Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: boxingtortoise on October 13, 2003, 14:26:37
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Just planted a load of onions and garlic yesterday, about a centimetre under the soil, which i had put chicken manure on a week previously.
What do i need to do now? Do they need watering at all, or re-fertilising?
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Ah good point got mine to go in as well hope others will give up some tips
Teresa
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Hiya :)
Fret not..all seems ok to me. Hope for a cold thnap and they should romp away.
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Mine are in, I gave them a good water when I first planted them as the ground was like dust, but we have since had lashings of rain so touch wood...they should be doing the business. :P
I was watching old Monty on Friday last and he was out planting his garlic and he said that they need a good cold spell to make them split into cloves. I didn't know that! :o What would you do with a clove of garlic the size of a regular bulb for goodness sakes! ;D
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Umm, :)
When planting out you divide the bulb into cloves and the cloves are planted...right? What I think you saw was if you were to plant them in your greenhouse, they would need to be in the fridge for a while and then the whole bulb was planted.( not split into cloves)
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Hiya Merv, nope, I saw that with Chris Bearshaw (good looking boy he is!), but Monty said that if the garlic cloves don't get at least....I think he said 10 days of very cold temperatures, it will only form one big clove. Or did I hear that wrong.....the joys of watching gardeners world with a husband who is not the least bit interested in gardening and chooses to tell you about his day just as Monty starts yacking!
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Yes I watched it minus yakking hubbies, he did say it would become monster-clove if there was no cold spell!
I quite fancy trying it, you could have whole roasted monster-clove squished on toast MMMMMMMMM!!!
Ten x
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i actually had one that did not split this year, itis about the size of a daffodil bulb! (my family are always telling me I grow weird shaped veg!) I still have it and keep looking at it, wondering what to do with it!! ??? I am sure it will be delicious! :) Dotty P.
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Last year about a third of my garlics turned out to be just perfect little balls, no cloves. Actually easier to use than the ones that did consist of cloves since they were quite small.
As for onions, I'm giving up on them sadly, the white rot seems to be getting worse each year. I tried different areas in my lottie but I keep losing more than half my harvest. If anybody knows how to combat white rot, please let me know. -Ina
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Oh Ina-I know the feeling, bought this place with it`s lovely big garden 10 years ago and guess what?-the soil has white rot.
garlic is a waste of time,and onions suffer terribly-except the Japanese ones I plant out in the Autumn-can`t figure that out.
Stephan
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- ours has been getting to the stage where I was giving up alliums. But although I know that Stephan doesn't agree, I've religiously sprayed twice with Armillatox -@1/100 - cultivating in between, and onions and garlic and shallots ARE GOING IN !!
Tell you next year if it worked. Can't go on buying these things.
Must comment on a note t'other day which said that if one is sold sets now, they must go in now. We, for instance have our garlic seed now, but it does not go in till February. So think twice! - Tim
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Ina, reading your first paragraph, I was quite surprised to find these smallish balls among my garlics when I harvested them earlier, and wasn't sure what to do with them. I finished up planting them in a trough, and now we've got a green shoot about 8 cm long from each of the three, so I'm hoping I'm growing more garlic.
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So....white rot....can any of you tell me how it spreads ??? I ask as whilst nattering to 'Old Jack' today, he informed me that he has given up growing onions (other than spring onions) due to the white rot he has on both his plots. He is a fair way away from me.....but I was wondering....is it the sort of thing that would travel on his wellie when he comes over to 'borrow' a cup of coffee? :-/
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For DottieP - plant your 'daffodil' bulb now and it'll produce a bulb with cloves next year..
Another thing that benefits from a cold snap is rhubarb - expose the crown during the winter then cover it with muck early spring & start forcing some of it with a bucket over, if you wish; a friend digs up her rhubarb every winter & lays it on the ground for the frost to get to - seems a bit excessive to this lazy gardener..
:o ;D
Lishka
Fortunately - touching wood, raising my eyes to the heavens, murmuring incantations & promising all the Gods that I'll never, ever do anything wrong ever again ...I've not experienced white rot, so can't contribute there...
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Emma - sadly it could - but don't give up friendships for that.
