Garlic: DO IT NOW or forever hold your peace!!!!

[gixxerific]

I posted a while back about how I waited too long last year to get good garlic and everyone was sold out. Well it is the first of Sep today and I finally ordered. But in my searching around today I have noticed that a lot of people are out of certain types, in fact [url=https://www.wegrowgarlic.com/]WeGrowGarlic.Com[/url] which I wanted to go for is totally sold out of everything.

Now don't forget as stated in my other thread that you can get garlic from the grocery store or local farmer's market. Thing is I wanted to get certain variety's that I would be hard pressed to find locally, but you never know. I still plan to get some local garlic as well.

But even at that I hear that selection get's slim around this time so do what you got to do and go get that garlic before it's all gone.

Just a friendly reminder from your friend.

P.S. I ended up getting Music and Chesnok Red from [url=https://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/index.htm]Gourmet Garlic Gardens[/url]. Which is basically an online farmers market with several growers they hook you up with. I got mine directly from [url=https://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/oneofakind.html]One Of A Kind Farms[/url]. I'm hoping for the best this was one of the cheapest routes I found.

Again good luck to everyone on their search. Like I said I messed up last year and waited too long.

Dono

[rainbowgardener]

I have fresh garlic from local CSA farm. Can I just plant the cloves? Should I take the paper coat off them first or leave it on?

[gixxerific]

Yes! Take the paper off and plant with the pointy side up. You can tell by looking at the bulb how the orientation should be. Plant about 2 inches deep, 6 inches or so apart, in good soil obviously you know that though. There is a plethora of info on the web about garlic. I think it goes Tom's #1 Onions #2 Garlic #3 for info availability.

For me (Zone 5B) I should plant in mid to late (or better both) Oct.

I just saw a site that said not to clean them up, although most people will tell you clean of the paper as that may lead to rotting.

The idea is to let them just barely get started before the freeze, maybe a few inches above the soil than they will fall back and begin again next spring when they know it's time. Don't forget to mulch heavily to prevent the freeze thaw cycle which could interrupt root growth.

Look at me I'm helping RBG I feel lucky maybe I should go to the boat.

[Hispoptart]

I have some garlic I got from the store that is growing the shoots are about 2-3 inches, should I stick them in the ground now, and if so do you separate them or plant the whole garlic.?

[sheeshshe]

I plan on getting some this week at the local farm. they sent out a newsletter and it said that they have seed garlic available to get in mid october. I just need to get there soon! I don't recalll the variety...

[farmerlon]

I usually just plant some cloves from Garlic that I harvested (from my garden) earlier this year.

[Ozark Lady]

I have lots of spring garlic, that I knew wouldn't go to bulb. And now it is time to start cleaning the garlic and get it and spring bulbs of flowers ready for going back into the ground.

It has rained off and on all day... so now.. there is water in the soil, in a few days, I will be able to move aside the mulch and dead plants and just put the garlic in. I know that it is early, but our nights will be in the cooler ranges, so it will be fine.

In zone 6B I find that I don't even need to mulch it... plant it and forget it.

I only clean it enough to get the cloves separated. I leave the peels on.

My planting window is September, October, or even November... any will work for me.

[gixxerific]

I have some garlic I got from the store that is growing the shoots are about 2-3 inches, should I stick them in the ground now, and if so do you separate them or plant the whole garlic.?

You need to separate the cloves don't plant the whole bulb. The recommended planting time for colder regions is fall, 4 to 6 weeks before the first frost date.

[Hispoptart]

Well I guess I best get it in then, may be to late though, we only have about 2-3 weeks left before our first frost. Thats if we are lucky.

[Ozark Lady]

Frost isn't so terribly bad. what you are aiming for is underground growth, of the roots, and for it to be poised to jump up in spring and get a nice early start.

Just try your very best to get it into the ground before a hard freeze makes it impossible to get into the ground.

My ground rarely freezes so hard that I can't dig, and even then, it seldom stays frozen all winter, so I have to watch for heaving.

