Allotments 4 All

Mine were fairly small last year, I dug them up a bit too soon to make room for potatoes...which I put in late. This year I planted them 1" deep, 4" apart and mounded up the soil first as it can get fairly wet.

I think the best time to dig up is when the leaves go brown kt. Mine were still green...hence smaller bulbs.

Tasty though ;D

plant pointy-end up!

Louise

Planted mine over the last 3 days. The deeper the better,  about 4 inches according to RHS

"Garlic cloves are planted into individual holes 10cm (4in) deep, which are then backfilled with the trowel. The cloves should not protrude from the soil surface, and are placed in the holes with their pointed tips upwards."

Mine got white rot last year and were very small (but useful and tasty, using them now) but I have another allotment 5 miles away and have just finished planting about 40 cloves hoping they will do better in virgin ground.

4 inches seems incredibly deep to me!! I have never planted them with more than an inch of soil cover, and they always do well. I reckon that they are more liable to rot if planted too deep, especially in the wet West.

the gardener that did the pot kiln garden, Hannah something said to plant them 6" deep, in order for them to clove, I'm afraid we didn't take her advice, it seemed way too deep for me, ours are just covered  ;D

I forgot to say, I put last years ones in at 4" deep, then talking to people they put theirs in at 1". Thats what Ive done this time, I will compare at harvest time ;)

I planted my elephant garlic today - about 2-3inches deep. I was plannig to put the other garlics in at about 1inch deep. I planted mine in well manured soil. I have never grown garlic before so fingers crossed  :)

mine are in about an inch and a half in but i plan on adding a mulsh to the bed next month so it will be more like 2 inches in the end. I had planted 2 bulbs of white garlic, just come back from the lotty with 2 more blubs of red garlic which i will but in in the next couple of weeks which should still allow them to get a good frost but will allow a small harvesting delay between the white garlic i planted a couple of weeks ago.

Ours went in this morning where the spuds were, but turned over and BFB'd,  before planting same depth as the bulb size, so...

our own saved elephant garlic 3-4 inches down
Solent Wight and Spanish Red 1-2 inches down

We've been advised to hoe some nitrogen in in the spring, then potash later as the bulbs form

Hmmmm well my Solent Wight went in on Saturday and the instructions from Dobies was to plant them 'just under the surface' so mine are at probably an inch deep at most....  :-\

Should I push them a bit deeper when I get home, or pile some more soil on top of them?

oh well, I seem on time - mine went in on Saturday. I tried to get them down at least a finger length so I guess they are 2 or 3 inches down.
Last year I spring planted but that was no good so I hope this year they work better :)
I planted them where the beans and peas had  been which I hope will be a nitrogen boost for them. I also forked some of our compost into the soil before planting.

This is against my teaching, but................

http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/grow-garlic/

I've heard that they hate compacted ground :)

Quote from: OllieC on October 18, 2007, 19:58:09
Did you order from Dobies Kea? Mine turned up today...

No I ordered mine from T&M.....against my better judgement based on past experience but lured in by a free postage offer. I picked them up from the parcel office today as I was visiting Bath for the weekend. However they look ok so now i can get them in the ground. After reading everyone's comments i can't decide how deep to plant!

don't worry about it, just stick your dibber in and drop the clove in (right side up), approx 2 " is fine. You'd probably be planting garlic in a bed that's just been used for brassicas so there will be some richness in the soil and it will be friable as well, no need to water now but it won't like it when it gets too warm and dry  :)

One can always ask the growers??

web@thegarlicfarm.co.uk <web@thegarlicfarm.co.uk>

Could it be that a suitable depth of planting garlic, depends on which area you are growing in? Garlic is very shallow rooted and I can see that in the south East of England, where garlic is planted on well drained ground, drought may be a problem in the spring. It might therefore make sense in such dry areas, to plant the garlic 4 inches deep, to prevent the garlic drying out too soon.
However, in wetter areas like Glasgow, I know that shallow planting of the garlic works well.

I think we're a lot more concerned about planting depth than plants are! I just dib a hole, drop the clove in, and don't worry.

Well said Robert....... :D

I've done the deed and planted mine today (I do 3" deep, 6" apart pressed quite hard into the hole if anyone is interested, works for me!)......took me longer to split the blooming cloves up than to plant them!

Pleased with my Elephant Garlic though, got some HUGE cloves from my saved bulbs, I'm planting them earlier this year, we shall see if it's an improvement.. :-\