Is it to late to grow garlic?

[Naga]

I've got some big cloves from Aldi and would love to plant them.... have I missed out?

[esrikandan]

Might be a little late, but no harm in giving it a go!

[Naga]

I might well do then, some of the cloves I have are shooting.

[Victoria26]

You are a wee bit late in growing garlic cloves - so stick them in the bottom of the fridee for a few weeks before planting it. They need the intense cold to split into cloves and this works perfectly.

[Naga]

Will the freezer work... I guess that's a bit OTT.

[Victoria26]

no the freezer will be fine but keep them in there for maybe 2 hours then put them into the fridge for a while. You want to fool then into thinking they've been through a winter frost.

[bazzaboy]

Well you're not exactly early, Herby, the old adage about garlic is plant on the shortest day (i.e. Christmas) and crop on the longest day (late June); it can also be planted in the autumn. But if you've space just now give it a try, you'll probably only get small cloves which can be a bit fiddly but quite usable. There was some hilarious correspondence recently on this List about planting garlic (not as obvious as you might think, bury the whole clove pointy end up!) - if you're not familiar with it there's a video on
How To Plant Garlic (Lifestyle & Home: Growing Fruit & Vegetables)
At the very least good experience for next time. b.

[sewer rat]

It really all depends on varieties as you can get varieties now that are bred for spring sowing.

[Pickle]

Oh no! I thought I might have been OK so I planted mine yesterday. Do you think I should pull them up and stick them in the fridge for a few hours? Or will the temp dropping below freezing at night be enough to make them split? It's the first time I've ever grown garlic. Only bought it last week. Oh I love garlic. I hope they work

[Naga]

I do not know what type my garlic are, all I know is that they are from Spain.

[Eyren]

I would try out the fridge/freezer trick, Herby, if you don't know the variety. At worst, all that will happen is that you get a single large bulb instead of one divided into cloves. Lovely roasted whole, then squeezed out and gently warmed through with some cream/creme fraiche for an easy pasta sauce