My garlic has arrived....when should i plant?

[FionaH]

I'm hoping to get my solent wight planted out today before the rain comes

so was I but its pouring Oh well if I get some work done I can legitimatly take Monday for gardening. Off to check forecast

[BrideXIII]

I grew garlic some years ago for several seasons, in pots and in the ground, and never a bother, they came up trumps every time. However, this year and last, they've been woeful, small and watery, unusable in fact, both in the ground and in pots. I thought maybe these two very wet summers did for them, but I'm not sure.

Now I've put some more down in pots and - in contrast to yours, BrideXIII, they don't seem to be doing anything. If anyone has any helpful hints I'd be delighted to get them - I (used to) love my home-grown garlic.

well i have to be honest, i didn't do much at all really.
I split a bulb down into cloves ( just a co-op one) picked the six biggest cloves and stood them flat end down on wet kitchen roll on the sunny windowsill, within a day or too they produce rootlets, then I transfer them each to their own pot full of multi-purpose compost and stick em in the greenhouse, inside the mini, so they are in double insulated part.

both them and the peas are going great guns, broad beans aren't showing yet, but hey, 2 out of three so far , and 100% germination on those 2.

[BrideXIII]

Mine are going in on Sunday. Save any wood ash to sprinkle about them come the spring and sprinkle it as thick as you like.

ok newbie question, what does wood ash do for garlic and onions?

[allotmentandy]

well i have to be honest, i didn't do much at all really.
I split a bulb down into cloves ( just a co-op one) picked the six biggest cloves and stood them flat end down on wet kitchen roll on the sunny windowsill, within a day or too they produce rootlets, then I transfer them each to their own pot full of multi-purpose compost and stick em in the greenhouse, inside the mini, so they are in double insulated part.

both them and the peas are going great guns, broad beans aren't showing yet, but hey, 2 out of three so far , and 100% germination on those 2.

what variety of broad bean are you sewing

[Duronal]

Well i've just planted one bulb of garlic cloves into pots of special soil - A mixture of poor sandy loam type soil, 15 yr old rotted horse manure, and multipupose blended together - and i was suprised that on counting up the pots i got 19 cloves from a single bulb. I've got another bulb ready to go in but i'm not sure i'll have enough room! Has anyone managed to get cloves to bulb up in pots? if so what size pot should i be aiming for? Please let me know,

D

[burnie]

What rain?, blazing sunshine here in Scotland.Just put my Garlic in,straight in the ground,as there were 3 bulbs and I got 17 cloves from one,I've only planted one bulbs worth,the rest will go in if and when we get spring time.

[BrideXIII]

thats what I am doing, some in pots to overwinter and plant out in spring, and some planted straight in the gorund come feb/march.
I just want to see how they do really.

[HotStuff]

My garlic from The Garlic Farm arrived a couple of days ago, but Saturday I was busy with other things and today it has been raining all day . Hope to get it in some day in the coming week. As this is the first time I've tried to grow garlic I'm going to try some in raised beds, some in pots outside and some in pots in the greenhouse to see which does best. The garlic in the raised beds will be alternate rows with my Nantes Frubund carrots as I read somewhere that the garlic is a good companion plant to keep the carrot fly at bay.

One question, does it make sense to keep some in the greenhouse as I've heard garlic needs a frost at some point in it's life?

[nilling]

I have winter garlic and onions to plant. Can I plant them in the same bed that had spring and spanish onions in this year or should I use another bed? Is this a crop rotation question ?

[annetteevans]

i have never grown garlic before but it put a bulbs worth into a raised bed a couple of days ago, just gonna leave it and see what happens, if they are anything like the japanese onion sets i put in a couple of weeks ago they will be showing signs of life by next week (-8

[Demeter]

I have winter garlic and onions to plant. Can I plant them in the same bed that had spring and spanish onions in this year or should I use another bed? Is this a crop rotation question ?

I would stick it somewhere else if possible. Although there is a thread on here somewhere about permanent onion beds that might be worth a look if you want to use the same one.

One question, does it make sense to keep some in the greenhouse as I've heard garlic needs a frost at some point in it's life?

Apparently it needs a frost for the new bulb to split into cloves. I haven't grown garlic successfully before though (dismal failure last time) so this is only what I have read on here!

[BrideXIII]

I would stick it somewhere else if possible. Although there is a thread on here somewhere about permanent onion beds that might be worth a look if you want to use the same one.



Apparently it needs a frost for the new bulb to split into cloves. I haven't grown garlic successfully before though (dismal failure last time) so this is only what I have read on here!

interesting, i wonder when this split is desirable, ie: overwinter in the greenhouse, harden off in spring frosts for splittage?
or frost autumn, overwinter in greenhouse?

[Curvy Vixen]

One question, does it make sense to keep some in the greenhouse as I've heard garlic needs a frost at some point in it's life?

Yep they need frost. I bought 6 cloves of elephant garlic last year and gave my mum one to plant and planted the other 5. One of them disappeared (rotted maybe) and the other 4 were beautiful. I planted mine around this time last year. Mum forgot hers and planted it in March with no frost and pulled up what I can only describe as a huge garlic 'onion' at the end of the summer. It was very nice but not garlic as we know it Jim

[BrideXIII]

well my greenhouse is unheated so I don't doubt a frost will get at them anyway.

[HotStuff]

Thanks for the confirmation CV. I'd be interested to hear thoughts from any experienced garlic growers with an answer to BrideXIII's question about when to frost them. Maybe I'll try a few each way in pots to see what works best.