What have I done wrong with my garlic?

[novicegrower]

Hi there, I planted my garlic cloves last October, in pots out in the garden.The long stems grew and everything looked fine, but when I turned one of the pots out today, I found that they looked like big spring onions and haven't divided into cloves?What have I done wrong, do you think? I bought the garlic from a reputable supplier, it wasn't something I chanced from the local Tesco's or anything....what should I do next time to ensure nice plump bulbs please?

[Two_Sheds]

how big were the pots?

what medium did you use? (MPC?)

Did you feed them?

[Bigmallly]

Did you let the foliage die back a bit, just wondered if you have picked them too early.

[Capsid]

It's not been a good year for garlic. I don't think it was cold for long enough.

[Poolcue]

The ones I grew in pots in the garden did likewise,the ones down the allotment although rusty did split.I would plant them directly in the ground in future.

[novicegrower]

Garlic

how big were the pots?

what medium did you use? (MPC?)

Did you feed them?

Hi, the pots were 20ltre ones.
It was MPC
I only fed with tomorite (had some left in th watering can) in the last couple of months.

[Farmer_Gyles]

i don't think you've done anything wrong - i would blame the mild winter for lack of frosts to make the bulbs split and the cold wet summer for lack of growth

you can use the "rounds" as you would use normal garlic cloves, or you can dry them and plant them in october for a bumper crop next year

garlic from tescos or anywhere else will grow just fine - no need to spend extra buying garlic from specialist suppliers - i always forget to save garlic so buy it from sainsburys and it always grows

[Green Tom]

If you can I'd plant them in the ground and wait for the foliage to go yellow and fall over before picking them. The ones I planted did pretty well this year

[Thelma Sanders]

i don't think you've done anything wrong - i would blame the mild winter for lack of frosts to make the bulbs split and the cold wet summer for lack of growth

garlic from tescos or anywhere else will grow just fine - no need to spend extra buying garlic from specialist suppliers - i always forget to save garlic so buy it from sainsburys and it always grows

I don't agree with the weather being the problem - this seems to have been a good year for garlic, apart from rust.
I think lack of nutrients is more likely the problem, tomato food isn't really what the onion family need.

I wouldn't recommend planting shop brought garlic, you may be importing onion white rot with the supermarket bulbs, all just to save a few quid Not worth the risk IMO

[Kaiya]

Same here - I had garlic in pots and in the ground from October til this summer - all grew and split fine, bar a bit of rust, however the ones in the pots were much smaller. I fed them all about twice with BFB, otherwise they took their chances.

[northepaul]

I would also go for the weather being the main culprit. Perhaps as they were in pots, they stayed warmer, or were sheltered, and therefore didnt split. On a normal year, when we actually have a prolonged cold spell, it would probably have been fine.

Dont worry, just try again.

[MrBloom]

im thinking about putting some garlic down today after i have built some more raised beds. how often should you feed the garlic ?

[roitelet]

It's not been a good year for Garlic here. Mine were not half as good as last year.The weather was the problem. Not cold enough for long enough and seed garlic is in short supply here. Pant it in the next few weeks in the ground and hope for better results next year. I never feed mine.

[MrBloom]

think ill take a chance and sow some down. no point in letting all the space go to waste

[rustylady]

What variety are you going to plant Mr Bloom?