Garlic mystery???

[nickybeancat]

Why are my Garlic bulbs so small??? Anybody please give me some advice. First year of growing veg but thought they would be bigger, did I do something wrong? They taste lovely but would like to grow stronger this Autumn. Any Garlic experts out there?

[HotStuff]

Hi Nicky, what variety are they? Where did you get them from & when did you plant them?

[nickybeancat]

Got them from local garden centre, planted them in late Spring and cannot remember name, did I plant them too late do you think? What shall I do to improve next time and should I be planting in Autumn do you think?

[Alice]

For best results Nicky plant your garlic in Oct / Nov and feed them in the last month of their life - June - that's when the bulbs really swell.

[HotStuff]

Nicky, I agree with Alice, plus in my experience hardneck varieties tend to produce smaller bulbs than softneck.

[Two_Sheds]

sometimes they just don't grow for you ... I've bought proper Isle of Wight seed garlic, as well as supermarket garlic, I have planted in autumn and in spring, I have fed and watered ... and still have NEVER got a decent crop in what, 5 years of trying.

[seasprout]

This year i had the same problem, did everything right and they came out of the ground much smaller than i put them in. Just happens i guess.

[SlugLobber]

Not one of mine grew this year. First time trying, but can't say I'm thrilled with the results (obviously!!). Might try planting some supermarket stuff this winter. These came free via a friend who got them via the milkman (!).

[annacruachan]

Must be beginner's luck. Planted mine, Solent Wight, in early March and pulled them last week. Didn't do anything to them as I hadn't a clue what should be done, but most of them are a good size and the flavour is wonderful.
Going to try supermarket cloves in October as they are much cheaper and you get more of them. I only got 23 bulbs from the two I bought from Marshall's, and the bulbs were already rotting when I received them.

Can anyone tell me how I should store hard stem garlic, please?

[Waffler]

Perhaps a stupid question, but what should you feed garlic? Most things I just give tom feed to, but I'm guessing that it's not a good idea for something you want to develop below ground level!

[Shadylane]

I would have thought you'd use a high phosporous feed - erm bonemeal I think (?) I grew some for first time this year, some at home in crap clay soil in October and some at t'lottment in late Feb. Lottie ones did better, ones at home not bad but some a little small. Didn't feed either of them (other than the manure that had been dug in) but next year I might.