Planting Garlic

[jal_ut]

Yesterday I bought 2 bulbs of soft-neck garlic at the supermarket. I came home and planted them even though there was 2 inches of snow on the garden. I just pushed the cloves into the mud. We will see how they do. I have been wanting to try some hardneck, but can't find any.

[rainbowgardener]

You are an intrepid gardener! Out in the snow still planting! I love it. You are an inspiration; I will have to try it (minus the snow of course, which likely won't come here til Jan, though we will have temps down near freezing at Thanksgiving.)

[soil]

just plant and mulch and youll have garlic before you know it! i planted another 100 two days ago and got another 175 to plant today.

[pepper4]

Just out of curiousity, what is the diference between soft and hard neck garlic ?

[applestar]

You got me doing it, too. Went out and planted several handfuls of garlic cloves and Egyption onion topsets around and between my espalier fruit trees, under the leaf mulch.

[hendi_alex]

From growing some of both last year, the difference is pretty obvious. Soft neck stem is soft, hard neck stem is hard, after curing. The only importance of the difference, that I know, is that the soft necks tend to store longer than hard necks do.

[jal_ut]

Soft neck garlic is the type most often found in supermarkets. The leaves are supple and can be braided. I am sure you have probably seen braids of garlic before?

On the hardneck, there is a stem (scape) that comes up from the circle of cloves and it is actually stiff and hard. No braiding these. On the top of this neck or scape a number of bulbils form and you can plant these to propagate the garlic. Some say this type is most flavorful.

I have been planting a variety of elephant garlic for years. I planted a bunch of that over a month ago. The roots and leaves begin to grow through winter under the snow, and in the spring it will be up when the snow melts.


Bloom of elephant garlic.
These are nice just for show.

[jal_ut]

Here is another pic of elephant garlic in bloom.

[gixxerific]

Snow gardening I like it.

I planted garlic a few weeks ago and am hoping for the best.

Aren't you suppose to cut the scapes off to help the bulb form?

[jal_ut]

Aren't you suppose to cut the scapes off to help the bulb form?

I tried that on half of my elephant garlic this year. The conclusion was: It didn't help any. The only thing it seemed to change is, the ones I trimmed dried up sooner. I could not see any significant difference in the size of the bulbs.

So, from now on, I will just let them bloom. They are pretty. The bees like them. What's not to like?


Elephant Garlic

[hendi_alex]

Elephant garlic is not a true garlic, though culture, harvest, storing, and use are all similar. Here is what thegarlicstore.com says about cutting the scapes.

"Incidentally, many people wonder if the scapes should be cut in order to increase bulb size? For elephants the answer is definitely yes. For hardnecks, yes appears to be the correct answer also, although some varieties seem less affected by leaving the scape attached. Cut them generally just before the scape has fully extended (or the coils in the Rocamboles have started uncurling). When still young, the scapes are considered good eating by some."

http://thegarlicstore.com/ZenCart/index ... 6e18hvmf84

Here is what wikipedia says about the very mild flavored elephant 'garlic'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_garlic

[pharmerphil]

I am going with Jal_Ut on this, I raised hardneck and softneck this last season, I trimmed half the scapes on each type, seen no difference in bulb size or quality...Now I don't know if it will make a difference in storage time

[TZ -OH6]

Hardneck garlics tend to have a more or less a single row of very large cloves around the inner stem so you do not have to mess around with peeling all those little bitty inner cloves. They don't store as long as some of the soft necks, but I tend to gorge on roasted garlic from the garden so it is mostly gone in a few months any way, and I can dry the rest for cooking. They come in many different flavors/intensities, as do the specialty softnecks. Grocery store garlic is pretty cheap so it is probably more worthwile to grow specialty garlics with flavors you really like than to try to grow a years worth of long keeping garlic. I also question the ability of home gardeners to store vegetables as long as commercial sources. It is just too difficult to reproduce the right conditions.

You can get alot of interesting information by looking up sites that sell garlic. They will probably all be sold out by now but the imoprmation is still there. There are also a couple of interesting articles posted on Dave's Garden. I think one is titled something like "growing hardneck garlic in northern areas." Wikipedia also has a good article on garlic.


You do not have to rush to plant garlic before it freezes this time of year because it is so late. If you get it in as soon as the ground thaws in early spring you will be OK. You either want to get it planted early enough in the fall to allow some root growth before freezing so frost heaving doesn't push it out of the ground, or get the garlic in the ground asap after thawing so that the plant can grow large while it is still cold. Warm weather causes maturation without good clove formation. Around here the garden centers don't stock planting garlic until late winter/early spring.

[gixxerific]

I hope my garlic comes up and is at least half way decent. It is form the grocery store. Have no idea if its this or that.

[stella1751]

You've all got me thinking about planting garlic. I've never tried garlic before, but recently my niece told me she and her husband eat pickled garlic, of all things.

I've got a bunch left over from canning. They've been in the fridge, though, for about a month. If the ground is soft enough to turn, could I just shove these into a bed? If so, how deep do you plant them? Is is pointy side or rounded side up? How far apart?

I think they would be really pretty in my teeny tiny front bed, which is roughly 3.5' by 6.5'. Is it too late? Should I just chuck these old ones and wait for spring?

[jal_ut]

stella1751, yes you can plant those now. I put the pointy side up and deep enough to have about one inch of soil over the top of the clove.

