garlic question

[bwhite829]

First off, let me just say that I was shocked when my grandpa gave me a bag of garlic bulbs and told me to just start breaking them apart. I had no idea thats how you plant garlic.

My question is for all you garlic lovers. Is it possible to break off a clove from the bulb when garlic is harvested and toss it down in the place where the bulb was to have a continual harvest, or is it best to harvest it all first, then replant?

[soil]

usually people harvest everything and plant later because garlic gets rotated. though in a perennial system you can plant the garlic right back in the soil after harvest and come fall it will start to grow.

[bwhite829]

what do you mean by "perennial system"?

[DoubleDogFarm]

I'm with Soil on this one. Crop rotation is a good plan. Also you only want to plant the largest cloves out of the bulb. Once you break the bulb open to plant, you have shortened the storage life of the rest. Large cloves give you large bulbs.

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Farmers%20Market%20Produce/DSC02409.jpg[/img]

[TWC015]

If you place some cloves in the ground right after they are harvested, they won't start growing until the fall, around October. Garlic has a natural dormancy period before sprouting so I don't see an advantage of planting at harvest time. The clove may just rot. Also, you won't really have a continual harvest. The clove you plant won't make another bulb until the next spring/summer. I would harvest all of the bulbs and use most of them in cooking, except the largest cloves to save for planting in the fall. Another reason why I wouldn't plant immediately is so that you can rotate garlic and place it somewhere else.

[Yogas]

Why does garlic need to be rotated and how often?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Why does garlic need to be rotated and how often?

If you have a large garden, I would plant in a new location every year. Less problems with diseases.


Eric

[rainbowgardener]

All crops benefit from rotation (being planted in a different spot each year, for at least two or three years). This is because over the season while they sit in one spot, they gradually attract all the pests/diseases that like them. Many of those can overwinter in the soil, in larvae or spore form. Then come spring, they are ready to get an early start attacking your plant.

That said, I have a small space with not a lot of sunny areas, so most of my stuff does not get rotated. I probably have to work a little harder preventing problems, but we manage....

[bwhite829]

I doubt that we'll do any kind of crop rotation. my grandfather is set in his ways and never rotates I don't think. I always see these large harvests so I'll just do what he tells me to do and soak up the knowledge he's gained in his long life.

thanks for the info on all this. I'm trying to soak it all up...for the longest time I thought gardening was cut and dry, put a hole in the ground, put a seed in the hole and do that all the way down.

so, basically just keep the largest ones for replanting, and in the fall replant?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Yep!

[sixshooter]

Soo...how deep is too deep when planting garlic?

[DoubleDogFarm]

Soo...how deep is too deep when planting garlic?

I'm not sure how to answer your question. I would say 6" is to deep. I plant my cloves so the top is about an 1" below the soil. Then I add a few inches of hay over the top. Straw would be better, less weed seed.

Eric

[tedly]

When is the best time to plant garlic?

[DoubleDogFarm]

In the Fall. Oct - Nov. zone 8 Washington.


Eric

[Alight]

I was told that you could plant garlic in the spring which is what I have done. It is growing great. Did I plant at the wrong time. Will I get a harvest by the end of summer?

Nicki

[Alight]

I was told that you could plant garlic in the spring which is what I have done. It is growing great. Did I plant at the wrong time. Will I get a harvest by the end of summer?

Nicki

[DoubleDogFarm]

Nicki,

Sure you will have a harvest of some kind. You maybe surprised and have a good harvest. I believe your bulbs would be larger if planted in the fall and wintered over.

Eric

[tedly]

I kinda figured it was something that should overwinter. I could still get a decent crop if I planted them now though? Hmmm...

[sixshooter]

Soo...how deep is too deep when planting garlic?

I'm not sure how to answer your question. I would say 6" is to deep. I plant my cloves so the top is about an 1" below the soil. Then I add a few inches of hay over the top. Straw would be better, less weed seed.

Eric

I cant remember how far down I planted it. I was in a rush and did it in late october after a weekend up north. Ill be anxious until I see it popping out of the ground.

Hey double dog farm. Completely unrelated. Have you ever heard the band minus the bear? They have a great song about the san juans!

[Father's Daughter]

I plant cloves in mid to late October, and last year harvested it the last week of July. The cloves go in root end down about four inches deep and then they get mulched for the winter. I grow hard necks - German White and Music. From what I gather, soft necks (supermarket varieties) can be planted in the spring and don't need to over-winter, so if that's wht you have, you might be fine planting it now.

[DoubleDogFarm]

Good points, I only grow Music, so I'm not sure on the soft necks. I like the scapes that hard neck varieties produce.

Eric

[DoubleDogFarm]

Hey double dog farm. Completely unrelated. Have you ever heard the band minus the bear? They have a great song about the San Juan's!

Well, I have now!

Tittled, "The Pig War" It's a fun song..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzDhN3GBJ70

A band out of Seattle. Many great bands originated in Seattle!

Eric

[garden3fairy]

I would imagine the planting time varies depending on your zone. I live in zone 8 Florida and I planted my garlic in Febuary. It's doing well but I'll admit it's my first attempt at garlic so I have no idea if spring planting will bring a good harvest. Fingers crossed for us both!

[Father's Daughter]

Good points, I only grow Music, so I'm not sure on the soft necks. I like the scapes that hard neck varieties produce.

Eric

Have you tried using them for pesto? I love basil pesto, but scape pesto is soooo much better!

[gixxerific]

I kinda figured it was something that should overwinter. I could still get a decent crop if I planted them now though? Hmmm...

I planted garlic last year mid Mar or mid Apr I can't remember. But I did get a harvest though they were pretty small. I did have fresh garlic that was tasty (also the garlic I planted last spring came from the grocery store). This year I finally did it right and planted mid Oct. We shall see how this crop does with the extra time. I truly believe that, though you can plant in spring, you will get a much larger crop if planted in the fall. This is yet to be proven in my garden. But I am sure it will.

My suggestion for you spring planters is if you haven't planted yet quit reading this and go out there RIGHT NOW!!!!

[jal_ut]

My experience with spring planted garlic: I got an increase in weight, but none of the cloves made a big multi-cloved bulb. Instead, they made a round. That is one single round clove. It was larger than what was planted and it was certainly garlic. I planted some of these a second year in the fall and got some really nice big bulbs. We garden a world apart, and I can't predict what you will get, but I am certain you will get more than you planted.

[tedly]

My suggestion for you spring planters is if you haven't planted yet quit reading this and go out there RIGHT NOW!!!!

I think I'll wait for it to stop snowing again.

[rainbowgardener]

I planted garlic last fall (I think Oct). This is my first time growing it. The plants are looking so big and happy and healthy out there, and I don't know how big they are supposed to get, so I couldn't resist digging one up (gently) to see what was going on below ground. It was as jal described - bigger than the clove I planted, but one single round bulb. Anyway, I planted it back where it was and it doesn't seem to have suffered any from being inspected.

[garden5]

Jal....I never thought about that! That's a great idea. Plant them in the spring, let them get bigger, then plant them again in the fall for an even larger than normal crop. When I do garlic, I'm going to have to do a side-by-side test with that method.