What do YOU know about different types of GARLIC?.

[Gary350]

We eat more garlic than I grow, I bought a $3 bag of purple garlic at Walmart it had about 6 or 7 garlic bulbs in the bag. This morning I diced a whole bulb about 15 cloves of garlic for spaghetti sauce. That garlic was worse that onions it got in my eyes so bag I had to wash my hands and face with soap 2 times and rinse eye with water several times then eye drops. I never thought about this before but garlic is sorta like onions, some are stronger than others. Sometimes I see, white, yellow, brown, purple, skin garlic in the store.

I am getting ready to plant fall crops like garlic so this year I am going to plant several different types to learn what grows best and what tasted best.

This is how I learned which tomatoes we like best and which corn we like best 30 years ago by planting lots of variety until I learn what we like then plant only what we like after that. The garden has always been our 1 year supply of food. Very soon I will plant about 200 to 250 garlic plants.

What do you know about different types of garlic?

[gumbo2176]

I know it is one of the "must have" vegetables that go in so many of the dishes I cook. I planted about 200 cloves last year and had a good harvest earlier this summer. I plant a pungent variety that I get from the local nursery that is sold in bulk that is good for our area. I also grow Elephant garlic that has cloves that get to be about the size of the first joint on my thumb but are much less potent than the smaller clove varieties.

My Elephant Garlic averaged 4-5 cloves per head, whereas the smaller variety gets on average 6-8 cloves per head.

[jal_ut]

I found that not all garlic will do well in my garden. So I tried everything I could get my hands on one year, and one excelled, So I have propagated this one for many years now. Sorry I lost its name.

[xtron]

don't know much about the garlic itself, but do know that if you plant it near/in your strawberries, they will feed"eachother and both will thrive and flourish. the biggest problem I had was keeping track of the garlic...the berries would over run the garlic just about the time it was dieing off so it got hard to find if I didn't keep up with it

[pepperhead212]

Garlic varies greatly between varieties. I only grow hardnecks, because I use a lot of garlic, and don't like to have to peel huge numbers of cloves, like you find in softnecks. Rocamboles are traditionally stronger, but many require a deep freeze, otherwise, they won't bulb up - Spanish Rioja did this to me one year, when I had a mild winter. Porcelains and purple stripes are my favorites, with Estonian Red, Music, Metechi, and German Porcelain being favorites. I have tried countless varieties through the years, and some were milder, while some did not store as well, so I wouldn't grow them again.

[imafan26]

I know that the type of garlic you can plant are like onions they are regional and dependent on day length. In the North hardnecks do better. In the south soft necks.
http://www.southernexposure.com/blog/20 ... m-a-clove/

For those of us who don't have a winter. It is time now to start conditioning garlic. Refrigerate the bulbs in a paper sack for 6-10 weeks before planting. In Hawaii the best time to plant is between September 25-October 25
http://greyduckgarlic.com/Southern_Garl ... Guide.html

[Gary350]

I am finding lots of hard neck garlic but no soft neck garlic for sale. If it is heirloom or organic price is double or triple.

[gumbo2176]

Do you have a nursery or seed & feed store near you that sells plants already started, seeds and bulbs? If so, that may be your best option to find something suitable for your area and at a decent price. I get most of my garlic from the local seed & feed store and buy it by the pound.

[Gary350]

I think this is why my garlic did not do well this year. This is what the garden looks like from about Feb to May.



Next year I need to hill the soil up o keep the garlic above the swamp.

[gumbo2176]

I plant my garlic in raised beds that are 12 inched higher than the ground around it to get around any water collecting in the growing area like you have there. What that picture shows is what my garden has looked like most of this summer as we've been getting tons of rain this year.

Matter of fact, I grow many of my root crops in a raised bed. Things like beets, garlic and some onions usually are in my raised beds not only for drainage, but the soil I have in them is very loose and allows for good growth of the bulbs.

