Garlic planting
Callander Girl
Posts: 3
in Fruit & veg
Late August's advice from GW includes potting of garlic cloves to get them ready to plant out over winter. I have just dug up this year's crop, planted out in spring, and several bulbs are small and not fully developed into cloves. Can these be left to grow on for next year?
I live in Scotland and over-wintering in 2010 and 2011 resulted in soft, rotted cloves due to the prolonged freeze. What is the best planting schedule under these conditions?
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From what I understand, garlic hates to be planted in boggy earth. Can you put them in pots somewhere protected until next Spring? I always grow mine in pots, plant them in September in a cold frame, and plant them out in Spring. Works for me
CG, planting a lot deeper than one otherwise would and covering the patch with straw (or similar) is the usual means in those conditions. My ground freezes - probably not to the extent yours does - and it has worked for me.
I try to plant mine at half-term in late October.
Eat the ones that didn't divide, the best ones to plant are the biggest cloves from the outside of the bulb, but make sure they are single cloves and not double ones inside the same skin.
To be honest, although they are an expense, I am going to buy garlic for planting again this year because I have had an absolutely wonderful crop. Ditto shallots.
if you haven't eaten all the undivided bulbs (rounds), you can replant any that are a reasonable size or equivalent weight to your largest cloves. I deliberately plant the bulbils from hardneck garlic in spring to harvest rounds for replanting in autumn - it's an inexpensive way to increase your stock although it takes a few seasons to grow out to normal sized bulbs. On the plus side, that gives time for the garlic to acclimate to your growing conditions.
i have read that you can plant garlic at this time of year .is this correct and if so,what are the best varieties and could i plant them in large containers.please can you help me.i am still learning
"2010 and 2011 resulted in soft, rotted cloves due to the prolonged freeze. What is the best planting schedule under these conditions?"
Freezing is what segments garlic. what rots them is crap drainage. I grow all manner of garlic in a raised bed and the ones that I planted in spring have sent up top growth but I am keeping them in the ground till late spring 2014 - they should be larger by then and useful.
I find home grown garlic milder and wetter than the supermarket ones - and all of mine are from supermarket grown garlic bulbs.
Billdavis aren't we all still learning.
Planted supermarket bought cloves last year. Produced small bulbs, some cloved, some like onions.
The thinking is to buy certified bulbs as these are disease free and are suitable to our climate. i think the ones from colder climates won't break into cloves at all.
Planted French garlic Saturday, Germidour and Thermidour. Planted with a shake of Fish Blood and Bone. Fingers crossed!
Planted mine about 3 weeks ago, although I am a little worried as the garden is heavy clay and although the bed has a good amount of top soil and compost in it is really wet. No sign of anything yet (the onions have shoots), I hope they haven't rotted.
Might have to consider raising the bed after all.
I planted some 12 in clay soiled bed and 12 in a better soil bed and all came up quite quickly
Soil is still wet in Good Ol Bristol and still waiting to plant my Autumn Onions
I have planted mine about 8 weeks ago. Last year I used supermarket cloves, 2 cloves in individual 9" pots (Tesco finest - always large cloves) and they produced smallish but fully formed segmented bulbs.
This year I am doing a small experiment, planting half supermarket and half bought Solent White. I always plant in pots, with my own compost mix aeriated with some vermiculite. I put them in an uncovered mini tiered greenhouse which gets some Winter sun and also plenty of frost to help with bulb clove formation.
So far the supermarket cloves have all started sprouting without exception and the Solents have one or two sprouts but mainly no sprouting yet!