Planting garlic now

[sowitgrowit]

3 bulbs for £2 in Wilkos. Don't they say (who are they?) that the supermarket varieties are from sunnier climes and won't adapt well to our weather?

[Farmer_Gyles]

Don't they say (who are they?) that the supermarket varieties are from sunnier climes and won't adapt well to our weather?

they might be people who want you to pay 3x as much for the same thing!
supermarket garlic grows just fine ....

[VirginVegGrower]

3 bulbs for £2 in Wilkos. Don't they say (who are they?) that the supermarket varieties are from sunnier climes and won't adapt well to our weather?

I found Wilko garlic rubbish. It didn't yield particularly large bulbs, nor was flavour particularly great. Others on here have grown supermarket garlic and had good results.

[veggiechicken]

I grew supermarket garlic - it was OK. I also bought Wilko onions - they were rubbish - I'll not buy anything like that from them again.

[sowitgrowit]

I found Wilko garlic rubbish. It didn't yield particularly large bulbs, nor was flavour particularly great. Others on here have grown supermarket garlic and had good results.

I grew supermarket garlic - it was OK. I also bought Wilko onions - they were rubbish - I'll not buy anything like that from them again.

Oh dear I've got garlic and o/winter onion sets from Wilkos so hopefully they will do ok. I hope I get something close to a harvest now after hearing that! Wilkos onions did alright this year for me, though they didn't get very big (they went in late).

Maybe next year I will go for greengrocer's garlic and compare the two.

they might be people who want you to pay 3x as much for the same thing!
supermarket garlic grows just fine ....

Thanks for the advice. I must admit it seems odd that people who don't sell it themselves recommend garlic intended for growing rather than supermarket-bought (so they have nothing to gain per se), but maybe they are just repeating accepted wisdom.

I'm happy to go with what you guys say though, based upon your actual experience.

[veggiechicken]

Ignore me Sowit - my onions are always rubbish
Why don't you pick up a shop garlic and plant it alongside your others - then you can compare them this year and see what works best for you. Look to see where it was grown though - and I choose the organic garlic

[hamsterhead]

Mine are going in this weekend. I mean, how does garlic know what month it is!!!!

[sowitgrowit]

Ignore me Sowit - my onions are always rubbish
Why don't you pick up a shop garlic and plant it alongside your others - then you can compare them this year and see what works best for you. Look to see where it was grown though - and I choose the organic garlic

I would do, but I can't justify the space I planted 100 onion sets, about 75 garlic cloves (from 6 bulbs, I completed under-estimated how many I was buying - oops!). I only have a smallish plot and now all of the space I allocated to onions and garlic is full up. On the plus side I bet I don't have any trouble with vampires.

[Kaiya]

Last year I planted mine in modules in mid-Oct and then out mid-Nov. We had a late warm season last year and they put on a lot of growth in October/November which worried me, and the snow came in Feb. However they were fantastic. As the weather is so changeable at the moment I'm waiting a week or so again before planting them (will do it direct this year, only did it in modules last year as was wary). I think I planted all my onions, shallots and garlic at similar sorts of depths, the garlic maybe an inch deeper. The onions and shallots climbed out of the ground, and the garlic stayed where it was put.

Thermidrome last year was fab on the plot, less good crowded into pots. Interestingly I planted the ones in the pot at different levels (like you would if fitting lots of daffs and crocuses into a pot) and some of the deepest ones evidently decided they were too deep and started producing a new bulb four inches up the stem. Their main bulb developed as normal (if small) but this random swelling 4 inches up the stem contained a new bulb about 1cm in size. I forgot to take pictures of course. But I did eat them.

This year I have saved Thermidrome, plus when at the Garlic farm last month I had to get some Solent Wight and Elephant. They sell seed garlic and eating garlic - I bought the eating versions - I don't think the lower risk of disease is worth a 2-300% price difference!

[BUFFS]

i put my garlic in with the top at a handswidth below soil level,it has worked thru two very severe winters,producing good crops,i was taught this depth by an italian neighbour when i was first starting out,i went round and asked him as i knew he grew it,no problems so far,30+ years later....

[sowitgrowit]

...the garlic maybe an inch deeper. The onions and shallots climbed out of the ground, and the garlic stayed where it was put.

i put my garlic in with the top at a handswidth below soil level,it has worked thru two very severe winters,producing good crops

Thanks for the input. I think I will 'earth-up' the rows of planted onion sets and garlic - can't hurt, can it? Sounds like it may be a decent idea since they are only really pushed into small dibbed holes.

[Chef_uk]

Any idea what the variety is at Wilko's? Also same for the Japanese Onions?

[VirginVegGrower]

No variety listed on the garlic, but Wilkinsons onions are Senshyu and Red Electric or they have a mixed bag of the two with some unknown white variety in the mix. The shallots are Golden Gourmet and Red Sun. Sad aren't I?
I have today sown my GO Ryton Garlic Provence - I am hoping for great things Zazen999

[Snadger]

When I dug up some of my garlic the cloves had seperated from the 'rossette' I just put the 'blown' ones to one side in an old seedtray outdoors. The cloves went green and the tray filled with water.

I now have loads of green garlic with little root systems just ready to be planted!

[Florence Fennel]

Any idea what the variety is at Wilko's? Also same for the Japanese Onions?

No variety listed on the garlic, but Wilkinsons onions are Senshyu and Red Electric or they have a mixed bag of the two with some unknown white variety in the mix. The shallots are Golden Gourmet and Red Sun. Sad aren't I?

I grew the mixed this year. Red were mostly rubbish and all went to seed, brown were ok, but I really, really liked the white ones. Just saying