Garlic

[Plumed90]

Got the reminder from Monty too! Just bought 60 seeds, 30 of each variety off Ebay - Always seems to be good quality at a lower cost from private producers.

Quick question - Buying the seeds\bulbs is actually quite expensive. I think i'm right in saying you can't plant the ones for the supermarket because there grown in warmer climates. Is it possible to save some of the seeds from my crop next year to plant out again in the Autumn 2017?

Would save me lot's especially from the elephant garlic i'm looking to buy

[spamvindaloo]

Got the reminder from Monty too! Just bought 60 seeds, 30 of each variety off Ebay - Always seems to be good quality at a lower cost from private producers.

Quick question - Buying the seeds\bulbs is actually quite expensive. I think i'm right in saying you can't plant the ones for the supermarket because there grown in warmer climates. Is it possible to save some of the seeds from my crop next year to plant out again in the Autumn 2017?

Would save me lot's especially from the elephant garlic i'm looking to buy

Supermarket garlic probably will grow but it might not do too well. You can replant your own harvest though. If you do this year on year it will become naturalised to your growing conditions and in theory should keep getting better and better.

[KEEFS CUFC]

Thats handy to know

[hamamelis]

Just remember to save the good ones, not the small/dodgy cloves. It's always tempting to eat the best ones and replant the not so good, but always remember that what you plant affects what you get...

I've been replanting saved elephant garlic for about 5 years now; honestly, though I love the stuff, it wouldn't be worth the crazy price if you couldn't replant it!

[Mr Bones]

Worth remembering too with elephant garlic, small cloves planted will only grow into rounds (solid bulb not split into individual cloves), don't know where the cut-off point is sizewise but it's best to plant big cloves.
Planted 60 cloves on Sunday and the fox has already started digging them up so I've had to cover the bed with chicken wire.

[cristalfiona]

I planted out my first lot (2 bulbs, 20 cloves) at home yesterday - ran out of time before it got dark. The remaining bulbs will be going out at the weekend, then I'll decide if I'm putting some in at the allotment as well.

[Nubber]

I tried a few times before and always failed, got frustrating but a few weeks ago I just chucked one in some soil, and all of a sudden it's growing, rather excited, as it will be my first ever successful veg? (Is garlic a veg?)

[OscarSidcup]

On Sunday I planted 2 heads (c. 20 bits) of extra early whight having prepared the soil with garlic fertilizer granules. Now the waiting game begins!

[Snadger]

I planted these Marco, one inch deep and six cloves to a large pot on 23rd October!

They have grown really fast

!

[TheLostGardenOfHollinsend]

A friendly chap at my allotment suggested "Plant by the shortest day and harvest by the longest day"

I have found an old greenhouse base that I plan to cultivate first. It has brick edging and a 'path' in the middle so I'll get a reasonable garlic patch.

Elephant or regular?

[Jay-ell]

Elephant or regular?

Why not both? See if you can get a clove or two of elephant garlic from a friendly allotment holder as they go for about £1 a CLOVE - you'll need to grow it for a couple of years to build up a stock as you generally get about 4 or so cloves per head.

With regular garlic you can get hard neck or soft neck - hard neck will usually throw up a flower stalk, soft neck usually doesn't.

Hardneck tends to have a single layer of cloves around the central flower stalk, softneck can have multiple layers of smaller cloves.

Hardneck are supposed to do better in colder regions, surviving winter better than softneck and needed longer periods of cold.

Softneck stores longer than hardneck and as it doesn't have the flower stalks can be plated easier so it looks good hanging in the kitchen.

I've planted 2 types of hardneck and 2 types of softneck. Each type gave me about 12 cloves for the head - this should be enough to eat next year and save the best heads as seed for the next crop.

As to the flavour Elephant Garlic tends to be milder but some people think there is a bitter after taste, hardneck supposedly has a stronger flavour and some foodies swear by it, softneck varieties are what you would normally buy in the supermarket

[happyhumph]

I have elephant & hard neck both in the ground last weekend . Like jay-el says, I've been putting limits on how much of the elephant we eat in order to build up stocks as v pricey.

Will be planting a soft neck (not sure what variety yet) in spring as apparently they last longer from a spring planting than an autumn planting - anyone got any experience of this?

I find hard neck has a more complex (tastier) flavour, & a delicious freshness when green. Never had a bitter after taste from elephant - I love it!

[TheLostGardenOfHollinsend]

Thanks for the advice. Mr Fothergill has an offer of hardneck softneck and elephant on at the moment so may order some fresh stock.

[happyhumph]

Ooh - shall have a look

[Jay-ell]

Oh dear - sold out. Not that I would have of it anyway