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Gary350
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Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

Garlic & Onion Experiment so far so good.

I read online information about commercial garlic & onion growers in Texas where it gets 110 degrees in summer. They put there garlic and onion bulbs in the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 months when they finally decide to plant the bulbs the bulbs think it is spring time even if it is not spring time. Bulbs in the refrigerator need be 50 degrees or less but NOT in the freezer.

I put my garlic in the refrigerator about 1st of August. Oct 7th I decided to plant some test garlic. First 3 feet in the garlic bed is garlic that was not in the refrigerator. Next 3 feet are garlic that had been in the refrigerator 2 months. The main reason I planted these garlic on the 5th was because it was suppose to rain and it did. Today Oct 15 I notice the garlic that was not in the refrigerator did not grow yet. The garlic that was in the refrigerator all came up it is 4" to 5" tall. Looks to me like the refrigerator did the trick garlic too off growing very quick. This is a very interesting discovery. I still have about 100 garlic cloves in the refrigerator I am planning to plant Nov 1st. I will compare what all 3 garlic sections do when they are harvested in spring.

Onion growers do the same thing with onions keep them in the refrigerator soon as they are planted the bulbs think is is spring whether it is or not, bulbs take off growing full speed ahead. This year soon as onion sets are available at the garden store I will keep 300 bulbs in the refrigerator until the day to be planted.

This spring I bought 3 bags of onion sets. 1 bag got planted soon as I got home. Another bag was planted 1 month later. The last bag was planted late about 3 week of May. Sky is always Gray, dark, very over cast, lots of rain, March, April, and most of May. The 3rd onions crop I planted in May when over cast sky was gone full sun finally came out onions did best. Go figure? Did the 3rd crop grow best because weather finally warmed up in the 70s and sun can out? We had a cold spring it seemed like summer was never going to come. Just by chance the 3rd onion crop was under a shade tree after lunch every day.

Texas onion and garlic growers claim long day and short day bulbs have nothing to do with growing onions, it has to do with how hot it gets. When temperatures get above 80 bulbs bolt. If your plants get morning sun cool part of the day then full shade after lunch shade will keep the bulbs from getting hot in the sun even if the temperature is below 80 so they do not bolt. Outside temperature can be 70 onions in full sun can be 90 degrees. I have my garlic and onion beds under a tree on the east side so they get morning sun and shade after lunch. Next spring soon as mud dries up and weather gets warm I will remove onion bulbs from the refrigerator and plant them.

I have wooden frames they look like raised beds all this does is keep the soil level 4" higher than the garden when spring rains come and garden is under water for 3 months the onions will be up high enough to not be in the swamp. If the wooden frames hold water like a bath tub they will need to be removed to drain the water.

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imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Looking good. I have had my garlic chilling in the refrigerator for a couple of months and finally planted them today. I was a little late, the ideal date is October 25th. I hope it does not mess it up. This time I am planting them in a pot in my yard since I don't have good luck with root crops in the ground. I have too much nitrogen in the soil and they just make tops and very little or no bulbs.

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jal_ut
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Location: Northern Utah Zone 5

Can't say about planting onions in Tn or Texas. Here in high dry Northern Utah we plant garlic in the fall and onion sets or seed in the spring. The garlic will overwinter in the ground and grow come spring. Onions will freeze if planted in the fall, so we plant them in the spring. Have fun!

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Gary350
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Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

imafan26 wrote:Looking good. I have had my garlic chilling in the refrigerator for a couple of months and finally planted them today. I was a little late, the ideal date is October 25th. I hope it does not mess it up. This time I am planting them in a pot in my yard since I don't have good luck with root crops in the ground. I have too much nitrogen in the soil and they just make tops and very little or no bulbs.
Hot weather causes tops. Keep your pots in the shade, north side of the house or under a shade tree. Direct sunlight causes the plants to be 20 degrees hotter than the air temperature. Cool early morning sun is ok but no sun the hot part of the day.

I have about 300 garlic plants under a large shade tree they get early morning sun when the tree has leaves. Garlic will get a lot of sun all winter but when spring comes and temperature rises I want my garlic to have all the shade it can get. May day temperature will be 75 to 80 but direct sunlight plants will be 100 degrees that makes them go to seed but garlic should be ready to harvest by then. These planting boxes hold about 3" of soil just enough to keep plants up out of the spring mud. If the boxes fill up with water like a swimming pool I will need to make a drain holes.

Planter boxes on the left will be onions about 2nd week of March.

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