Growing Garlic

[Carrie]

Hi everyone

I am new to the site and it does say to ask the obvious  so here goes - I have just got my allotment (well half an allotment) and I want to grow garlic  (amongst loads of other things) - can I just use the bulbs that you buy in the supermarket or do I have to make a trip to the garden centre.
At the moment not much time to spare for ordering stuff because I am spending happy hours with a fine tooth comb getting rid of couch grass roots but I know I've got to get garlic in while it is still cold (although don't know why).

Thanks

[Carrie]

[DocAlgae]

Hi Carrie - I would advise getting your garlic from a garden centre (online or otherwise), as the stuff you generally get from supermarkets isn't suited for the great British weather!  It needs to have some cold weather to make it break into cloves (I think!).  Good luck with your lottie, and the wretched couch grass!

[Moggle]

Welcome Carrie  ;D

I'm no expert, but I think what the Doc says is the main reason for buying from a seed supplier or garden centre. Plus there are the risks of disease with supermarket garlic - the dreaded White Rot.

On the plus side, if you have a Wilkinsons, I'm sure they had one or 2 varieties of garlic, at a very sensible price. To be honest, wilkos are brilliant and cheap!

Moggle (satisfied wilkos customer with no other connection to them  :))

[tim]

- and browse the garlicfarm & garlicworld?

And all the past comment on garlic. = Tim

[Mrs Ava]

Yup to all the above, and yup, the cold creates the cloves, but I do believe, if you are going to be a touch late planting out your garlic, put the bulbs in the fridge for a few days so they get nicely chilled and hopefully that will do the job for you.

[Carrie]

Thanks for the advice - I'll see if the garden centre has any and stick it in the fridge until my next trip to the allotment - I've seen loads of recommendations for Wilkinsons on the site but unfortunately they don't have a branch im my part of London :'(

[djbrenton]

I'm trying three types this year.
1 Last years crop which broke cover almost immediately and is now about 8 inches high.
2 A string of chinese garlic from a corner shop. Took longer to break cover but developed really strong roots first.
3 A string from the South of France. A bit of a chancer. It's only now starting to develop good roots and only a few have broken cover.

There are three possible explanations for the difference in how they are developing. It could simply be suitability to the climate or that they had been treated in some way to inhibit sprouting. Alternatively, I'm wondering if the garlic I held from last summer, being older, was more ready to sprout. My aim is to keep from year to year so it will be good if all three produce reasonable cloves.

[Learner Gardener]

Oooops ... just found a box of garlic cloves in the boot of my car given to me by a neighbour. Some have sprouted a couple of inches.

Should I plant them in a bed (nice sandy soil) or put them in a pot and leave them outside for any cold eather.

Any suggestions .... ?

[Mrs Ava]

Get 'em planted LG.

[tim]

A couple of IN-expert thoughts.

I know the idea that garlic needs cold, but how cold for how long at what depth? Garlic is 2" down & it takes a lot of cold to get that deep.

It can happily be planted this month - see below - & we cannot guarantee significant cold. So?

I said that I would never grow it again, with our terminal white rot problem. But I just could not resist Taylor's packaging on our last centre visit. So - I gave in! Most impressed with the condition of the bulbs & the 20 cloves per bulb. Yes - only 8 really fat ones each but they'll all come to something. = Tim

[tim]

Funny? It would not let me add the rest.

'Boot bulbs' - as EJ says - don't mess around!

And these are the ones (£1.99) that will go into raised beds tomorrow. = Tim

PS Just run those cloves through your fingers & that's another reason for growing garlic?

[Carrie]

I was up at the allotment today clearing more couch grass roots(sigh) and off loading all my Lidl purchases when I decided to have a quick look at the bed where I had planted my garlic and I definitely saw shoots!!! I am so proud  ;D ;D  - the first sign of life on the lottie!!

[tim]

Interesting about s/market stuff - much of which, these days, is grown in the UK!!

[tim]

Fingers tightly crossed, everyone, please!!

We're hopefully not going to be beaten by the dreaded rot.

[Svea]

my garlic, planted 27th february, is yet to show any sign of life.

my garlic indoors, whoever, which was meant for consumption, has now got green sprouts ::)

~sigh

[tim]

Funny - ours was 3 Feb.

But your sprouts will be great!

[Hyacinth]

My garlic, from bulbs saved from last year's crop - Early Wight and Purple Wight,  went in last November and are doing great. I'm really pleased, also, with the saved bulb of elephant garlic I put in at the same time ~ all  are well through and growing now at a rate of knots. And you know those tiny bulbils you get round the base of the elephant garlic? Put those into a little patch by themselves and thin strappy leaves are showing now. Will they make little bulbs which I must then save, dry and re-plant? And will I ever get elephants from them ??? ::)

btw. Famous last words, but I'm pretty hopeful I'll not be introducing disease into the soil. However,  I've isolated all the garlic in a plot of its own.

[tim]

I think that Emma's the elephant girl??

Isolation - for this year only, of course?? Rotation!!

[Svea]

i hear garlic is one of the crops that benefits from being saved and replanted the next year - in temrs of making garlic that responds well to your local growing conditions

[BAGGY]

I didnt realise about white rot and supermarket garlic.  Do you think if it was in a pot it would be ok ?  Last years attemp at G C garlic turned to mush.