Topic: What should my garlic be doing right now?

[killerflies]

Howdy all.

Just a quick one for you re: Garlic.

I planted just a few bulbs of Garlic last Oct/Nov in a pot and am wondering when I should be seeing some signs of life. Im guessing Feb/March/April but Id be interested to see if I should be expecting some showings before that.

I just planted 2 bulbs of Elephant Garlic and 5 bulbs of "normal" garlic that were "for growing"..........purely to see if they's grow.

Also, should I fertilise them at any stage?

Finally, we've had quick a few weeks of freezing weather recently (west of Ireland) but I have these garlic on the patio (which is enclosed by glass "walls") and doubt that they froze.  Does the ground need to freeze (it didnt) for them to clove up or is it just cold temperatures required?

Oh yeah, and at what stage should I be looking at pulling them out?

Many thanks in advance. Really looking foward to the results.

[nilly71]

Sorry, i can't help as new at it myself.

I planted garlic in the begining of October straight in the ground at the allotment.
They are about 2-3 high now and looks like the frost had no effect. The ones i planted at the same time as plants(about 4")  that another plot holder gave me look nowhere near as healthy.

Neil

[caroline7758]

I planted mine mid-November and there's one shoot so far! I've got a note in my last year's diary that I first saw signs of life on 9th Feb so not too worried yet.

[Trevor_D]

That sounds about right, nilly. Mine are in the open ground as well - in the coldest, dampest part of the entire site - and have got a couple of inches of green shoot. They won't grow more than that till the weather warms up and we've got a few more hours of daylight.

I've never grown them in pots, but I don't see why they should behave any differently.

You can rake in some fertiliser in the spring if you want to. But they won't be ready for harvesting until mid-June (to eat green) or late summer (for storing).

[killerflies]

Excellent,

Ill be sure to write that into my Garlic Diary.

Thanks for that indeed.

[thifasmom]

hi everything i have read says that garlic needs a period of cold/ freezing temps to encourage the bulb to split into cloves.

I'm way down south but we also had some prolonged freezing conditions from Christmas to mid January, so i hope to get a good crop. i planted my garlic late Oct and they have about 4'' of growth on most of them, the hard prolonged frosts we've experienced plus a week of snow on the ground hasn't affected them at all.

may be you should put your pots outside to ensure they get frosted a couple times before the weather starts to warm up.

[killerflies]

As it is the pots are outside, but have 4 walls around them (3 from the appartment and 1 glass wall).

Ill wait and see how it goes. Unfortunatly thats all I have in terms of space. I have no garden. That said, the patio (12ft x 4ft) was very productive last year with lots of lettuce, beans, peas, courgettes et cetera. Im hoping to expand the repetoir this year so that Im upskilling for the day we've got a bit of ground.


I did know about the frost encouraging clove formation, it will be interesting to see if that happened in this case.

Thanks all!

[thifasmom]

oh i didn't realised they were still effectively outside. I'm not sure of the exact cold temp needed for splitting into cloves, but I'm sure someone will come along with that info.

i grew lots on a balcony back in 2002, one of the advantages was no slugs and very little pest damage overall  :D.

here's hoping your garlic gives you a nice crop, let us know if they do when you harvest them.

[Tee Gee]

I just planted 2 bulbs of Elephant Garlic and 5 bulbs of "normal" garlic that were "for growing"..........purely to see if they's grow.

Can I ask a question?

Did you break your 'bulbs' up into cloves before you planted them, plus you dont mention the size of the pot/s??

Going on your statement above you haven't  ???

Here are some cultural notes; http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Garlic/Garlic.htm

[killerflies]

here's hoping your garlic gives you a nice crop, let us know if they do when you harvest them.

Fingers crossed indeed! Im definately looking foward to the end result, and will most definately let you know the results.

Can I ask a question?

Did you break your 'bulbs' up into cloves before you planted them, plus you dont mention the size of the pot/s??

Going on your statement above you haven't  ???

I broke them up alright. It was only single separate cloves that I planted.

I planted all approx 5 inches apart (some a little closer, elephant garlic a little more) in a 20inch pot.

I guess that they could have been spaced much better, but at the time, that was all the space avail.

Ill have a look at that link and see what I can do and with your help, this bit of experience and lessons learnt I may be able to plan better for next Oct.

[killerflies]

Just read that link (http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Data/Garlic/Garlic.htm)

Very interesting. Thanks for that.

Can I ask however, what are the hard neck and soft neck varieties?

If it was a thing that I could stagger my planting.........all the better!

[Kea]

Two weeks ago there was no sign of mine but now they're 3-4" high. So it can be quick once it happens.

[killerflies]

Two weeks ago there was no sign of mine but now they're 3-4" high. So it can be quick once it happens.

Well low and behold! I have a series of garlic showing signs of life!

Since I originally posted this they have shot up to about 2 inches.........nice!

No sign of the elephant variety coming up however.

Ill keep you posted as promised.

[1066]

No sign of the elephant variety coming up however.
Ill keep you posted as promised.

Mine have only just shown themselves. They seem to have come through almost a month later than the other varieties, but I'm sure they'll more than make up for it eventually!

[the-goodlife]

 ive been growin garlic for 10years now and mine too are 3-4 inches high planted in september last year, i also have a  new crop grown from seed its took them 2 years!! to get to a good size bulb (yorkshire strain garlic) and they were planted out in november and are only showing a green tip. i will give them a good fish blood & bone mix in the spring then again in april i will then lift on the longest day in june.


so dont worry about it when it warms up you will see a difference in a week! :)

[hopalong]

Mine are all 3 or 4 inches high too.  Three different varieties planted in mid-October.  A light mulch of home made compost may have helped to even out the temperature.

[Robert_Brenchley]

My heffalumps aren't showing either. Don't worry, they'll be up once the weather warms up a bit. I've never known them fail.

[saddad]

My garlic was showing... but is now hiding under the snow again!!  ;D

[amphibian]

Mine did nowt for ages, but looking out at the snow I noticed their green stems poking up through the white. Each year I start imagining that they have rotted away or some such.

[simmo116]

i bought some garlic for cooking and noticed that they all started sprouting on the windowsill. so i potted them in loo rolls and left them in the conny for about a month. i planted them out this morning i hope thy will be all right.