So, does it need frost or not?

[piskieinboots]

Garlic?

I was always under the impression that garlic needed a period of frost to enable the bulb to spilt into cloves better.

Am I wrong?

I mentioned this in College today and both Teach and one other 'professional' said that was rubbish? What made the garlic spilt was length of growing period - they said.

Confused I is

[HayleyB]

I have always understood that it actually needs a minimum number of days in frost as well maybe we've all been duped

[lynda66]

well as i only know about garlic from here .... i thought it needed frost too, but as i've never planted any i have no idea lol

[Snadger]

As you can get garlic for spring planting as well as autumn planting I would assume it's only the autumn planting that benefits from frost?

[piskieinboots]

so are we safe to assume (never assume!) that:
winter garlic benefits from frost
spring garlic benefits from day length

[shirlthegirl43]

Well, I would appear to be running a test inadvertantly - I planted my autumn garlic the day before yesterday. We had a bit of snow last night but no frost. Will wait and report on whether autumn garlic sown in spring splits into cloves or not

[TEB]

This is from the RHS site:
"As garlic needs some cold weather to initiate flowering, only certain cultivars are recommended for spring planting. Try ‘Sultop’ or ‘Spring White’. "

[realfood]

Further to the RHS site, as far as I am aware, only hard-neck garlic forms flowers, soft neck garlic does not.
I have always been dubious about the claim that garlic requires frost to split.

[Victoria26]

They do need a period of cold which is why they say if the ground is frozen and you cannot plant anything then you should put your cloves in the fridge until you can plant them.

Your right Piskie!

[selfraising]

Hmmm I thought it was just a month of cold temperatures

[piskieinboots]

Your right Piskie!

eeeee - dare I tell Teacher she is 'wrong'

[zazen999]

They've been wrong in the past though if I remember rightly....

[nelliegemini]

I forgot to plant in November, and am following with the small period in the fridge followed by an hour in the freezer theory then planting this weekend (snow permitting!!).

Ask me again in July

[pipscariad]

I will mutter this in a small voice, as I realise I am in the minority, but I haven't put my garlic in yet..... and also, last year I didn't plant it til the end of March (are you seeing a theme here? It's unintentional, I assure you, I want to be organised like the rest of you, I really do), but, whether through luck or otherwise, my garlic was fine, and split into lots of cloves. Can't recall, but I'd be very surprised if we had any frost after that planting, as we rarely get frost here (apart from this winter that is!). Have to confess that until this thread I didn't know about the cold factor for it. I have a lot to learn (but then that's why I'm here - and it's working ).

[dammad49]

Cultivating Garlic and Elephant Garlic

I found the above link very informative, particularly the info on garlic dormancy. The misspelt link at the bottom of the page: "Culivating Garlic & Elephant Garlic" seems to answer piskieinboots' question.