Woo, hoo! Gurney's had hardneck garlic so I ordered some. If they actually get here, I will be planting in the snow again. We got another 3 inches of snow yesterday.

Have a great Thanksgiving Day!

[wolfie]

if we plant it now, how long does it take to grow? when will we be picking it??? thanks!

[jal_ut]

In my climate, it will be ready in August. That may vary some depending on variety and climate.

[gixxerific]

It's getting late Stella and Wolfie so get out there and do it this weekend or next.
Just an inch or 2 deep pointy side up and mulch heavily with leaves or straw.

You wouldn't happen to have any leaves laying around would you Stella?

[stella1751]

It's getting late Stella and Wolfie so get out there and do it this weekend or next.
Just an inch or 2 deep pointy side up and mulch heavily with leaves or straw.

You wouldn't happen to have any leaves laying around would you Stella?

Got no leaves, Gix, but I know where I can go to get some. Let me know the next time you plan to take the family out for dinner

How far apart do I plant them?

[Duh_Vinci]

Thanks for the thread, always wanted to plant some!

I'm late as always, so every place I knew were sold out, so thank you jal_ut for the link to HenfyFields, just ordered few vareities to try for the first time!!! Very excited!!!

Regards,
D

[applestar]

The author of the companion planting book Carrots Love Tomatoes has a 2nd book called Roses Love Garlic. So last year, I interplanted garlic where I intended to grow a distant cousin to roses: strawberries. That worked out pretty well this summer. This fall, I've been planting them around another distant cousin: apple trees... as well as other fruit trees. The strawberry plants have spread so much that I'm not sure if I have room for garlic among *them* any more.... Maybe I can find some room in the back of the strawberry beds.

[stella1751]

Gix, you were right. It's too late to plant them up here. My soil has already begun to freeze. I managed to pound out a small section for them at the end of the bed nearest the sidewalk. I planted them anyway, 'cause they'll just wind up on the compost bin if I don't get rid of them now. It'll be interesting to see whether they come up.

I told my niece I had planted some so I could make her pickled garlic next year. She said the people at her farmer's market use only a certain kind for pickling. They told her that the store-bought kind was too soft for pickling. Based on the reading I've done here, I suspect she means the soft-neck can't be pickled. Odds are high these are soft-neck.

Next spring I'll buy the hardneck and try them. It's a fun experiment, anyway, and garlic will be so pretty, growing along the street!

[wolfie]

I don't think I can plant any cuz I don't have any room to plant something that won't be done until next august.... my space is limited, unless I plant them in somewhat shade in the front yard, will that work?

[gixxerific]

The author of the companion planting book Carrots Love Tomatoes has a 2nd book called Roses Love Garlic. So last year, I interplanted garlic where I intended to grow a distant cousin to roses: strawberries. That worked out pretty well this summer. This fall, I've been planting them around another distant cousin: apple trees... as well as other fruit trees. The strawberry plants have spread so much that I'm not sure if I have room for garlic among *them* any more.... Maybe I can find some room in the back of the strawberry beds.

Roses do love garlic also chopped up onion in the soil. Most everything loves garlic it is a natural pesticide or at least a pest repellent. I have been researching companion planting with a write up coming soon.

Stella not sure if the garlic will grow or not but your like me I believe so you will never know if you don't try. Don't forget to mulch that area at least before the spring thaw. The freeze thaw cycle can rip off the roots and kill the garlic.

[kgall]

Stella...I planted my garlic after keeping it in the fridge a while....pointy side up. It is already coming up!
Go for it!

[jal_ut]

Well, I ordered garlic from Gurney's but they didn't ship it. It is back ordered and no indication when it will come. I guess I am playing a waiting game.

[tedln]

I really wasn't aware Elephant garlic is not a true garlic. I planted a lot of it this fall for harvest in 2010. The leaves are already more than 24" tall. I've always enjoyed cooking with garlic but have been frustrated in the past with elephant garlic from the grocery store because it simply didn't seem to impart much flavor into dishes. I typically would simply add more garlic hoping for more flavor. I finally decided to try growing my own with hopes of improving the flavor intensity. I may be wasting my time growing elephant garlic if I am wanting a robust garlic flavor. I think I still have enough winter left to plant a few bulbs of a different variety.


Ted

[Born Again Gardener]

Here is another pic of elephant garlic in bloom.

This pic has inspired me. Thanks. I would like a bed of Elephant garlic one day.

Have a look at the 'This Month in the Garden' section of my blog.

[Ermintrude]

don't think I can plant any cuz I don't have any room to plant something that won't be done until next august

I find Garlic does not take up much space. I put to down the sides of beds or leave spaces between rows of it and plant carrots between.

There is a saying here that you plant it on the shortest day and harvest on the longest day, so I'm hoping to have it out in June.

Might put a few round the small apple trees, to see how the get one.

I am also planning some in my grid section, they have rather interesting leaf shapes.

[hendi_alex]

Here in S.C. my dozen or so varieties of both hardnecks and softnects were ready to pull between late May and Mid June. Now in Mid December much of the garlic is past its prime, some is sprouting. May get suckered into putting some excess in the ground as a home for those sprouting cloves.

I also plant greens, radishes, carrots between rows.

[jal_ut]

hendi_alex,

We live in two different worlds as far as gardening goes. Here we are sitting at zero degrees F this morning and there is 8 inches of snow on my garden. I suppose the garlic may be growing roots under the snow, but it will be a while before it gets sunlight.

It is not all bad though, there are no insects.

Have a great day!