today i removed the mulch

[tjg911]

in the past 12 hours the last of the snow on the garlic bed melted. it was there at 8 am but gone when i happened to look at 4 pm. the garlic is in the extreme southeast corner this year and the entire south border is the last place to have snow on it. 2' west of the end of the garlic there's still about 3" of snow to the western side. so at 4:30 i went out with pitch fork and wheel barrow.

i expected the ground to be frozen due to the snow cover and mulch but it is not. i had put 6" maybe 7" of shredded leaves on the bed nov. 18 and it had compressed to about 2". about 1/3 to 1/2 of the garlic bed has shoots now and they are 1" tall, my timing was perfect. i put some shredded leaves back on for mulch about 1" deep and i'll add some more in a few weeks as needed.

it is always such an amazing sight to see the pointed yellowish green spears coming up when it's still so cold. while i like winter and dread what's coming i do have to admit it is such a rush to see fresh growth in the garden. hey it's still winter for a few days, nothing else i grow would survive night time temperatures this early.

[sprtsguy76]

Our winters here are much milder than yours but I know what you mean about that rush when things just start to pop and show growth. I put my garlic in early Dec and most of it sprouted almost right away. Its been chuging along since.

Damon

[ireilly]

Mine too Damon. I was unsure when it went down to 8 F one night here if it would damage the plants as I did not mulch them much. But someone said somewhere that the cold forces the bulbs to grow by suppressing the top growth for a bit. Whichever, the tops are growing steadily now. An interesting thing, garlic. Hope everyoone's crop is bountiful.

[robbyjoe01]

I'm in zone 5/6. Wind blows North zone 5-blows South zone 6. My fall garlic is about 2 to 4 inches up now. I've been planting garlic in the fall since the 60's (family tradition). Always been a good indicator plant just like Dogwoods on what mother natures plans are for the season. I still get giggley when it first comes up.

[husker nana]

Put down my corn glutten meal in the vegetable garden last week and checked out my garlic patch while at it. Left mulch in place as to soon to remove it. Mulch is pretty deep so couldn't see what was lurking underneath.

This is my second year growing garlic. I wish I would of known how easy garlic is to grow. Plus all the different garlics out there. I planted 127 gloves of 11 different varieties. Like tomato's....so many to try!

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by husker nana

...last week and checked out my garlic patch while at it. Left mulch in place as to soon to remove it. Mulch is pretty deep so couldn't see what was lurking underneath.

i'd look under the mulch. it is probably a lot colder in wi than here but they may be up. 1 year i waited too long and had 8" shoots growing under 6" of wet heavy oak leaves because they could not grow thru the matted wet weight. doesn't hurt to look now.

[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.

[husker nana]

Cold today but went out to remove mulch and decided against it at this time. I think I will wait for a warm day and I hope that that will be sometime soon, like next week! This is a picture of garlic bed.

[fortyonenorth]

Garlic is tough. I removed the mulch about 3 weeks ago and temps have dipped into the 20s several times and the garlic doesn't seem to mind.

If you have deep mulch, you may want to remove a bit at a time over the next few weeks and set it aside to remulch, once the soil warms and the garlic is growing strongly.

Garlic likes nitrogen, so now is a good time to apply a slow release source, e.g. blood meal. Research shows best production when garlic gets at least 100 lb/acre and up to 400 lb/acre. I plan to add a total of 200 lb--my first application was the first of March, next will be April 15. Don't feed after the first week of May (in the north, at least) as this will delay bulb formation.

[husker nana]

How much and what types of garlic do you grow?

[fortyonenorth]

I planted about 600 cloves of probably 30 different varieties this year. Won't do this every year, but looking for the ones that perform and produce the best for me.

[husker nana]

Originally Posted by fortyonenorth

I planted about 600 cloves of probably 30 different varieties this year. Won't do this every year, but looking for the ones that perform and produce the best for me.

That's alot of garlic! Do you sell at a Farmers Market? I planted 11 different varieties. The one that is new to us is Music and I could only find one to plant and it only had four gloves to plant. I heard it keeps well and is suppose to be delicious. We may have to eat one and replant the others next November if they are as good as I've heard.

I will remove the mulch next week sometime. You can see by first ring that I did dig around a bit. My Wisc. book says that the first week of April I should foliar feed with a combo of fish emulsion and powdered seaweed every two to three weeks until mid June. That combo and feeding schedule is nothing like I did last year. Seems like alot. What do you think?

[tjg911]

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.

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

[fortyonenorth]

Originally Posted by husker nana

My Wisc. book says that the first week of April I should foliar feed with a combo of fish emulsion and powdered seaweed every two to three weeks until mid June. That combo and feeding schedule is nothing like I did last year. Seems like alot. What do you think?

Local information is always the best. That said, I would curtail any feeding by mid-May at the latest. Like onions, the size of garlic heads is determined by the above ground growth. Once bulbing begins, this has already been determined, so as I said above, additional feeding will delay bulbing.

Have you looked at wegrowgarlic.com. Karen and Mike are in Wisconsin, so you might find good local information there.