Topic: Garlic planted last year

[wellies2012]

I planted some Garlic cloves last year that have germinated this spring and are about 7inc tall! they seem to be in clumps, look like they need to be separated and re planted! any advice welcome.

Kind regards Derek ???

[The-goodlife2012]

yes they need splitting , you should have done it before planting as each clove will grow into 1 bulb with about 6 to 8 cloves  ;D

I have grown my garlic from the same strain for the last 15 years now i save 4 or 5 whole bulbs only the large and strong dry them and split them down , i have a perfect strain of garlic no disese or anything of that kind, i`m going to let some seed this year too and see what happens from them.

give them about 4 inch spacing when replanting and water them in have fun

[grannyjanny]

Derek I think you are saying that you planted cloves & they have become a clump, as in a bulb of garlic with several cloves. If that is so they will be ready to harvest later in the year & then come Autumn you can replant some of the cloves.

[wellies2012]

I dug em up,took them over to the lotti,spoke to one of the old boys! he told me to plant each bulb..looks like ill get around 30 whole garlic's..good news cos I love it!!

[antipodes]

You mean that you have now split them and planted them out??? It's very late for garlic (e.g my  November-planted bulbs will probably be ready for harvest by end of June) - if you didn't plant the individual cloves earlier, there is a good chance they won't divide up into bulbs now. In short plant 1 clove, get one bulb, or head of garlic. But as they need a cold spell to force them to divide, that is why most people plant either beginning of winter or in very early spring. By planting now, you might not get what you expect!
Still, hit and miss, rule number one of gardening :)

[wellies2012]

ok this is what I'm saying..I planted several cloves of garlic in the front garden probably last summer and saw no results..this spring stems clumped together started to grow,looked a lot like spring onions. Now having split them and planted then indivisibly I should get 1 bulb per plant?? ??? They are deff garlic from the smell.

[goodlife]

Ah..that means that when you didn't 'see no results'..you actually did have fully formed garlic and by leaving them into ground, each bulb with individual cloves have now sprouted into growth.
What you should have done is lift them up last summer..let them dry..and in autumn separate the cloves and plant them as individuals.
Each individual clove is going to grow into bulb providing they are planted and harvested right time... ;)

[Jeannine]

Sometimes even when you just plant one definate single clove it will send up shoots for doubles or even triples, it is then best to leave them to grow like that. I have about 300 garlic growing and have about 8 or so that have divided..it happens.

As everyone else has said when you plant you must plant single cloves which are a root seperated.You may get 5 or up to a dozen cloves per root, it depends on the variety. I generally plant the bigger ones and save the smaller ones for cooking first.

Seperating them after they have grown several inches is not right, I doubt they will split but if they pick up and continue growing you may get one large clove or  a very small multiple root .

I find when they double up they tend to grow a bit like shallots.

Good luck

XX Jeannine