Quote:
Originally Posted by husker nana
tjg911
I'll check them out first thing tomorrow morning. I'll remove most of the mulch but leave a little on for protection. Yes? Second time around with the garlic so still probably a little to overprotective. First year could of been beginners luck and trial and error is something I want to advoid so thanks for the advise.
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you need to judge. if you look under the mulch and you have 4"+ shoots then get it off and leave about 1" for weed suppression. garlic doesn't like to compete with weeds.
garlic is very cold tolerant so 20 degrees won't kill it. my concern is freeze thaw cycles as that can push cloves out of the ground. by now roots have anchored the cloves because we plant in fall so roots can form. lately it's gotten cold. this morning it is 17 but day time has remained in the mid 30's for days and low 20's at night. if the day temps were 45 or 50 and nights were 20 or below i'd worry about the freeze thaw pushing the cloves up. on my lawn that was completely thawed this morning it is frozen again tho probably not too deep.
if you used a shredded mulch then garlic should be able to grow thru 5". i used unshredded oak leaves one year, they were large and oak leaves are tough, they don't break down like other leaves. by spring i had a thick mat of sodden oak leaves about a few inches thick that my garlic could not break thru. this is why i warned to check for growth. but if you used shredded leaves or straw it is loose enough that garlic should be able to penetrate. still you need to remove it and leave 1" once it emerges.
as to fertilizing, plants seem to tolerate our lack of or excess of fertilizer. i have read that garlic does not need fertilizing, i spray it 3 times with neptune's harvest and no other fertilizer. when i plant i add bone and blood meal to the soil. that's all i do and my garlic does fine. same applies to onions.
tom