[Krasus3]

Here in Wisconsin, I've had pretty good luck with hard neck varieties. Specifically one called German Red. They seem to do better for me when planted in late fall and covered by mulched. Both hay and leaves have worked for me; wood chips did not go so hot, but that was more of an experiment that may have been something I did. I agree with gumbo2176 that using a raised bed works really well, especially if the soil is full of nutrients.

[jal_ut]

Yes, plant the garlic in the fall. After you get that first killing frost, till the plot then plant the garlic. Separate the bulbs and plant the individual cloves about every 4 to 5 inches in the row.

Yes, its hardnecks for me too. No luck with the others.

[Gary350]

WHAT are your weather conditions when you plant garlic?

My garlic all rotted in the mud this spring. Very soon I am going to hill soil up several inches and plant garlic about 3" above water level.

I learned something by accident this year. Onion sets are available here 1st week of March. I bought onions 3 times, I planted some in March, planted some first week of April, I bought more onion set but forgot to plant them until mid May weather was 85 degrees & rain was slowing down a little bit. The onions I plants in May did the best, days were longer, warmer and less rain. This makes me wonder if I need to rethink when to plant Garlic?

[jal_ut]

"WHAT are your weather conditions when you plant garlic?"

Here in early October the weather is likely to be sunny, though cool. Snow is just around the corner and when it snows we will be snow covered for 4 months. The temperatures can go to below zero. The garlic survives the wet and cold and come spring will grow.

[gumbo2176]

"WHAT are your weather conditions when you plant garlic?"

Here in early October the weather is likely to be sunny, though cool. Snow is just around the corner and when it snows we will be snow covered for 4 months. The temperatures can go to below zero. The garlic survives the wet and cold and come spring will grow.

I plant my garlic in October too, but my weather is vastly different with just a few nights a year that get below freezing. My garlic grows from the time is pops out the ground until it forms scapes that I remove and then let the foliage start drying out before picking it. Usually by late May/early June, I can get the garlic out of the ground but I usually wait until the ground is dry before removing it to let it air dry for storage.

[imafan26]

For those of you in the south, you can get garlic from Costco. Christopher Ranch is located in Gilroy, California. The garlic is not treated so the bulbs will sprout after they have been conditioned. It is a softneck variety suitable for short days. .

Most of you do not have the same problem I do getting things shipped in. Most seed houses do not ship outside the contiguous states.

[gumbo2176]

For those of you in the south, you can get garlic from Costco. Christopher Ranch is located in Gilroy, California. The garlic is not treated so the bulbs will sprout after they have been conditioned. It is a softneck variety suitable for short days. .

Most of you do not have the same problem I do getting things shipped in. Most seed houses do not ship outside the contiguous states.

I actually got a small sack of garlic earlier today from Costco and it reads "Packaged by The Garlic Company, Bakersfield, CA." and is a product of Mexico.

I buy this stuff to use in seafood boils instead of using what I've grown in my garden.

[Gary350]

This LINK is good information from commercial garlic grower. Keep your garlic in the refrigerator for no less than 3 months before you plant. Plant garlic in the garden when temperature is 40 to 50 degrees about November, use raised beds if needed to keep garlic out of wet soil. Garlic need very soft soil to make large bulbs. Plant garlic so it gets morning sun then full shade the hottest part of the day. Mulch with light color straw that will reflect sun light so the soil stays cold. You can grow hard neck or soft neck garlic in Florida. Garlic grows slow in cold weather that is how you get large garlic bulbs. Summer when temperature is in the 90s and 1/2 the green tops turn brown it is time to harvest garlic.

http://greyduckgarlic.com/Southern_Garl ... Guide.html

[Krasus3]

The onions I plants in May did the best, days were longer, warmer and less rain. This makes me wonder if I need to rethink when to plant Garlic?

May be worth a shot. I know here, even though fall planting generally has the best results, a couple of people who did not get their garlic soon enough and planted in early Spring. From what I recall, they still got harvests. I wonder if May would be pushing it though?

This was in Zone 5b.