We have bought and grown proper bulbs from suppliers for the last 2 years, but they have been expensive and rather disappointing. I prefer the pink garlic, which has been impossible to get here locally, unless you buy it to cook with from the supermarkets - hence the thought of growing it. Is it treated to prevent growing or not? DD
the bulbs I use originate from the supermarket. Each year thereafter I save the biggest bulbs for the following year
This year I have bought another bulb to supplement my stock and I am hopeful it will be as good as those I bought in the past.
Is it treated to prevent growing or not?..no, no treatment..they are just normally dormant until you put them into ground
not garlic as I hardly ever use it, but several years ago on a trip back to UK we went to Harrods Food Halls and in the vegetable hall they had fantastic looking shallots, the long ones, well I bought 3 brought them back to Ontario, shhhh don't tell customs and we kept them till following spring, planted them and waited, and waited, nothing, they just sat there. so we figured they must have been treated,,,,,,,,,
We didn't expect that from Harrods, thought, boy these should good. huhhhh, joke.
What a let down.... :'( qahtan
Yes I did, the cloves started to sprout so I planted them. They were a bit on the small side but perfectly useable.
I always grow my own now from the same stock and each year they have started to produce bigger cloves. Garlic is supposed to ward off some nasty bugs if they are grown near other crops, I think it is the smell. I can not verify that but I have never bought garlic from the shops for years and always have plenty to give away.
Yes, I did this last year, as I was fed up with paying expensive prices and getting poor results. I looked very carefully at the country of origin, (and was surprised how much of the garlic on sale comes from China) had some Italian, Spanish and some from Scotland, the Really Garlicky Garlic people, a variety called Music, found in Waitrose. ;D
Planted it all in October, and this year had my best crop ever, and of course will shortly be planting my own stock.
Go for it!
I'm glad to hear from so many people they also plant supermarket garlic - I have heard people say before that it can be susceptible to disease, because perhaps it's not bred for our climate or something.
But I've also always planted supermarket garlic. It's so expensive when you look at garlic in the gardening catalogues!! :o
Quote from: qahtan on September 21, 2010, 18:01:03
not garlic as I hardly ever use it, but several years ago on a trip back to UK we went to Harrods Food Halls and in the vegetable hall they had fantastic looking shallots, the long ones, well I bought 3 brought them back to Ontario, shhhh don't tell customs and we kept them till following spring, planted them and waited, and waited, nothing, they just sat there. so we figured they must have been treated,,,,,,,,,
We didn't expect that from Harrods, thought, boy these should good. huhhhh, joke.
What a let down.... :'( qahtan
If those shallots had started to grow they would have only gone to seed.Its like trying to save an onion from this years crop and doing the same,it doesnt work.You actually need onion and shallot sets to get any result
Really? I thought that's what you did with shallots - you keep back some good ones, to replant the next spring, and that's where they come from? I've done that in the past. Although normally I am silly and just eat them all ::)
I have always bought my garlic from the supermarket with good results for years.
People in the seed trade have to make profit but there are some better ways than paying their prices. ;D
Buying seeds from shops is a very recent idea. In the past, seeds and 'sets' were gathered and kept for the following season.
Of course there is a problem if diseases occur, they will be passed on to the following season. However, one can also introduce diseases from purchased stock.
I am getting to the point where I am convinced that the fears about disease are a marketing ploy to get us to buy expensive seeds and plants which we could just as easily and far more cheaply reproduce from our own stock. Or from supermarket purchases, intended for use in the kitchen.
After a few years of testing I can honestly state that from my limited and not entirely scientific testing I can find no reason at all not to plant kept sets, seeds etc.
We (in the UK) all get failures as well as successes each year, most are due to the climatic irregularities we endure in these islands. So that one years success is a failure the following year and visa versa. Often we just don't realise that that damp few days at a crucial growing time. Or something as simple as the place the produce was grown has made a huge difference.
Thankfully we are not entirely dependant for food on what we grow, so we can just clean up one year and try again the next.
Havent tried supermarket, but I planted some from an organic health food shop which had big cloves and was starting to sprout.
A year later it was about 3" high and the bulb the same size as when it was planted. Possibly just the wrong type, but I wouldnt risk it again as the garlic from the garden centre grew really well!
QuoteYou actually need onion and shallot sets to get any result
I'm not sure that is strictly true Fork but I think I see where you are.
Plant an onion, it will bolt as you say but it will produce 'pips' and it is these that the top breeders/growers use to supplement or renew their stock.
I don't agree with your statement on shallots.
I always save a few
selected shallots each year to use the following season.
I find this is essential with show varieties such as Hative noir as they are so expensive and you are not forced to get a winner in your first couple of years if you buy annualy.
I took things a stage further in 2009 when I grew the variety named 'Prisma' from seed. I produced a bit of a mixed bunch but as normal I selected the best for 2010 and I got a more uniform crop.
Hopefully 2011 will be better.
I don't think it will ever be a showbench candidate but it is quite large which is good when it comes to peeling them, those little one are a right pain to peel.
They are lovely roasted as the outer layer can burn a little but their is still plenty inside to enjoy. So to my mind it is a good culinary variety.
Incidently it is a reddish shallot which looks nice alongside my Yorkshire pud.
In fact it would make quite a meal with three or four of them swimming in a pool of beef gravy in a plate sized yorkshire