Garlic for Dummies

[grannysmith]

Hi everyone!

Ok, now don't laugh but . . . I wanted to plant some garlic and got some to grow last year from cloves I took from the supermarket garlic. I planted one clove per plant and got lovely green chive-like shoots, but I didn't get to see it completely mature because winter came and I was away on hols in autumn etc. It may still be out there, but I haven't looked in a few months. If this sounds pathetic, it's also because I'm tied up with kids, husband, dog etc and sometimes nature gets ahead of me.

Anyway, this spring I fancied planting some "properly" I've read that some people plant bulbs or cloves and others start from seed.

Any ideas as to what is better? Also, if I plant the bulbs, do I separate out each clove, or plant the whole bulb, like a hyacinth or tulip bulb?

I've never really done much with garlic before but would like to grow and harvest it as a regular thing, since I'm expanding my veggie bed this year and will have more room.

Any ideas?

[HeyWayne]

Hi grannysmith

Garlic does best when planted in the autumn and allowed to grow through the winter. A good period of cold weather (frost) is what gets the cloves to split and form a multi-clove bulb.

I think if you wait until the spring you may not get the cloves you desire.

I planted mine in pots in an open mini greenhouse late last autumn, and only managed to plant them in the ground this weekend. The have a couple of inches of green foliage and a decent root system so I'm hopeful they'll be ok.

Garlic's tough stuff - it's been around for thousands of years after all.

[grannysmith]

So can I plant them now? And would single cloves work ok? OR do I need to plant seeds?

Or is it too late already to plant cloves in the ground outside?

[TheHat]

Hey

Wayne is right Garlic does benefit from some frost as it splits and you will get more bang for your buck so to speak. I guess if you are quick you could still get some in and have a couple of frosts get to them as the next week or so is gonna be cold.

What you need to do is split to bulb in to cloves and plant 1 clove every 5in or so just deep enough so the top is just visible.

I would also suggest a trip to a Garden Center to buy some for growing as this will more than likely perform better than the supermarket stuff and you will know what it is and can trust where it came from.

Hope this helps

Vince The Hat

[grannysmith]

Thanks, Vince! I'll be quick. I have tons of it here so I'll try the supermarket stuff tomorrow and plant some garden centre garlic a little later in the week. We're expecting quite a few cold weeks still so maybe I'll be lucky with it.

If I am, it'll be hats off to you!

[HeyWayne]

The benefit you've got with supermarket garlic is that it's relatively cheap - so you'll not lose so much if it doesn't work. GC garlic is likely to do better, but you'll lose more money should they fail.

Good luck.

Be quick.

[grannysmith]

Thanks . . . I'll be faster than the speed of light. The bed is ok and ready anyway, I just have to walk outside in the freezing sleet tomorrow and stick the cloves in, well spaced.

You've all also answered my other question which was why my original cloves didn't actually split last year into proper garlics. I planted them in May and so what I got was some lovely green tall chive-like green bits sprouting from them which smelled like garlic if you broke them and smelled them, but which didn't actually split (I pulled one up in August to see what it was doing, and all that had happened was the clove had rooted, but that was it).

I was wondering what the heck you had to do around here to get a clove to make more cloves and start to look like a bulb. Looks like it's a question of the frost splitting them and having planted way too late.

Awwww . . . I really owe you guys! Thanks!

[pjh75]

I'm pretty much in the same boat as you grannysmith. I only put my garlic in the ground on Saturday (from the garden centre) and I haven't grown it before either.

[Liza]

I planted mine this time last year and they were fine, a bit on the small side but very strong flavour. I grew Marco, you can use some of your crop from this year to plant for next.

[grannysmith]

Thanks, Liza and pjh75!

This is encouraging. On an even more encouraging note, I finally managed to check the veggie bed properly and 3 of the garlics that I planted last spring seem to have made it through the winter, although some of their leaves are a little yellow. They still have strong green shoots (scapes?) and so I was wondering when to lift them and see if they've split and turned into proper bulbs, so I can use them??

Any ideas on that as well?

It LOOKED so simple to plant garlic, but I didn't know about the frost thing and the splitting thing and now . . . the "When to harvest them" thing. This is what I get for my habit of "experimental planting" of things.

I'll plant some other cloves today and then hopefully they might split with the bad and freezing weather we are expecting in the next week. Nice to know frost and snow has a use in the garden.

[BUFFS]

i used to plant my garlic with just the tip showing,but i was told by an italian that it is better to put them about 1 inch deeper and for me,where i am ,it works,i have had consistantly larger crops.

[Liza]

i used to plant my garlic with just the tip showing,but i was told by an italian that it is better to put them about 1 inch deeper and for me,where i am ,it works,i have had consistantly larger crops.

Good tip buffs.....

[jackyspratty]

garlic in pots?

Just wondering if its possible to grow garlic in pots? If so what size pots would be needed do you think?

[toffee565]

Needing some garlic advice please, i planted some garlic in a polytunnel in october last year and was wondering if i would be able to replant them outside now that the beds are complete many thanks

[Snadger]

Needing some garlic advice please, i planted some garlic in a polytunnel in october last year and was wondering if i would be able to replant them outside now that the beds are complete many thanks

You would probably need to leave the doors of the polytunnel open for a few days to harden it off before lifting. Do they look like small leeks at the mo? If so, I would lift them with as much soil as you can and they should transplant ok.