You just won't believe how early garlic can be, so get it planted and ready to pick its day to pop up!

[jal_ut]

Right after the first frost is a good time to plant garlic here. That is usually Mid September. It does need to be mulched here to prevent winter kill. I usually plant in October.

Plant the large cloves and eat the small ones. Only the large cloves make a big multi-cloved bulb. The small ones will make a round. Of course it will be bigger than what you planted, and can be eaten, but you just get one for one. These rounds are best replanted to go for a big bulb the next year.

[applestar]

The recommended planting time for colder regions is fall, 4 to 6 weeks before the first frost date.

I agree with jal_ut -- translating to mid~late Oct for me.... I think you mean HARD FREEZE, gixx.

[brewski]

Can you grow garlic in pots???I am not allowed to plant in my garden for 50 years so I am slightly restricted...

[LindsayArthurRTR]

Why's that, brewski?

Still way too early for garlic and other spring bulbs here got anothe month, maybe two!

[Ozark Lady]

Brewski, why aren't you allowed to plant in your garden for 50 years?

Wow, that is a long time to not use a garden!

[garden5]

Thanks for the tip-off, Gix .

Forget about Lowes, Walmart, and HD....they've sent theirs back to the suppliers at least a month ago . The big-box guys don't always get their planting dates right .

I'm interested that you recommend that garlic be planted 4 to 6 weeks before frost. Around here, first frost is middle of Oct. and it's recommended that the garlic be planted about second week of Oct. .

[gixxerific]

The recommended planting time for colder regions is fall, 4 to 6 weeks before the first frost date.

I agree with jal_ut -- translating to mid~late Oct for me.... I think you mean HARD FREEZE, gixx.

Yeah sorry about that. I got that from [url=https://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4DMG/VegFruit/garlic.htm]here[/url] this morning. it was early and I was on my way out the door for work so I was rushed. I was reading the thread than Hispoptart's comment about frost came to me and I thought why would she do that. Than it all started making sense. Sorry about that.

Around here October is good possibly Nov but I think that is stretching it.

[gixxerific]

About the mulching, James said he has to prevent winterkill that may be so in Col as well if it gets very cold there. For my area the main reason to mulch, from what I understand is to prote3ct from the freeze thaw cycles in late winter. Where the ground freezes than thaws than freezes which can separate the roots from the bulb with all that heaving.

And yes G5 I don't trust the big box stores one bit. You really have to know what you are doing there. They will have stuff there so out of season it isn't even funny, knowing that someone will buy it.

[Hispoptart]

Since James and I live in about the same climate I will wait a bit to put it in, need to pull out some weeds and till the area I plan to put it in anyhow.

[rainbowgardener]

Hispo - I'm just curious. If you are going to pull the weeds and then just pop garlic cloves in, why do you need to till?

[Hispoptart]

Hispo - I'm just curious. If you are going to pull the weeds and then just pop garlic cloves in, why do you need to till?

Some of the weeds are really big like the size of small trees. So I am going to pull them and add some grass clippings then till it all in.

[garden5]

Gix, I have one for you: Lowe's is selling lemon and lime tree starts...in late-Aug....in zone 5 Yes, I know that you can get away with it if you have a green-house, but I don't think that there are that many folks around here who do who are looking for citrus trees to justify filling sales space with them. They probably are types not even suitable for container growing, anyway .

[brewski]

Why's that, brewski?

Still way too early for garlic and other spring bulbs here got anothe month, maybe two!

My house is built on an old power station site and apparently it is stated on the deeds of the house???

So don't want to risk it....

[rainbowgardener]

done! planted garlic!

[gixxerific]

done! planted garlic!

Well there you go I got someone to join me.

Not sure but isn't it early for garlic. I'm still somewhat new to garlic and learning but for me I believe it is mid Oct. Not really sure how different OH is from MO.

Just checking RBG.

[rainbowgardener]

I've not grown garlic before, but I'm down to theoretically maybe 4-5 weeks from first frost (hard to believe since it was 93 degrees a couple days ago, maybe it will be later this year). See what happens!

