Garlic experiment

[Vanisle_BC]

I left some garlic bulbs in the ground last year instead of harvesting them. They have all grown multiple stalks; some very sturdy, others less so. One in particular had five really robust stems. I couldn't resist digging it up, maybe a bit early. Here's the result; these are some of the biggest garlic I've ever grown.

Garlic L.I.G. (left in ground)

Now I'm wondering: Instead of planting individual cloves at 5" spacing as I usually do, what if I plant whole bulbs at, say, 20 inches? I may try some that way this fall.

[!potatoes!]

was anything else different from the way you usually so it? any feeding of these 2-year plants?

my experience of doing just this has been the opposite - while they grow a healthy little ring of new plants the second year, the garlic is all much smaller than my usual planted-from-one-clove bulbs.

[applestar]

I was thinking it may depend on variety, too. The kind that usually makes 4-7 large cloves around the central stalk at most would seem to do this better (are they usually hardnecks?), rather than the kind that makes 8-16+, sometimes multi-ring clusters of small cloves.

What varieties did you grow?

[Vanisle_BC]

I was thinking it may depend on variety, too. The kind that usually makes 4-7 large cloves around the central stalk at most would seem to do this better (are they usually hardnecks?), rather than the kind that makes 8-16+, sometimes multi-ring clusters of small cloves.

What varieties did you grow?

Good thoughts applestar & !potatoes!.

I think (not sure) this one was Susan Delafield; it evidently had 5 cloves. Nothing was growing near it which may have helped. (I stopped growing softneck a few years back.)

I do have a complete row of Delafield unharvested and left in ground last year but haven't pulled them up yet. They're at my usual 5 inch spacing. Above ground the plant stems vary in thickness but 2 or 3 have a cluster of sturdy stalks. I'll lift them soon and see what the bulbs are like.

[Vanisle_BC]

So here's the now-harvested row; left in the ground, unharvested & undisturbed last summer.

Row left in ground first year, spaced 5 inches

Result overall is very poor but inconsistent. Some bulbs are tiny, but four or five approach 2-1/2 inch. I don't know what to conclude if anything.

A lot of my garden experience is like this, with disappointing or stunted plants right alongside healthy ones. I've wondered if it's because I don't grow hybrids - but in this case - garlic - that has no relevance.