Growing Garlic and Spring onion

NoviceHerbs

Has anyone grown garlic from the cloves of Garlic of store bought garlic and  spring onion.

Was it successful

Also how long does average store  bought garlic take to mature ?

Thanks for the advice

Dovefromabove

Most store-bought garlic is of varieties that don't do well in the UK climate. They may also carry viruses which although fine for you to eat, will not produce good plants.

Best to buy some either from here https://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/buy/garlic-for-growing or your local garden centre where they will sell varieties which will grow and ripen in the UK.  

I find the best time to plant garlic is the autumn, as the cold winter temperatures encourage it to split into separate cloves.  I plant in October and harvest the following July. 

Not sure what you mean by planting store bought spring onion. 

Last edited: 23 April 2017 12:22:11

NoviceHerbs

Dovefromabove says:

Most store-bought garlic is of varieties that don't do well in the UK climate. They may also carry viruses which although fine for you to eat, will not produce good plants.

Best to buy some either from here https://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/buy/garlic-for-growing or your local garden centre where they will sell varieties which will grow and ripen in the UK.  

I find the best time to plant garlic is the autumn, as the cold winter temperatures encourage it to split into separate cloves.  I plant in October and harvest the following July. 

Not sure what you mean by planting store bought spring onion. 

Last edited: 23 April 2017 12:22:11

See original post

 What I meant from Sore bought spring onion is ,  the spring onion that you buy and use  you save the last inch or 2 where the root is , then you rehydrate it for 24 hrs and plant it ?

Last edited: 23 April 2017 13:40:08

Dovefromabove

Never tried it ... can't see that it would grow into anything much good.  Besides, I eat that bit, it's the bit with all the flavour.  

As you're into herbs, why not get a pot of chives and split them up and pot them on - they'll increase really well.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vxi6fc9GRM   Then you've always got some lovely oniony chives for soups, scrambled eggs, omelettes etc, whenever you want them.

Also, I don't know whether you get the Gardeners World magazine, but the April edition has a big section on growing herbs ... I'm sure you'd find it useful 

Last edited: 23 April 2017 13:50:06

NoviceHerbs

Thanks Dove will try to pick it up

With regard to Garlic , would MPC suffice also would a fertilizer be needed?

Obelixx

How many times have we said MPC is not good for herbs?  It is only fit for conditioning soil before planting in the ground.

Get some John Innes formula compost.

Garlic suitable for growth in the UK is traditionally planted in the ground in late autumn or early winter as it needs a frost to make the cloves in the bulb.   Do try doing some research as previously advised eg here - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/vegetables/garlic

Spring onions are easy to grow from seed.  I do mine in a small window box filled with a loamy compost.  i like the red ones best.

 

Last edited: 23 April 2017 15:22:03

treehugger80

if the stuff you buy in the supermarket is sprouting, peel it and freeze it, it's no good planting it as it will never grow well (there are varieties that grow well - look for anything with WIGHT on the end of its name),

plus harvest time for Garlic in this country is usually late May at the earliest (I usually pick mid/late June for wet garlic and July for garlic to dry)

Nollie

I’m afraid that it is too late to plant garlic now because of its need for winter chilling and the long growing season others have mentioned. As you were asking about mpc, does this mean you plan (from late autumn now) to grow it in a pot?

They are are much better grown in the ground but it can be done in a pot. You need a good deep, wide pot of a good potting mixture, ideally mixed with some garden soil and with good drainage, spacing the cloves pointy end up about 15-20cm apart. You also need to keep it, not soggy, but regularly and well watered until around May/until the leaves start to yellow and droop, which is an indication the bulbs have swelled. Dig one out gently to check. At that point, if the are well swollen, cut the watering and allow the bulbs to use up the remaining moisture in the soil and harden up. Harvest and dry. A lot of faff though, if you only have the opportunity to grow veg in pots there are quicker and more rewarding things to grow...

I repot supermarket herbs into larger pots of mpc mixed with grit and they romp away perfectly well and give you more herb for your money. When they get too big I plant them out, but if you don’t have a garden, you can still do the first bit.

Skandi

If you are in the UK it's way to early to be harvesting garlic, Cloves in a couple of inches deep in October they may or may not show before the cold hits, either way they are hardy so it doesn't matter, then harvest when about 50% of their leaves are yellow in Late June or July. I think there is something else wrong with yours causing the yellowing.

I bought store garlic 4 years ago and have been growing the same stuff ever since, I looked for something grown in Denmark (of course I would look for Uk grown if I were still there) so I knew it could cope with my conditions, a softneck from China is unlikely to do well.

Dovefromabove

Albert Einstein is widely credited with saying, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different result."

but so many of us keep on keeping on doing the same thing in our gardens ... thinking that it's the weather or something else that's causing the problem, rather than learning from our mistakes

raisingirl

Trouble is @Dovefromabove, there are so many possible mistakes, that repeating the same thing sort of makes sense if you're trying to work out which of the dozens of possible errors is yours. I know I do it. I keep sowing carrots. 

Spring onions are really easy from seed. Another option is 'walking onions' or 'topsetting' onions, which look and taste like spring onions but are perennial.

I buy garlic 'sets' to plant every autumn. I dry the soft neck types, pickle and or freeze the hardneck types. I eat the dried soft neck garlic through summer and autumn, the pickled hard neck garlic in spring and summer and never buy supermarket stuff at all.