General information and discussion about cultivating onions, garlic, shallots and leeks.
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April 11, 2010 | #1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 150
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1.5 season garlic, have questions
Hi,
Last spring I was using some farmer's market garlic I had purchased in the fall. I noticed that inside, the bulbs all had small green shoots. Being the inquisitive person that I am, I decided to plant them. Needless to say, I knew nothing (and still know very little) about garlic. I dug around one of them in the fall, and didn't see any sort of bulb formation, so I covered it back up and let them over winter. I had about a 2-3" layer of leaves/grass over the soil all winter. Well, it appears that they are starting to grow again, it looks like they are shooting up new green leaves. Are they likely to produce bulbs? (when?) Is their anything I can do to help them along? Any other advice? Below are a few pictures I've taken. Thanks, Dan |
April 11, 2010 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Piney Wood Hills
Posts: 423
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Growing garlic, too
I split three heads of garlic into two planters. One is about 6"x6"x3' long. The other is round with a diameter of 18". I put ten cloves in each of them in January and they all came up. Two weeks later I added six shallots each that are also doing well. I covered the tops of the planters with 6-8 layers of newspaper and then covered that with shredded leaves. They're now 12"-18" tall and beginning to form nice bulbs.
My growing medium is two parts sifted compost (my own), two parts peat moss, and one part perlite. I mix 1/2 cup of blood meal into a gallon of water and let it steep for a few days in the sun. I use that to water my plants once a week for four weeks. I then switch to a mix of blood meal and bone meal in the water for a couple of weeks. By that time I'm ready to sprinkle on some compost tea with added bone meal. So far.....everything is doing great. My only advice would be to mulch the garlic and keep it cool. It seems to thrive on cool/cold......mine shot up almost six inches after being covered in snow for two days. |
April 11, 2010 | #3 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2007
Location: NE Ohio
Posts: 610
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Quote:
Depending on YOUR growing zone AND the type of garlic you're growing! Are they likely to produce bulbs? (when?) They are producing bulbs as we write, though cloves don't start forming til late May, early June. Is their anything I can do to help them along? Fertilize, fertilize, and again, fertilize. Earlier in February and March I sprinkled blood meal and alfalfa meal around the plants and watered that in. Beginning in March I started watering with fish emulsion, alfalfa tea and a couple of other things about every 7-10 days. I STOP all ferts Mothers Day. Too many ferts after that will adversely affect the over all size of your head. Any other advice? If you're growing hardneck garlic cut off the scape that forms in late May after it makes a full curl, that will increase the size of the head. Finally, if you don't harvest great heads this year, grow again and again. As with tomatoes, growing garlic is addictive. I'm just a simple home gardener, there are others here who are more experienced and commercial growers. If, I've offered incorrect advice, please forgive me. |
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April 11, 2010 | #4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Langley, BC
Posts: 768
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Neoguy has provide excellent advice. With garlic less is more. The last pic shows a very nice specimen, don't know what all that brown stuff is on the stems of the other two.
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I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf Bob Dylan |
April 11, 2010 | #5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Pottsboro Texas 7B-8A TRANSITION ZONE
Posts: 77
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GARLIC
A really good source of info-------
http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/
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Have you gardened all of your life? Not yet. |
April 12, 2010 | #6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 150
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Thanks for all the advice.
velikipop, the brown stuff on the first year is old leaves that died last year; should I remove them? I plan on planting more stuff in this bed later, however it is still too cold for most things here. I put them in their current location because that was the only spots I had open last year. (i'm tripling my garden space, if not more this year ) Dan |
April 12, 2010 | #7 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Langley, BC
Posts: 768
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Dan,
Normally garlic is harvested in the first year when 4 to 6 leaves from the bottom turn brown. If that is from last year then I am assuming that the plant has been in the ground for well over a year, not sure what the bulb will look like or if it will be usable. Alex Quote:
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I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf Bob Dylan |
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April 11, 2010 | #8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 56
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One other thing about garlic, though it doesn't look like you have this problem, is that garlic doesn't like competition, so keep the bed weeded and mulched for best production. Regarding the scapes, for bigger heads you remove the scapes. You can let the scapes grow, and they will produce seeds that you can plant, but that's getting into advanced garlic growing which is beyond my pay grade!
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