spherical, very large and beautiful inflorescence, collected from purple bells. From several plants, a picturesque clearing is obtained that attracts the eye.
Bees are buzzing over the balls, but the seeds are not tied, at least in my suburbs. The bulb consists of 4-6 cloves covered with translucent scales. The average head size is 6-7 cm, sometimes up to 10 cm (as in my case), weight is about 100 g.
But if the conditions are favorable - up to 300 g. In the second year after planting, a multi-tooth bulb is formed from one clove, under the top layer of which children are formed. They mainly breed rocambole.
Reference by topic: How is rocambole different from Suvorov's bow?
RUSSIAN AND BELARUSIAN VARIETIES OF ROCAMBOL
We have officially registered two domestic varieties.
Rocambole can be planted both in spring and autumn. But in certain unfavorable seasons in cold regions, planted in the fall, it can freeze, so you need to securely mulch the plantings away from sin.
Winter-hardy Zhemchug was included in the State Register in 2006. It can be grown throughout Russia, using agricultural techniques as for winter garlic. Pearls form a flower arrow, have very long (up to 60 cm) and wide (3 cm) leaves, which at a young age can (and should) be eaten in salads and side dishes. Its flattened bulbs, covered with white dry scales, weigh a little more than 5 g. The bulb consists of 50-4 cloves. The taste of the slices is quite sharp.
Janissary is also a winter-hardy variety, registered in Rosreestr in 2015 and recommended for cultivation throughout the Russian Federation. The seed does not tie. The length of the leaves is up to 40 cm, the width is about 3 cm. The bulb weighs up to 5 g. The covering scales are creamy in color, and the flesh is yellowish.
Our gardeners also know the Belarusian variety White Elephant, bred specifically for growing in the Central and Northern regions. Its feature is the complete absence of flower arrows. The variety is resistant to Fusarium. The bulbs are very large, weighing 150-200 g, usually consisting of 6-8 cloves.
The taste of rocambole is both onion and garlic at the same time, softer than those of these vigorous vegetables. The vegetable is rich in vitamins, iron, has antiviral properties. It is used in medicine, especially widely - in folk, as well as in cosmetology.
See also: Rokambol: cultivation, care and recipes
FROM CHILDREN TO ONE TEETH
Choose a sun-warmed area. Rocambole tolerates drought well, but moderately moist soil is preferable. Good predecessors are legumes, pumpkin, cabbage, cucumbers. Undesirable - onions, garlic and nightshade, especially potatoes.
We dig up the soil and loosen it, add compost or rotted manure, bone meal or ash. We orient the rows in a north-south direction so that powerful leaves do not obscure light and sun for the bulbs.
Children or teeth are sorted by size, then the seedlings will be aligned. The teeth need to be cleaned of pieces of the old bottom, which prevents young roots from growing. If we plant rocambole with children, then by the end of the season we get single-tooth bulbs. Planting a single-tooth will eventually give a large bulb, consisting of several cloves. I recommend soaking planting material overnight in a solution of potassium permanganate or ash infusion.
Prepared children are planted at a depth of 3-4 cm, teeth - at 7-8 cm, keeping a distance between plants of 15-20 cm, and between rows - 25-30 cm. We water the bed well with water heated in the sun and mulch with peat, compost or rotted sawdust with a layer of 3 cm.
ROCAMBOLLE FOR HARVEST AND DECOR
We do not allow both drying out and waterlogging of the beds. We loosen the ground, but without fanaticism: too frequent loosening worsens the structure of the soil. Weeds after weeding are left in the garden or in the aisle as mulch and top dressing.
I recommend removing flower arrows for the sake of a solid harvest, as they draw a lot of strength from the plant. I, however, always leave some of the flower stalks for decorative purposes. At the end of June, when the bulbs begin to form and fill, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are required. You can use an infusion of ash (1 cup per 10 liters of water).
Rocambole is subject to the same diseases and pests as other types of garlic and onions. First of all, you should be afraid of fusarium, which most often affects plantings if potatoes were the predecessor. If fusarium or rust appear, I recommend destroying diseased plants and not planting a vegetable in the same place for 4 years. In addition, the crop may suffer from white rot, and onion fly and onion moth, thrips can attack it from pests.
When the lower leaves of rocambole begin to turn yellow and dry out, we proceed to harvesting, which cannot be delayed, so as not to lose the children on the basal stolons and on the bulbs under the scales. After drying the bulbs, they need to be kept in the light for 2 weeks (this helps to increase the keeping quality), then we put them away for storage in a cool room. Bulbs are stored for 4-6 months.
See also: Reproduction of the rocamball from A to Z - my advice and feedback on the methods
ROCAMBOL: THE SECRETS OF GROWING THE GIANT GARLIC ON VIDEO
© Author: A. MALAKHOVA Moscow
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- Cultivation of garlic "by science" - advice of professionals
- Growing garlic on non-digged soil - my reviews + review of varieties
- Planting winter garlic in a two-tier way (Kurgan)
- Garlic cultivation - varieties and care in the Tver region
- Growing of spring garlic and its comparison with winter wheat
- Growing garlic - growth stimulant + ammonia + planting in two tiers
- Planting winter garlic after the first frosts
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