Garlic planting

[lesleygl]

Hi All

I bought some troughs at the weekend to plant my garlic when the time is right. When I harvested my garlic this year most of it was rotten so thought I would try troughs this time as someone suggested on this site.

What I would like to know is what sort of soil should I put in the trough for best results and also should they be sheltered through the winter? I know they need a bit of frost but wondered if they would be over exposed to the elements.

[FionaH]

I planted mine in MPC last year and they did ok. Not as big as the ones in the ground but that may be because I lifted them too early

[PhilCCFC]

Sorry to intrude but our postie has just delivered my garlic and onion sets, can I plant them in to pots to overwinter them and then plant them on in the spring? I don't have much space and I haven't managed to clear space for them yet plus I wanted to overwinter them and give some to my family for their kids to have a go at grwing things.

[rustylady]

Garlic is hardy, and in fact needs a bit of frost. Probably ok to plant in troughs, use multipurpose compost. No need to coddle.

[annacruachan]

Grown garlic for the first time this year - Wight Picardy - and it was quite successful, though not all bulbs are very big. Biggest problem was the blackbirds, who seem to mistake both garlic and onions for worms! I've had to net both to prevent them being tossed out of the soil!