Allotments 4 All

i have been growing garlic for the past few yearsand have up to now been able to rotate my crop round the veg plot but now i want to increase my production and therefore i would lile to know if i can grow garlic on the same patch of ground this year as i did last year
any replies on the pros and cons would be appreciated
cheers

NO WAY!!

The Allium rotation is the most vital of all - like 9 years!!

I've been growing onions in the same bed for the last 10 years .

As long as you don't get any diseases in the previous years then this is fine,lots of exhibition onion growers do this to get an increasingly fertile bed year upon year.

I can't see why garlic would be any different but like I say only if you don't get any diseases in the preceeding years.

well thanks both of you for the replies
still no nearer to making my mind up
but the idea of growing on in non diseased ground is appealing
if there are any more thoughts i would love to hear them
cheers

I'm with Vegmandan although I can appreciate Tims reasons.

The problem with allium diseases is that they persist in the soil for years.  Also, if you don't sterilize your tools after digging diseased ground, it is probable that you will spread the disease around your plot rendering it all unusable.

To avoid this hassle, you should be absolutely sure that the bed has remained disease free at the  end of each crop.

I've read the books, understand the logic, but..... :-[.....my Egyptian Walking Onions are in a permanent bed (they don't "walk" very far ::)) and, tho I tryto vary the garlic bed from year to year, because I grow in my garden the 'rotation' is only on a (token?) 2-yearly cycle from one patch to another then back again. Makes me wonder what professional garlic growers do? Interesting question, Vegman...

I wouldn't dare. Every year I get a few bulbs with white rot. If I kept growing them in the same place, it would soon be riddled with the fungus.

I won't have a problem with growing them in the same place cos I will grow mine where my broad beans have been growing. I have a book by Lovell (he was a showman) he says to dig out the onion bed and put the broad bean haulms in the trench and a handful of bonemeal and then some well rotted manure. If I do this every year then I will be rotating. Did it last year for the autumn sown onions and they do look good. Haven't grown any spring sown cos of the problems I had last year with the fly.

ok daft question on the way......

Where do you buy Garlic to grow? are they seeds or bulb type things, i've got garlic bought from supermarket can you plant that and when do you plant it? Can't wait for my new book to turn up then i can stop asking all these silly questions  :-[

jordsbabe
questions are not stupid
you plant individual cloves of garlic and get bulbs if all goes well
i got mine from I.O.W. garlic farm
oh and i think the people on here are better than any book
lbb

You buy the garlic from the garden centre,break it up into cloves and plant each clove individually.Garlic can be planted in the spring or Autumn I think,must check that.

Perceived wisdom is that it's best to buy the bulbs from certified stock (ie The Garlic Farm) to minimize the risk of importing disease.....but I've been growing from shop-bought stuff on and off over the years - only precaution I've taken has been to plant them in pots, rather than directly into the soil.

I prefer planting in the autumn - late Oct/Nov......not only because the garlic gets that cold spell to clove up, but also because it's a job out of the way.

i tried garden centre garlic several times, and it was all crap. If your local GC sells big garlic bulbs for planting, give it a go, but little ones will only produce mini bulbs. Otherwise go to the Garlic Farm, or give supermarket garlic a go. Plenty of people on here have used it successfully.

Of course - I meant 9 years clear after an infection!

But long rotation is used by growers - with good reason, presumably?

thanks to all cotributors
i`m still not covinced either way but i will bite the bullet and use some of the ground i used for garlic last year and rotate the other beds so that in effect i will use the bed for two years and then move on so i can in essence rotate my garlic
once again big thanks
cheers
gowdin

I got mine from Marshalls seeds. They are from the Garlic Farm

The Garlic Farm is exhibiting at Hampton Court Flower Show this coming week.
We were fortunate enough to have a BBC film crew visit the farm recently in connection with this event.
If time permits, why not tune in to BBC2, Monday 7th July @ 7pm to see The Garlic Farm at work.


For & on behalf of Colin Boswel

Let's get the rotation right - from the horse's mouth!

Quote "Garlic requires a long rotation of more than six years to prevent the build up of diseases such as white rot, and nematode pests such as eelworm. The land is ploughed, cultivated and fertilised according to the needs of the crop and the chosen fields for the year. "

Clear??

Whilst I more than appreciate the need to rotate any crop, the length of time a crop needs in the ground can be a problem. Garlic, if planted in autumn (which is the ideal for the best crop) will be in the ground a good 9 months (harvest july). You need to plan your crops carefully to work around them.

I used to have a seperate bed for my garlic, but in recent years have incorporated them into my rotation with other alliums (onions and leeks). Since doing this it has occasionaly caused problems fitting in other crops around them. particuarly this year when they ended up in one end of a bed I wanted to grow my tender beans in. I was forced to split the beans across 2 half bed instead of one single one. Not Ideal but it seems to have worked OK. I still beleive in rotating garlic, particularly in the last couple of years when rust on the plants has been a problem, caused no doubt by the warm damp weather.

For next years crop I plan to grow my garlic seperately from the main veg beds, so that they do not interfere too much with the crop rotations. They will of course go somewhere different again the following year... ;D