Seed Garlic

[Snadger]

Lidl garlic this year.

Tried Tesco's and proppa Solent white seed garlic from the GC last year and no difference.

Lidl's is cheaper than Teso's, so gets the nod from me this year.

[Two_Sheds]

Where do you buy your seed from that's consistently good?

I pick my own bulbs from the supermarket. I've tested them against real, expensive Isle of Wight seed garlic, and it does better (for me).

Just put some in today, in fact



These were last year's

[VirginVegGrower]

I notice that Natoora who sell through Ocado are retailing the pink Rose de Lautrec, which I may now get and throw caution to the wind. It's at least £2 off.

[binley100]

Last year I bought some from wilkos which did rubbish and was given some which came off the market ....they did a lot better so I've saved some of those and have just planted them. Also from a food show I bought an elephant garlic which I dried and have just sown that as well ......Of course all are fleeced at the moment due to a certain nasty little fly ....

[VirginVegGrower]

I'm going to post pics on my Twitter of the state of a bulb or two so you can see what I mean.

[snakeshack]

I bought a selection pack from the garlic farm 3 years ago and although initially expensive I just save the best from my crop to replant meaning I only had to buy once.I bought elephant garlic from wilkos last year which worked out a about a quid a clove,over 80per cent came up an produced 8 usable bulbs,6 of which I split and replanted to build up my stock along with about 50 tiny bulbils which I am relably informed will reach full size in 2 years.

[Cue the Toms]

How much garlic which ones?

I planted 2 cloves of elephant garlic and 40 of Marko on Sunday on my plot.

I may plant some more yet as we use lots of it.

Is it worth waiting and planting more in spring or should I get it in the ground before Crimbo?

What varieties do you recommend?

How much is enough for an average family to last if not all year then a good part of it?

Sorry for all the questions but I know how much you like to help

Chris

[northepaul]

You are safe to plant them right up through november, so I would go ahead any get more if you need them.
Variety is up to you - I find one particular type does very well down here in my clay-like acidic soil, but you may have different. Why not buy a few types and try them out?
Shallots are good too?

[Two_Sheds]

How much is enough for an average family to last if not all year then a good part of it?

You need to do some maths, on the back of an envelope. How many bulbs do you eat each week/month? Then multiply that by 52 or 12.

Us, we use 2 bulbs a month I reckon. So that's 24 bulbs a year, which is 24 cloves to plant, plus a few for luck/losses.
V
V
V
V
I planted 60 cloves yesterday, in modules. They'll stay in the cold gh until March, then go onto the lotty.

[Kaiya]

I replied to this but in the merge my reply has gone. I can't remember what I said... I think I said -

Do plant them now - spring for me didn't work as well.

Garlic varieties all seem similar to me but you could consider some overwintering japanese onions (Senshyu yellow), they are fab.

[lottie dolly]

I bought a selection pack from the garlic farm 3 years ago and although initially expensive I just save the best from my crop to replant meaning I only had to buy once.I bought elephant garlic from wilkos last year which worked out a about a quid a clove,over 80per cent came up an produced 8 usable bulbs,6 of which I split and replanted to build up my stock along with about 50 tiny bulbils which I am relably informed will reach full size in 2 years.

There has to be a secret to getting bulbils to grow,i have tried several times without any luck,a google said plant straight away,did thisas well,and had/got spme in water,no good,i even tried chipping the bottom a bit,all to no avail,

[jacob]

Companies -- I've got mine from Suttons. They came in a box, along with my onion sets. The bulbs were good (maybe the onion sets were a tiny bit small, but that's probably the weather). The price still seems rather high, but the ones in local garden centre don't look great, I wasn't impressed with my one attempt from supermarket garlic and my own had a lacklustre year and so I decided against using it as seed. Suttons have redeemed themselves from last when I order a bunch of garlic and onions and they sent different varieties, which annoys the hell out of me.

Other gripe... I'm sure these are going out pretty late. It often freezes solid up here in November, so I really wanted them in for last weekend -- they just turned up on time (last Thursday).

How much to sow -- I've found it difficult to keep beyond early April. At this point it really, really wants to start growing again. 40 cloves seems to more or less do us (OH & me) from harvest at the end of July to late March. Though not a brilliant crop this year, so might not last as long.

[bearded bloke]

I am half tempted to buy eating garlic from a French website I have found and see what comes of that.

i tried that last yr but they just rotted

I was told that those sold in France for eating,but used as seed should be planted in the spring for best results

[BarleySugar]

After losing my garlic crop a couple of years ago to white rot (planted in someone else's garden ) I bought a pack of Taylors Thermidrone garlic from a garden centre which grew well. Last year I saved seed garlic and replanted in November. When the stored cloves started to sprout I peeled, chopped and pickled them to give me garlic to tide me over until the new crop was ready.
Despite the crop getting rust badly in June, and me lifting with half the (clay) plot attached at the end of the month, the bulbs were a good size and the individual cloves larger than last year. I've just replanted from these and hope for similar results next June/July.

[horticultural_hobbit]

Mine are from suttons. And I've got a fair bit. Think i had one mouldy clove. But all in all, all right. My success is pure fluke. Most likely as last autumn was relatively dry. Today and over the last few days, rain has come down in sheets; plot has probably eaten the eight bulbs or more bulbs that have been planted. Why that many, well, being Bollywoods it gets eaten and shared. If the rain and precipitation continues, I'm doomed. Not so happy with t and m this year, some orders went pear shaped.

My main worry is the survival over winter. Really don't want plant replacements in spring.