Ovewinter Garlic

[muddylou]

I've had the plot ten months now but didn't plant anything over the winter months as I was too busy clearing it up.
      Our Lottie shop sells onion sets to plant, so no worries there. I've kept the best of my shallots (spring planted), I read that small shallots produce larger shallots and vice-versa, so hopefully they are sorted as well.
       My question is, which variety of garlic would anyone recommend to grow overwinter and where should I order it ? I'm more interested in dependability rather than huge bulbs as my spring planted stuff was disappointing.

Thanks. 

[muddylou]

[Robert_Brenchley]

Any garlic you like. It's always best planted around October, though some types can be put in as late as March.

[djbrenton]

Just one point. Don't buy garlic from the supermarket to grow on. It's often from such a different climate that it doesn't grow well here. I started out with some Marco a number of years ago and saving year to year it seems to get better. ( see avatar)

In answer to the question I get asked every year  ;D

http://www.bloomingfieldsfarm.com/garbrdhow.html

[Deb P]

Another vote for Marco, I also saved my own to grow on and had even better crops.

[Eristic]

I've got nothing but praise for supermarket garlic and have no problems with it. Buy the best loose with clean intact skins and only plant the largest cloves. It will cost less than a pound.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Quite a few people say that. I know we always hear dire warnings, but is there anyone who's actually had problems?

[terrier]

No problems here. I planted supermarket bought garlic and I've just harvested the last of them, not huge, but adequate.

[Eristic]

If you go to the market and buy cheap seconds then there may be a problem, but if you select large healthy heads with nice clean undamaged papery skins from a store with good turnover, they are no more likely to be diseased than specialized seed stock.

There is also only the seed suppliers word for it that they grew them and not bought in from the market.

Once you have a nice harvest, save your own cloves for replanting and you should be able to select better and better cloves each year.

[GodfreyRob]

If you did want to get named varieties there is:

http://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/

You can buy in bulk off them and end up with bulbs about 80p each. Buying in small quantaties is much too expense.

This year all my garlic was hit by rust and had to be pulled early :'(
I had been saving it from previous years but now I have to renew - so our local gardening group is buying a mix of 5Kg to share out.

[Robert_Brenchley]

There's no need to buy new planting garlic because of rust. I had foliage killed by rust two years ago. I planted the best cloves, and had no rust at all last year.

[non-stick]

I've grown supermarket garlic in the past without issue. Tried Marco for last two seasons and it's been rubbish whereas the thermidor planted at the same time did very well

[elvis2003]

There's no need to buy new planting garlic because of rust. I had foliage killed by rust two years ago. I planted the best cloves, and had no rust at all last year.

even if the bulbs are tiny  robert? i pulled all ours when i noticed the rust,should i have left them in? i panicked when i saw the rust had also attacked the leeks?

[GodfreyRob]

There's no need to buy new planting garlic because of rust. I had foliage killed by rust two years ago. I planted the best cloves, and had no rust at all last year.

even if the bulbs are tiny  robert? i pulled all ours when i noticed the rust,should i have left them in? i panicked when i saw the rust had also attacked the leeks?

I pulled all mine up too and they are quite small. Won't the rust be carried over on the bulbs if I use them again?

[Robert_Brenchley]

Since it's a foliage disease, it doesn't affect the bulbs. Two years ago my garlic had it so badly the tops died off completely. The bulbs were a little smaller than usual, but perfectly usable.