Lishka - you're obviously fasting as well as praying? We're well through lunch!! - Tim
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Yes Lish, rhubarb seems to survive anything. When we first got the lotiie, there was a big rhubarb bush. Since Clint doesn't like it at all and I only every now and then, we found it a waste of good space. So I dug it up and left it all winter exposed on top of the soil to die and hopefully go soft so I could chop the roots small for the compost. The next summer someone wanted a piece of it but even tho' it was sprouting I didn't think it would grow having been out of the ground for more than half a year! It lived and produced. -Ina
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Ien, do you remember when I confessed that, new to veg. gardening, I planted my rhubarb crown upside down? Couldn't understand why I'd got these big big leaves and stalks about 5cm long...poor thing had really gone into Survival Mode. When the friend who gave it me had stopped laughing and picked herself up and we planted it the right way up, it took off like a train.. ;D
Back to garlic and onions (shallots). If anyone's yet to buy them, please give The Garlic Farm a look (Tim's recommendation). You can order on-line, the stuff arrives 2-3 days after, and comes with full planting/cultivating/plaiting instructions.
THANK YOU, TIM
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Lish, Tim et al - I have just been on the website of the Garlic Farm and I am slavering at the thought of the White Solent variety - good cropper and long keeping it says. Have any of you tried it and can you recommend or refuse it? £9 is a lot for me personally to spend on garlic sets, as I don't use an awful lot, but I will give some to my mum to grow as well.
Anyone want to give their opinion on the variety?
Love, Palefire
xxx
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Sue, I ordered the mixed pack - garlic & shallots & I've 4 large (but large! bulbs of the Solent Wight....I, too, was attracted by their keeping properties. I've not tried them before, but I'm sure they're going to be good...what say I send you a bulb of mine? I've more than enough...mail me if you'd like - cheers, Lishka
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Why, thank you very much! I shall get in touch - when I saw Monty putting in his garlic, all those mentions of pickled garlic and roasted garlic I've heard from lottie members in the past sprang to mind. I went immediately to the nearest garden centre, who are usually good for that kind of thing, only to be told that S***ons had cancelled the delivery!! Not good, I told myself, I wonder how many other independents have been let down and why?
Love, Palefire
xxx
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I put the first lot of my garlic in yesterday and still have more to put in. If it all comes up I'll be eaing it for years !!
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hmmmmmm....you will be able to smell us lot coming then going by the amount of garlic we have all planted! Vampires beware!! ;D
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Sue, have got your mail, have got your addy, and the cloves (bulb carefully broken up) will be with you...
in a Jiffy... ;D
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Lish
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For Lishka - you mean Soon - or in a Bag? But, seriously - for others -
1. Cost - remember that there are 5 to a pack.
2. Timing. Remember you can plant Solent Wight as late as Feb if you're not ready for it now - that's what we're doing.
3. Guarantee. Don't hold me to account - I only know I''ve sampled the product, they are nice people, and they are British - like 'my' Cornish fishermen! - Tim
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my onions are growing nicely now, the first vegetable i have ever grown on my own!! the garlic is in next to the cabbages to see if they really are slug deterrant in growing form...
will try teh garlic farm next year i think
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Palefire, I bought several packets of the ones your garden centre had cancelled and some were going rotten. >:( I have planted the good but lost quite a lot. Am not sure if I did the right thing planting any of them at all. :-/ Still, they're in now (fingers crossed) Am going to look for some more to put in just to keep the tradition of smelly breath up. ;D
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Your comment, Lil, about smelly breath reminded me of an interesting conversation I had some years ago, when I was in my Pet Shop.
I was explaining to a customer that one of the properties of garlic tablets (Denes), apart from being good for the digestive system, was to deter fleas from pets. Fleas and other insects hate garlic, and by having a garlic tablet every day, the smell of garlic is exuded from the skin. We can't smell it, but insects can. The customer was not completely convinced.
In the "queue" was a lady who was listening carefully to everything I said, and she surprised me by joining in the conversation. She said that she and her husband take garlic tablets daily, (I think for digestive reasons), and when they went on a cruise and got off at Kuala Lumpar, everyone was immediately surrounded and bitten by midges, or mosquitoes, except them.
I realised the truth of this when I was adding more horse manure to Bin No 3, which is quite big. The space above it was a mass of tiny black flies, which ignored me when I entered into their space, contrary to my expectations. I reckon it was because I consume a fair amount of garlic. But perhaps the same might have happened if I didn't take garlic - I dunno. It makes interesting speculation, doesn't it?
