My garlic has hibernated

[WPG]

Hello everyone. Just a quick question about what to do with my garlic.

I planted the cloves back in November, following all the instructions on the pack (can't remember the type of garlic, think it was a hard neck). Anyway, have been waiting expectantly for the shoots to appear, but no joy.

So I unearthed a couple of the cloves yesterday to see what was going on. The cloves themselves look fine, no rot, no mould, no pests - however, no roots or sign of shoots either.

I know garlic needs a cold snap to get it going - we had a few days of snow and ice here in January, but I guess our weather's been milder than mainland UK. Could that be the problem? My question is, should I cut my losses and just dig over the plot, or is there a chance that the cloves might suddenly come to life?

[rustylady]

They should start growing as it warms up, or you could lift the cloves and restart them in small pots or modules. That way you will be able to see as soon as they start shooting.

[WPG]

Thanks for the advice rustylady, I'll try putting them in pots.

[redser]

Strange though that they dont have any roots at all by now! Were they supermarket garlic or from the garden centre? Do you know the variety?

[WPG]

I bought them from the garden centre, can't remember the variety (the empty bag is in my shed at the allotment, will check next time I go).

Redser, I wondered too about the lack of roots. The only thing I can think of is that the bed they went into previously had mustard green manure in it, which I'd dug in. Maybe I didn't leave the mustard long enough to rot down? I read somewhere that seeds can be delayed if planted straight after a green manure, and wonder whether it's caused a delay with my garlic too?

Anyhow, I'll dig them all up and try them in pots as Rustylady suggested.