Help with garlic

[sarah2210]

We received our seeds today, including garlic which they put in a plastic bag without instructions. :(

Can anyone help by telling us newbies how and when we plant garlic?

Thanks  ;D

Sarah

[sarah2210]

[STEVEPARTRIDGE]

Hi Sarah2210, if your soil is light and free draining and it is not frozen then you can still plant your Garlic now, however if your soil is heavy then you should wait until about March before you plant it as it may well rot in the cold damp ground before then. If you have to store them I would transfer them to a paper bag in a dry, cool but frost free place. When it comes to planting them they should be planted 2" deep and 6/8" apart with 12" between the rows. You may not see any signs of them shooting for several weeks as they concentrate on producing a good root system first before they start to shoot, when planting ensure that the pointed end is uppermost with the usually flatter end where the roots shoot from pointing downwards, I hope this helps you and good luck, regards Steve.

http://www.myallotments.com

[sarah2210]

Thanks for that Steve. I have one more (probably stupid) question. Do we plant the individual cloves or the bulb as a whole?  ???

Sarah

[STEVEPARTRIDGE]

Hi Sarah, you plant the individual cloves, sorry I should have mentioned that before, regards Steve.

[sarah2210]

Thanks again Steve. I should have guessed that really!  :-[

Sarah

[delboy]

A good tip I picked up here last year was to ridge up the soil and plant the cloves in the ridges.

My plot gets waterlogged, but this trick produced a bumper harvest.

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you can't plant it direct an alternative is to grow it on in pots. That way it gets a chance to develop its root system over the winter, and if you plant it too late it won't clove and you'll get a single big bulb. It needs the cold weather.

[Curryandchips]

I left some of this years harvest lying on a bench on my garden, to find they have now got green shoots about an inch long, so I will plant up a row of about 30 cloves, nothing to lose.

[Daisy_Jane]

My shed window was blown out maybe a week ago and I didn't notice until yesterday when I went to the allotement to belatedly sow the garlic.... everything in the shed was wet through, including the garlic bulbs. So I've planted some Solent Wight and will have to put everything else in pots because the ground was jut a bit too wet to be confident of it not rotting :( Some of the Solent Wight had to be discarded because it had got too wet in the shed and turned brown  :( This after I'd bought it from the suppliers while we were on holiday ...........

Moral of this story, don't buy a cheap shed!