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Hmm thats interesting colin....
do ya think it would work if a clove was rubbed on the skin when on the lotty???
Got bit to death this year with midges, and have still got scars to prove it :-/
On saying that, I eat enough of the stuff anyway so it shoulld work.
Is that why my desk is away fromthe others in the office??? I wonder ;D
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Hiya, :)
Experiment.
It will be interesting to see the result of shop bought against specialist bought.
I understand about supporting niche market specialists, but at nearly £2 a bulb, it's difficult.
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Hi everyone,
I put some autumn onions in about three weeks ago, and they have started growing green shoots.
Are they supposed to grow now??? I thought they just made roots and hibernated until spring!
Ten x
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I do agree - but did you read the ?5 reasons I gave for buying certified seed - on the 'other' site, I think?
I'm not a salesman - merely passing on the grower's advice. Of course, he is. I'm afraid I'm one of those who frequently buys organic, even at higher prices.
Let us know what happens? -- Tim
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Know what you mean Tim.
But for only three orders it would pay for my:
- Yearly Subscription to HDRA
- The Heritage Seed Library
- The option of being a volunteer Seed Guardian.
For those who don't know it:
http://www.hdra.org.uk
So you can see, with limited funds, the choice is very difficult.
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Sue, have got your mail, have got your addy, and the cloves (bulb carefully broken up) will be with you...
in a Jiffy... ;D
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Lish
Thank you once again, Alishka - they have arrived today (I was like a little girl seeing her birthday post arrive!) and may I say how carefully packed they are! (You can have a job in the packaging & despatch department where I work anytime!!) I shall follow the destructions carefully - I think it is at long last time to get a tester kit for the soil!
The aroma as I opened the packet made me determined to get it right!!!
Love, Palefire
xxx
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Hi Ten, pleased to report mine are through to :D. I thought as they are winter hardy onions, they grow through the rotten weather, just very very slowely and then pick up pace as the weather warms in the spring, therefore they are pull-able earlier than spring planted onions.....I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
Emma
p.s. Garlic has started rearing its smelly head also
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Don't worry about the onions - they will slow down and they will poke their green stems through the snow. They will pick up again in the spring and be ready a bit later in the year, depending on the variety. I have some that decided not to bother last year in a pot that have suddenly realised they are in a growing medium and have sprouted in the last couple of weeks - glad I didn't chuck 'em, now!!
Love, Palefire
xxx
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150 garlic bulbs, Merv? I'm keeping well up-wind of you!! We just have one for each week. So I can afford my subs too.
Glad someone else is 'selling' the HDRA. - Tim
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Planted all me onions and garlic a couple of weeks ago. When could i expect to see some growth - i am very impatient you see!!
First thing i wouldve grown, apart from a few leeks.
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well mine went in about 2 weeks ago and my shallots, couple of garlics and all my onions are poking through. I am so proud, like a new mum (mental note.....don't tell my kids that I feel that way about sprouting veggies!) Any day now - especially if they have been rained on in the last 24 hours like mine have!
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Great - its just been raining over lubberlee old South London (never thought i'd say those words, pre-allotment days)
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Tim,
I grow around 250 bulbs. This is because I don't just use them sliced/chopped or pressed. Cloves of garlic roasted with the other roast vegetables are very sweet and not "garlicy" in the conventional way.
For summer lunch at the plot, try frying some whole garlic clove, Gardener's Delight, courgette, onion, whole radish and erm, umm, anything else that takes your fancy. Fried lettuce is good and added to a soup I find it better than beet leaves or spinach. (can't resist adding Spinach or Swiss Chard to a curry tho) :)
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Where abouts in south London are you B.T. ? Just being nosey - which is me all over - I'm originally from Sutton, but bordering Morden and Wimbledon, so I guess I am more of a sawf west landaner! ;D
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Ours is in Park Hill, in East Croydon - a mere tram ride away from Wimbledon!!
Where do you buy your stuff from? - we get ours from Wyevale in Shirley.
