Garlic

[Rob the Radish]

Hi,

I have been sorting some cupboards out and found a few bulbs of garlic, they look fine, and have a few very small shoots growing out the top, well it got me thinking, i love garlic and wanted to try growing some, can i break these bulbs up into cloves and put them in pots now ? or am i able to plant them straight into the ground now, is it the right time of year to be doing this ? will it work or do i need to buy some from a proper supplier ?

Thanks, Rob.

[Florence Fennel]

Lots of people do use supermarket garlic Rob and it does work, but I think you'd be more sure of a decent crop if you bought the "proper" stuff to grow. I usually plant on the shortest day and harvest on the longest, but I would think any time from now is ok.

[Two_Sheds]

I wouldn't use any bulb that's been sitting in your cupboards, drying out, but I just bought 12 bulbs from Aldi for planting into modules next week

I once spent a fortune on "proper" Isle of Wight seed garlic, and it did awful (for me)

[Florence Fennel]

I did much the same TS - bought a "Garlic Collection" from the Isle of Wight with about 6 different varieties of bulbs (expensive). They were nothing outstanding so the following year I bought bog standard from Wilkinsons (cheap) and got a better result.

[Rob the Radish]

Thanks, so if you plant on the shortest day then that would be in decenber ? so i would be 3 months early, or do you get them started in pots and plant out in december ? very confusing.

I went online and looked at some garlic suppliers and was suprised how expensive they were, so i think i will give shop bought stuff a go for a start and see how i get on with it.

Rob.

[Ananke]

I grew bog standard supermarket garlic a few times, it done better than the "proper" garlic I bought from Aldi. What I did find though was that the end results of the supermarket ones were smaller than the parents, probably because they were not designed to be grown in chilly Scotland.

This year I thought I'd give the Really Garlicky Co a try, bulbs arrived this morning and have nice big chunky cloves on them (I hate chopping the tiny ones) so fingers crossed I get back bulbs with the same sized cloves next year.

So my advice would be that you have nothing to lose but a few cloves of garlic, chuck them into the ground and see what happens.

[Dead Dogs]

So my advice would be that you have nothing to lose but a few cloves of garlic, chuck them into the ground and see what happens.

Totally agree with Ananke. If they have sproutted already, there're not going to be any good for cooking so give it a go. You could back these up with either some from the grocers or garden centre.

I'll be putting mine in as soon as I get last of my spuds up and the plot dug.

[Florence Fennel]

Thanks, so if you plant on the shortest day then that would be in decenber ? so i would be 3 months early, or do you get them started in pots and plant out in december ? very confusing.

Rob.

Folks do it differently Rob. I don't literally use the shortest and longest days, sorry that was misleading. I tend to plant Nov/early Dec and hope to harvest mid-June/July. Some people plant now and would probably harvest in May/June, other people don't plant until the Spring. Tis up to you.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I have just bought my first ever garlic to grow £2 from Wilkos. Well I like to try something new every year and I happen to have a couple of fish boxes doing nothing.

Colin

[northepaul]

I would sow them and see what happens, after all you have nothing to loose (only a bit of your time).
I bought IOW garlic this year, directly from them, much cheaper than the collections online. I tried growing the bog standard supermarket stuff last year and had a terrible crop this year.
You can plant it all up this month.
Welcome to the vine by the way!!