Silly Garlic question

[smallblueplanet]

Sounds interesting/yummy LJ.

[Slug]

SBP - I have some Solent White growing at the moment which I planted in the spring. The garlic I've just pulled was my autumn sown purple garlic (I can't remember the name - I'll have to go and look at the label or the packet in the shed!

My solent White stems are looking alot smaller than my autumn sown ones, but then again, they're not looking ready to drop yet, so I'm hoping there's a bit more growing to be done yet.

[Pigface51]

Hello...I'm new to this website, but have some experience with Garlic - I think one of Slug's problem's stems from your original post - namely that the garlic was planted in February this year.

Garlic is best planted Oct-Dec and needs around 1-2 weeks of cold weather (zero to 4 degrees) to prepare the clove. Strange things can happen to the clove if it is planted later, and the Feb-Marche weather could well be to blame for your scapes.

You could also feed the bulbs with Sulpher & nitrogen, ideally Feb-April to encourage good bulb growth and a stronger/more pungent taste.

This year (Oct) I am planning to grow "German Red" & "Spanish Roja"from the new Dobies catalog

I hope that helps...

[Slug]

Hi Pigface51,

Thanks for the info! Strangely enough, I actually planted my purple garlic (the one with the scapes) in October last year. The Solent Wight I planted around Feb time doesn't appear to have scapes ... yet!!

I ate some of my 'green' garlic tonight. I've never had the garlic so fresh before. I must admit I didn't notice a difference in the taste as it had so many other flavours with the dinner, but I did notice the difference in skinning the cloves etc... I'm sure it tasted nicer though simply because I know it came from my garden

[FoxHillGardener]

What's the general opinion on buying proper "for growing" garlic, rather than just using "for eating" ones from the greengrocer. I've read that the latter can introduce diseases and things, but also others that say they always use "for eating bulbs" and no problems. What's everyone's experience on this one?

[Slug]

This I have some accidental 'for eating' bulbs growing since some of my bulbs did not lift cleanly last year and the cloves were left behind, which then grew.

They seem to be growing OK, but not as well as my 'for growing' garlic, but then again I didn't get a great crop of the garlic last year either, so it might be the variety.

I tried 'for eating' garlic a few years ago with no success - I got the lovely green stems but then it just died back and I found nothing in the soil.

I think the reason that 'for growing' bulbs are supposed to be better is because our food is often irradiated to kill pests/bugs etc... before it's sold to the public. I believe this can stop the bulbs (in the case of garlic) from germinating properly.

I don't know if organic food is still irradiated (this radiation is harmless to people by the way...!). If not, then perhaps if you got an organic garlic it might work better.

I often wonder what makes a 'for growing' bulb any different to a 'for eating' bulb. After all, they do say you shouldn't eat the 'for growing' bulbs.... so what has been done to them to make them unfit for consumption?