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Hi Boxingtortoise. I used to get mine from Wyvales in Lower Morden Lane, Morden, but to be honest, I think they are SO expensive! I am an Essex bird now, only migrating south in the winter when mums roast dinners call me, and since being in Essex I have found lots of little nurseries and garden centres which are much more realistically priced. Also, thanks to the WWW I tend to shop around on-line a lot more - suprising the difference in prices. ;D
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yes, indeedy, Merv - and whole garlic bulbs - and onions in their skins - and stuff a chicken with the Garlic Farm's smoked garlic .....! - Tim
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Whole bulbs WHOLE bulbs!
See I'm rubbing shoulders with the rich kids on the block :P
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I wish I had heard Monty's words on garlic, I would have preffered garlic as one big bulb. I would have split my stock and carried out a trial ! ! !
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Hi banner.
The whole bulbs had been kept in the 'fridge for 2 weeks and then planted whole in the greenhouse. Not too late. :)
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After planting garlic last year as they grew I noticed an 'enlargement inside the stem about 2 - 3 inches up from the head/bulb, when I harvested and examined them they looked like very small garlic bulbs. any ideas? Cheers, Tony.
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I am not an expert on garlic...I plant tnem and be damned (a lot of them though)
You get that thickening in Aliums which means a small bulb whether it be onions or garlic. Must be careful to lift before the hard flower head begins to show. Just feel the green leaves and if they feel "leafy" OK, but if there seems a little Hardness get them out.
Some folk say, you should buy proper seed bulbs for planting. But at £9 for 5 bulbs that's way too expensive for me. I bought 8 bulbs for 99p at Lidl, so for 3 quid I've planted 200 odd cloves....... so what if a few are US
:)
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OK - we've all done it!
But - there are 'good' and 'less good' practices - like seed potatoes?
We all have abyssmally low standards which we constantly fail to achieve? - Tim
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Have just been reading this thread......is it too late for me to plant garlic now....I've never grown it before and not even sure what to do :-/ what exactly do you put in the ground at this time of the year....please advise and where is the best place to get some....have seen you mention The Garlic Farm.....I've only got a small amount of ground dug at the moment.......it's been under carpet until a few days ago as I've only had the lottie a few days but would love to have a go....do you think the ground will be suitable as it's not been "worked" for a very long time....if I dont do it now...will have to wait until this time next year I presume....there is only me so wont need dozens & dozens as someone says they have ; - would welcome advice please - H.P.
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- of course not!
Any time up till February - depending on type. As Merv says, you can risk s/market bulbs (although if, as is probable, they have been in cold store, they may not last through the winter) - or you can, indeed, pay more for certified ones from eg Marshalls or Simpsons or the Garlic farm etc. 3oz general fert/sqyd - dib a hole and put each clove in, covering with one inch of soil. 2oz Sulphate of Potash/sqyd in February.
Harvest when 1/10th of the foliage has yellowed. Dry on racks but NOT in full sun, as I did this year.
And Merv - I know what you're on about - quantity is often more important than quality. And price can be a ruling factor. But for those who want the other, the bigger the seed clove the better - and at 100g per bulb, 'the farm's' bulbs have a good chance of success. - Tim
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:-[ :-[ please forgive my ignorance - thanks for info Tim - but when you say S/market bulbs....do you actually mean the bulbs you buy in the veggie dept. that you eat?....sorry to be stupid about this but just not sure.... :-/ I know if you keep them long enough in your salad box in 'fridge they start to "shoot"" so suppose you do mean these.....is there anyway I can print off a particular reply/posting to save me having to hand-write this info out....i.e - that last one from you Tim with the fertiliser info in it?....sorry to ask such basic questions ::) H.P.
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Last year I bought some gigantic bulbs in a Supermarket in Greece. Planted them and harvested them with very good results.I buy most of my seeds abroad as i find they are far cheaper than here and i have good results from them.
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Like most things, BB! Nice that you get good results - theoretically, produce of the warmer bits of 'abroad' don't do so well in our clime.
HP - yes! But I would have thought a salad box was the worst place? "Dry and warm for storage".
And as to printing, please let me know if you find a way!! - Tim
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Hi HP and Tim
To print any part of posting..highlight the text, right click, copy, open your word processor software eg MS Word, click on edit drop menu, then paste, then print!!