[AkeenGardener]

Garlic does need to be planted before the frosts. It is said to improve the flavour and it does need a long growing season.

Personally I have used the "offspring" from the year before, having started off buying some organic garlic from a supplier. I used that for around 4 years,keeping a few of the globes each year, breaking them up into the cloves and planting them. I felt that the flavour started to disappear after the third year, so now I buy a fresh supply every third year and start the process again.

Its a lot cheaper this way-free garlic for a couple of years...

[garden5]

Akeen, how long before the frost do you recommend to plant the garlic?

[sheeshshe]

OK, I just got my seed garlic from the local farm. they plant their mid to late october. we get first frost sometime in sept. so....? lots of different information here. I hope I succeed well with these.

[hit or miss]

All right! I scored some wild garlic today and am planning to plant some of it toward the end of this month. Question is, I snapped some of the seed heads off to plant, do I plant them at the same time?

[garden5]

All right! I scored some wild garlic today and am planning to plant some of it toward the end of this month. Question is, I snapped some of the seed heads off to plant, do I plant them at the same time?

What do you mean by "seed heads" ? Are you talking about each individual little clove?

[hit or miss]

The cluster at the top of the stalk. They look like little cloves of garlic though.

[garden5]

The cluster at the top of the stalk. They look like little cloves of garlic though.

I never knew that garlic produced little bulbs at the top:?....these sound more like top-set onions.

Someone with more garlic-growing experience will have to come along to help you out with this one.

[soil]

yes you can plant the mini garlic bulbs from the top. I'm going to plant about 200 of them in october. along with our normal cloves.

[hit or miss]

Sweet! Thanks!

[garden5]

yes you can plant the mini garlic bulbs from the top. I'm going to plant about 200 of them in october. along with our normal cloves.

Thanks for clearing this up, Soil. So, does all garlic do this, or is it some kind of fluke?

[TZ -OH6]

I grew wild garlic the last two years and then pulled it up. The leaves are OK for chives, but the bulb leaves a nasty taste behind. It also self seeds all over the herb garden and yard from the bulbils.


Not all garlic produces bulbils. Only the hardneck varietes, which put up edible scapes (flower stalks). Grocery store garlic is almost always soft neck. Hardneck from the grocerystore will have a woody core in the middle surrounded by the cloves.

I start my garlic well after frost hits. You want just enough time (a few weeks) before the ground frezes for the cloves to set out roots, but not put up much top growth. The roots hold the cloves in the soil to prevent frost heave and give the plant an early start in the spring. If you plant too early and get alot of top growth harsh winter weather will kill it back and then the clove will be low on energy to put up new growth in the spring.

If you are going to mulch with leaves instead of straw you may want to hold off until early winter when a bit of the top growth is up. That way you can mulch so that material surrounds the greenery and it can grow up through the mulch in the spring. If you mulch before the sprouts come up they will tangle, and yellow under the mulch and you will have to pull the mulch off to free the plants. Garlic can usually grow up through the strands of straw though.

[Gary350]

I have never been able to grow garlic or onions all I ever get is green tops.

Someone gave me some garlic tops it is a bundle of tiny little cloves about the size of peas, I want to plant these. There are no garlic and onion sets in town to buy this time of the year.

I saw in a thread months ago that garlic and onion need lots of nitrogen. Being a root crop I am suprised they don't need potash and phosphorus.

I am planning to use some of my best compost. Lots of good information in this thread, plant 2" deep, plant 6" apart, plant after first frost, harvest in the spring.

Any more suggestions???

[applestar]

I have read that garlic and onions bulbs are merely below-ground portion of their leaves. So they're not really "root" crop. They're members of Lily family.

[philm00x]

had my garlic in for a couple weeks now. hopefully I'm lucky and they'll produce, and not die off like my other crops. I planted cloves from a head of store-bought (and as has been said already, is likely a softneck variety) garlic, since this is my first time planting garlic and didn't want to try out more premium varieties, yet.