Garlic.

[grannyjanny]

Which is the best garlic for Autumn planting please? I fancied Solent Wight but read its best Spring planted. Does it crop sooner if planted in the Autumn?

[allaboutliverpool]

I have given up planting garlic in the Autumn as I have had more reliable results with spring planted supermarket garlic. They also seem less susceptible to rust.

In case you are wondering, yes - I have bought expensive named types usually by mail order and been disappointed with the results.

Plant in March with a few extras to replace any that have not sprouted within a month.

http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Vegetables_garlic.html

[Tee Gee]

I am one of the old brigade I'm afraid I still believe in planting out Oct/Nov.

Regarding variety and I am only guessing or kidding myself! but I find saving my own is best, certainly more reliable!

Many years ago I bought a couple of bulbs of 'Tesc*'s finest' and planted out only the biggest cloves (I ate the small ones).

OK that first year these returned a bit of a mixed bag but what I did was; I saved two/three of the biggest bulbs I grew for planting out the following year.

Again! as always, I only planted the largest cloves. (planting small ones is a waste of time in my opinion)

Now I think (the guessing/kidding bit  ) I have garlic stock that is suited to my growing methods and soil.

I will continue using this method and stock until I see a marked reduction in quality in my harvest then I will start again with another batch of supermarket quality bulbs.

In fact later this year I will be filtering in one new white bulb (my others were purple) I found in the pile from the supermarket to see how it goes on!

What was the deciding factor I hear you ask for going this route?

The cost!! i.e. about 30-40p per bulb against £1-50+ for stuff that won't necessarily give you better results ( although you would like to think it should)

[shirlton]

I am also planting my own saved cloves from this years harvest because they were better by far than the ones I bought. I also plant in the autumn as I get better results

[grannyjanny]

I can get Solent Wight from our local supermarket, am I best looking for organic if possible.

[Mr Smith]

I have planted my garlic this very week and planted the variety that Wilkinsons sell which is the garlic with no name can't find the variety on the label, it is in a couple of raised beds which will keep it from getting to wet this winter I hope,

[goodlife]

I always plant mine 1st week of November...and been happy with that...
as for the rust..I find if I've been heavy handed with fertilizer (too much nitrogen) the rust will follow...

[terrier]

I'm with Tee Gee on this one. Tescos finest, LOL. I plant into 5" pots in November and leave outside but sheltered from the rain so they don't rot. The ones that grow (very few don't) get planted out early in the year as soon as the weather allows me on the plot. I don't know if the bigger cloves grow into bigger bulbs, but they certainly seem to have a better survival rate when planted out.

[allaboutliverpool]

If you look at my posting on "The basics" you will see that I am getting a polytunnel.
It seems like a good opportunity to try a bit of garlic under cover.

Nothing ventured - nothing gained!

[Mrs Gumboot]

Solent wight is a lovely tasting garlic. I tried it this year in pots and unfortunately it hasn't got very big. Will endeavour to get it in the ground next year. We've grown it in work for the last couple of years and saved some of the bulbs from last year to replant. The first couple of bulbs had come up as a test the week before last when I finished for mat leave and they were enormous! We've always spring planted and got some pretty good results.

If you lay out for it this year, you can always save some for next year and it spreads the cost a little.

The ones we ordered at work came from the organic farm on the Isle of Wight, but I managed to find mine on the local farmers market last year. Think that was more by luck than anything else though!

[caroline7758]

I splashed out and bought from the Garlic Farm a few years ago but didn't find they were any better than others, although there could have been other factors that year, of course. I've bought the "garlic selection" from Dobie's the last two years and found them to be fine. Might try saving some cloves this year.

[1066]

I had no luck with Spring sowing so always go with Autumn now. The varieties I have tried over the last few years have been from Kings or Isle of Wight. The Early Purple is a lovely one for autumn planting, but is not good for storing. I've also grown Iberian and Provence, which are both tasty, have given me big fat bulbs and cloves, and store well (again an Autumn planting). I think it's a matter of trying a few out and seeing what works on your soil - and so using some from Lidl or wherever is a good cheap way!

1066 

[antipodes]

This year's garlic was the best ever and was from Lidl cloves, of Spanish origin!

[manicscousers]

our own and marco were great from an autumn sowing, spring planted own were a lot smaller but they weren't as big cloves