It works for me, so hope you too have success ;D
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GOOD HEAVENS!! It's all so simple when you know how? - Tim
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Tim
It's great to reciprocate with an honorary Geordie!! ;D
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Now......Tim............how do you put pics into postings again??!!! ;D ::) ;)
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- like this! (actually, we're trying to sort it under 'Photographs'-
(http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=72264c59-1712-5ac7-52e4-6cd628425216&size=lg)
Tim
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ok clever clogs!!..... ;D hope you manage before Eric throws a mega wobbly!!! ;D
btw...at bottom of right click option is print!! quick route if you don't want to save info before printing!!!
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;)thanks everyone for all the info you've given me on here re the garlic & printing ( :-[embarrassed to say no success with that yet :-[) but takes me ages to grasp things re the computer......spent an hour or so on the lottie today.....lovely to turn it over after the rain of yesterday - other than all the roots/weeds I've got! ??? it's like coconut matting in places....just as I was leaving.....a fellow lottie holder...the one who lent me a fork last weekend turned up with these little trays....and guess what....she brought her garlic up to plant....it looked brilliant....little green shoots from all the bulbs...she'd started them in her greenhouse & was now ready to plant.....H.P.
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hi everyone, great site
also just started allotment and have put in electric, radar onions, jermon (i think) shallots and aquadulce claudia b.beans. hope it is not too late to get some garlicin - i thought i might have missed the window and would have to plant in containers, any suggestion. also, what peas are OK for planting now?
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NOT too late for garlic - see above.
Jermor are great shallots, I reckon.
HP - wonder what you gain by sprouting garlic?
MD - thanks! - Tim
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:) morning all - gather from your reply today Tim that it's not necessary to sprout them then....they can go straight into ground as they are?....I have assumed that as the neighbours were sprouted...that's how they should be?.....H.P.
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HP I still have not gotten around to planting some of mine, have to say they are I find easy to grow, just divide the heads up and bung em in! Have never bothered to sprout mine first, and they produce some great heads! DP
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I planted my first lot on Oct 16 and when I checked on them today I could see some tips pushing through the soil ;D
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I think you may find that the sprouting ones are from the s/market - like I said above, they may have been in cold store and now want to get going?
Home grown stuff should last through till the last planting time of Feb or so.
When the onions hanging in the kitchen start sprouting, I find them very useful as 'spring' onions! - Tim
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I don't know how relevant this is but garlic started to early over here can be subject to substantial damage during the winter. If store bought garlic, which, as has pointed out, may have a difference provance to native cvs., is planted too early the young growth may be damaged, setting the plant back next year, possibly killing it even. Most store bought garlic here comes from California, (the town of Gilroy, Ca. calls itself the garlic capital of the world! People from Italy, France or Indonesia would probably scoff at that?) and is completely unsuitable for our climate, not being hardy here. Just thought I would throw that in.
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I just love your Rooster Doris.
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Thank you BB, have just donated it to Palustris, so it may be strutting on his messages!! Me I am going back to my Pinks for a while!! ;D
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I have been trying to put a budgie on mine for the last hour .I'll give it another whirll tomorrow when i have spoken to one of my sons.
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:) just thought I'd mention re the sprouting garlic neighbour brought to lottie yesterday and Tim's posting No. 67.....I asked her where she'd got them from and she told me she'd ordered them from Marshalls. She'd split them and put into those little individual cell trays - whatever they're called - and had them in her greenhouse but was waiting for it to rain...which is why they'd sprouted rather more than usual.....hence her doing it yesterday......she had two varieties....says they're always successful.....as soon as I've got suitable bit of ground ready I'll put some in...H.P.
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Yes, Marshalls are excellent for everything.
Which gives me the chance to say let's be fair about costing. Yes, Merv is happy with shop garlic (sounds smashing value - what weight were they?), and he doesn't want big fat cloves in the kitchen. But if you want certified seed, and a good choice of variety, compare Marshalls price (23.5p per clove) with the Garlic Farm (15p) - I still like to give my money to the chap who grows them.
Tim
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mine came from marshalls - elephant and ivory. just popping their first little shoots out today! (i'm so proud!)
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- come harvest, we must all put our results on the gallery? Having spent £15, or whatever, sterilising their plot, I expect a good return! - Tim
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I see that you have succumbed to the gifs Tim .Very nice one too.
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i met the garlic farm people at the good food show yesterday and i told them that they are widely respected in the internet allotment gardening community!!! as welll as buying yet more garlic to plant!!! ;D