imafan26
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Re: When to harvest garlic

I checked my garlic bulbs in the refrigerator and I guess I got them too early. Most of them have already shriveled. I don't usually get a great harvest anyway unless I plant it in the herb garden where it is very low in nitrogen. It is too late to chill another batch.

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applestar
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You do always want to dig up, separate cloves, then replant them individually with 5-6 inches of spacing. Otherwise, the whole bulbs will sprout the cloves and they will try try to grow in competition. This also gives you the opportunity to select the biggest cloves from the bulb to re-plant.

There are some garlic pests in the north. Most notably slugs and onion flies. I have had young rabbits at least try the garlic shoots in spring while in “try everything once” phase.

13 different varieties! That should be fun, but take it from me — be sure to use a sturdy marker that will stand up to your winter and through the next growing season. It’s a good idea to also draw up a map of your planting, even if just as a reminder of which row is which.

Toxic1979
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So I'm growing mostly in raised beds. Were spacing 6 inch apart. I've placed the "cloves" (thanks for that) a little deeper to help with stand our heavy frosts. I also use the garden planner.org site to help me plan the garden and get a good overall visual of what I can grow. Great thing is I have 64 garlic cloves, of each type in 1 raised bed. Did this with 7 varieties at our local community garden. So each raised bed is a specific variety. I'll plant the other 6 varieties in my back yard raised beds, again in bunches of 64. If all grows well, I usually just donate a large portion it to our local community garden, for them to sell at the local farmers market (once a season... not what folks on here are used to). The money they raise helps pay for some of the maintenance costsat the community gardens, and the rest gets donated back to our community... usually to the local food bank, soI don't mind dumping off a plethora of veggies for them to sell.

I was really wondering about slugs... I was blown away that they did not touch my garlic. I was hoping it was their kryptonite... sigh.... lol.

So if left in the ground, without digging them up, the 4 cloves that may be in that bulb will all try to grow another bulb each?

Vanisie... The majority of the varieties that I'm trying this year are actually from BC. I ordered from Rasa Creek Farm. Service was fantastic. All the Bulbs were in good shape as well.

As for Tomatoes... I have grown them, with great success, in the greenhouse only. I tried outdoors, and had way more toms growing but they all stayed green. I also had to cover the raised beds every night around 10:00-11:00 pm when the sun went down, in order to keep some heat around them. If I had to grow them outside I would need much warmer evenings. I'm actually situated in Labrador, which quite a bit further north of the the island of Newfoundland. But still the same province. The island typically gets good summers, and much warmer weather, for longer periods.... and the final effects of all the hurricanes on the east sea board.

As well, the bulbils kind of interested me. I'm going to nail down the clove planting first though. I have to say, I had fun planting the garlic and harvesting it. SoFar, the best ones I grew last year were the Porcelain Music, and the Italian Hardneck, both from West Coast Seeds. As for the hardback... being hard.... found that out quick also. Hahaha... Had to use a serrated blade to make it a bit easier.

I'm a bit jealous of your summers out west... wish we could get that here!

Thanks again!

Vanisle_BC
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Toxic: I was chopping with a freshly sharpened cleaver (my favourite kitchen utensil) and it bounced off the stem onto my finger - an Ouch!! but that's not actually what I exclaimed.

I grew Music for the first time this year; very successful with good big bulbs. Susan Delafield, Fishlake and Red Russian all do well for me. Also one for which I've lost the 'provenance'. I just call it Redneck.

The Latah tomato is (?) parthenocarpic, meaning - I think - it will set fruit in cold weather and without having to be fertilized by insects, wind action etc. But it sounds as though your season may be too short/late/cool anyway.

Congratulations for persevering in such a challenging climate.

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jal_ut
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"13 different varieties!"

I was having trouble growing garlic, so I planted a few of every type I could get hands on. Of the lot one excelled, so I have been propagating that one since.

I second what applestar says. :)

Vanisle_BC
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Location: Port Alberni, B.C. Canada, Zone 7 (+?)

Garlic I'm growing this year (all hardneck):
Susan Delafield
Fishlake 3
Red Russian
Redneck - my own name as I've forgotten the real one.
Music
- And a donated one with no name.
To date Delafield has been the most consistent producer. Recently introduced Music is also looking good.

garlic 2018 005.JPG
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Bulbils harvested this year are planted in wooden boxes and spaced 1.5 x 1.5". these will make 'year-1' rounds.
IMG_0009.JPG
'Year-2' rounds ready for re-planting. The ones in the picture were grown crowded & neglected in an outdoor container. Note some are already mini-bulbs with 4 cloves. Others of the same 1-year batch, planted in a good bed, made bulbs big enough to use in the kitchen. All were grown from last year's 'year-1' marble-size rounds.
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Setting out the main bed - cloves will be planted at 5 x 5" spacing to grow bulbs for the kitchen next year.
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This shows the max difference in size of cloves being planted. I'll grade the cloves from largest to smallest in each row, to check my previous conclusion that the size of clove planted has little influence on the size of bulb that grows. (Apologies for the over-contrasty photo.)

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MariaDigsGardening
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Location: Michigan, United States (zone 4)

We've had good luck with Susan Delafield here in Upper Michigan as well.

Also, this year I was planting my garlic in a slightly-mounded bed. I have a broadfork that I have not used much and consider selling from time to time, but it seemed like the perfect tool to slightly loosen the soil in preparation for putting the garlic into the ground. An unexpected bonus was that the tines from the fork were the perfect size and depth for planting-- I just put the broad fork in every 6 inches or so to loosen the soil. Then I put a clove a garlic in the hole produced by every other tine to get a 6" x 6" spacing. SUPER EASY!

Toxic1979
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Location: Labrador City, NL, Canada

Harvesting a lot of my garlic varieties that I tried last year, real soon!

Will post results and pics soon!

Foodgardenguy
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We have been successfully growing garlic for years. We wait for the outside leaves to turn brown and fall over. The tips of the other leaves will also start to turn brown and yellow as well.

To test, we dig out a couple of sample garlic plants whose leaves are most brown. The bulb should clearly show divided cloves. If they are one whole bulb without the clear vertical or longitudinal indents in them, then they are not ready yet. You can wait another week to test again.

When you have dug up 10 plants in succession and they all show clearly divided cloves on them, then your whole bed is essentially ready. You might get a few though that are not ready, and they will usually have still the most green leaves on them.

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Dissily Mordentroge
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Some very useful information here but I can’t find anything about Russian garlic. I’ve found this can be harvested anywhere from half way to full maturity to the point when flower heads are fully formed. To my taste though it’s not a garlic to use raw in salads but is wonderful in slow cooked sauces and casseroles.

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!potatoes!
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I feel like that’s true of all garlic. the recommendations about harvest timing are about maximizing yield and storability, and from that viewpoint probably also true of russian.

violar
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I grow garlic every year.
The leaves will start to turn brown and it will look like the plant is dying. Wait until 3/4 of the leaves are brown before harvesting. You can also gently remove dirt from around the roots to see how big the head of garlic is. If you notice the head has split it is past time to harvest.
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