Topic: garlic

[telboy]

Like onions, garlic is a hungry plant so feed well!

[KathrynH]

I try to rotate wherever possible but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way and I've ended up planting the same crop in the same place for 2 years running just because there's no where else. Mostly, I haven't noticed any difference, sometimes things do well, sometimes they don't and I've never been able to put it down to anything in particular.

I bought my garlic from Marshalls (get the catalogue or order on line) planted it in November and I'm now digging up some great bulbs, much better than last year although everything I did was the same.

[gowdin]

i recommend the elephant garlic ( i know its not a real garlic its closer related to the leek )
i got my stock from robinsons at forton near lancaster the mammoth onion breeder a few yaers ago i started off with just a couple of cloves and last year about september time i planted out nearly two hundred of the little darlings and a recent check on the bulbs shows me that another fantastic harvest is iminent the elephant from forton is bomb-proof
cheers
gowdin

[hopalong]

I asked my excellent supplier, Jennifer Birch, about this and she insists that it is highly desirable to rotate garlic annually.  It is best to plant it in an area previously occupied by legumes.

[redimp]

I plant my alliums (eight year rotation) where my brassicas have been lifted from as chemicals released by brassica roots are meant to discourage allium ailments.  One of these is sulphur which also adds to alliums taste.

[Garden Manager]

Did anyone see the feature about garlic on Monday night's Hampton Court preveiw programme (BBC2)? Very interesting particularly about all the different varieties.

My garlic is an unknown variety I have kept going through replanted harvested cloves. Been growing it so long i forget where it came from originaly(quite possibly some bought at the supermarket for eating). The yeilds are not great and clearly not a very good variety. I will be looking into buying in fresh 'seed' cloves of a decent variety (Solent Wight looks good) come the autumn.

[tim]

Not a good variety? Do you only save the 5 or 6 really good cloves?

[Sparkly]

I will be looking into buying in fresh 'seed' cloves of a decent variety (Solent Wight looks good) come the autumn.

We have grown garlic for the first time this year and bought a selection of varieties from dobies. By far the best for us were the purple and solent wight.

[Garden Manager]

Not a good variety? Do you only save the 5 or 6 really good cloves?

I usualy plant about a dozen small cloves from the harvested bulbs. This is about the limit i have space for.


By 'Not a good variety' I mean the lifted bulbs are quite small and the foliage pretty weedy. Usualy enough for our needs but compared to named varieties the yeild is pretty low for the space alotted to them. Plus they seem increasingly prone to rust and other ailments.

[Tee Gee]

I select the five biggest bulbs I grow each year and plant these on.

Next years are already laid aside.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I look though all the decent bulbs and pick the biggest cloves I can find for planting.

[OllieC]

I will be looking into buying in fresh 'seed' cloves of a decent variety (Solent Wight looks good) come the autumn.

We have grown garlic for the first time this year and bought a selection of varieties from dobies. By far the best for us were the purple and solent wight.

Did you get their Spanish Roja? And if so, did it get white rot? Mine did - the other 4 (3 from Dobies & 1 saved variety) were fine...

[Chris Graham]

wee question - my garlic has run too seed should I lift them now?

[tim]

Take off the head & let them do their thing.

[SteveJ]

[/quote Did you get their Spanish Roja? And if so, did it get white rot? Mine did - the other 4 (3 from Dobies & 1 saved variety) were fine...
[/quote]

Interesting, I got the Spanish Roja, and grew in a grow bag, it did not get the rot, although the yields were pretty poor.  I note that Dobies are not offering Spanish Roja this year and state in their summer/autumn catalogue 'Spanish Roja which is no longer available'