Need advice re garlic

[bennyblanco]

Hey all - any advice would be appreciated with my issue below.

I've planted garlic for many years but due to circumstances, I ran out of time this year and now it doesn't look like mother nature is going to give me a break with the chilly weather. I'm in Eastern Canada. The ground is pretty much frozen now and the weather forecast looks chilly for at least the next couple weeks. Planting outdoors is not going to happen and I'm sad about it.

I could plant in the spring, but I worry that by then the bulbs I have won't be in good enough shape to plant - plus the grow season will be short so I'm guessing the end result will not be great.

Sooooo.. I was thinking tonight - Could I plant garlic in a few planters in my garage (which is semi-heated) and after a month or so, put the planters outside which will be super cold and likely have snow? Would this emulate the growth of planting in the fall before the frost or would putting them out in the cold shock the plant?

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you.

[applestar]

It’s an interesting idea. I think you would need to move them out in a more gradual manner though — maybe put them near an outside wall of the garage or near the doors where it would be more cold. And even when you put them outside, they would need to be put somewhere that could be protected a little more — remember that normally they would be ...what is it 4-6 inches below ground plus mulch? Above ground in a containers, I think the roots would be exposed to colder temperatures than what they normally withstand.

If you normally have snowpack for the winter I guess if you could get them completely buried in snow that might protect them. Around here, I would have suggested surrounding them with a low fence and filling with leaves, then covering with burlap.

[Gary350]

40 years ago I lived in a house that had a glass planter window on the south side of the house. I had very good luck planting things all winter in that window in pots. This time of the year sun is low in the sky 34 degrees here and should be lower where you live. With the sun that low you do not need a glass planter window a regular house window should work good. You will need to rotate plant pots 180 degrees every day to stop plants from growing in the direction of the glass window. I have had good luck growing a dozen garlic in a 10" flower pot. If you cut the bottom 6" off of a 5 gallon plastic bucket it makes a good pot for growing things like garlic.

This should work good with sun low in the sky.

[jal_ut]

Hmmmmm........ can you get a bucketful of sand somewhere? Lay the garlic on the ground and cover with the sand. Garlic doesn't need to be planted deep. It will send down roots lying on top of the ground as long as it doesn't get moved around.