Garlic

[TheLostGardenOfHollinsend]

Well I've ordered the garlic, so I'll have something to tend over winter.

[lmayhow]

I popped mine in last week or week before!

[DataMonkey]

I planted out a load of bulbs in November and they have all done fairly well - I have about 45 or so come through and about an inch high.

At the same time though, I planted another 15 in an unheated greenhouse and they have grown to 4-5 inches in small pots.

What should I do with the potted ones - when can I plant them out, and do they need hardening off first ?

[vixylix]

I did similar last year data monkey and hardened them off before I put them outside.

I started hardening them off on 4th Feb last year when the weather was fairly mild - I'm not sure if you need to or not but I figured it didnt do any harm!

[DataMonkey]

Thanks


Should I just put them outside during the day for a few days and then plant them out ?

I don't think my coldframe is any colder than the greenhouse they've been in so I'll probably just bypass that.

[vixylix]

Yes that's what I did - I am no expert though, you may wish to wait for another opinion

[dammad49]

After 20 years of experimenting mainly with elephant cos it's so bootiful and versatile I only plant: open ground, October or earlier.
A Scandinavian grower told me that they plant garlic during the September school holidays!

[Super Sprout]

Garlic

I'm a complete novice gardener &took on an allotment plot in Nov 2016. Having dug an area over & forked in some well rotted horse manure I was desperate to start growing something.

I opted for some softneck garlic, the Cristo variety, and planted 5 rows on 18th Dec. It started to grow very quickly and in no time I saw green shoots of approx 2-3". Since then we've had some hard frosts down to -8C &a few days of light snow. The green shoots are browning slightly where they meet the main neck &one or two have dropped off. Is this normal or has the cold killed the crop already? Should I have covered them under a mesh tunnel?

Any advice would be gratefully received!

Many thanks.

[Ruined]

"In by the shortest day, out by the longest day"

Mine always go in in the Autumn, by the end of October/beginning of November. Autumn types need a certain number of days below a certain temperature to form bulbs - sorry for vagueness, I can't remember the exact numbers.

I've never sown in the spring.

[DataMonkey]

I've been planting mine out in batches since November just to see what happened, the last lot at the start of January. I also started some in pots in November in the greenhouse that I planted out last weekend, after hardening them off a bit.

They have all grown really well and are about 2-3 inches high, apart from the greenhouse ones that are about 6 inches tall and had roots coming out of the bottom of the pots.

I've only stopped planting them now because I've got 80-90 comng up, and I think that's as much as I'll need !!

[Mr Bones]

Autumn types need a certain number of days below a certain temperature to form bulbs - sorry for vagueness, I can't remember the exact numbers.

In order for it to split into cloves instead of making one large round, garlic needs 20 consecutive days at 10 Celsius or less. Ones that don't split however, can be planted the following year to grow bigger bulbs.
Elephant garlic is different though, it depends on clove size when planting. Sorry I don't know the cut-off point but small ellie cloves will grow into rounds and large cloves will grow into a bulb that splits. Again, rounds can be either eaten or planted for the following year.