Want to give garlic a shot, need help.

[sprtsguy76]

I really want to try growing some garlic. I know very little about how to grow it. Looking in SSE catolog they state that garlic is planted in the fall, is this true? I live in a fairly mild climate, does that change my planting time? I'm gonna do some research on the net but thought I would ask here too, thanks.

Damon

PS If you want to share favorite varieties and their flavors that would be great too.

[tjg911]

yes garlic is planted in the fall... here in the northern tier. i do know that some types of garlic (creole) grow well in the south and poorly in the north. based upon that simple fact you being in southern (?) calif i really don't know if what i'd tell you is correct for your location. google southern ca garlic growing and i'm sure you can find websites for garlic farmers/seed companies, they often have websites that explain how to. there are 2 sites i recommend but 1 is in washington state the other in wisconsin so again i am uncertain whether their website growing info is pertinent to your location. http://www.bloosquallsgarlicfarm.com/ http://wegrowgarlic.com/301.html

if no one answers you try googling how to grow garlic, i bet you'll find all the info you want. another option is in a garden center look for pamphlets or books. i'm sure amazon has books about growing garlic.

tom

[fortyonenorth]

You're not one of those Lost Boys are you? In all seriousness...

I grew garlic this year for the first time and it was a great experience. I would definitely recommend it!

In the north, most folks plant in mid-October. The garlic gets a good underground start before hard-freeze and then resumes in the Spring. Generally, its ready to harvest beginning in late June/early July. In Santa Clara, I'd imagine you could plant much later - perhaps as late as January - but you'll have to do some research on that.

There are two main divisions of garlic - rocambole (hardneck) and silverskin (softneck). Rocambole is preferred by many for taste, but (I'm told) it doesn't keep for more than about six months. Silverskin is the mainstay of the California garlic industry and is the garlic you typically see braided. I'm not sure you can grow good rocambole in California, but you can definitely grown good softneck. One benefit is that well-grown softneck can
last nearly a year.

If you really want to bone up on garlic, get the book: "Growing Great Garlic: The Definitive Guide for Organic Gardeners and Small Farmers" by Ron Engeland. It's definitive and will tell you everything you need to know to get started. I believe Ron is the proprietor of Filaree Farm. If you haven't come across their website already, you will. It seems like they pioneered hand-crafted gourmet garlic in this country and they continue to be a leading provider of seed garlic.

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by fortyonenorth

There are two main divisions of garlic - rocambole (hardneck) and silverskin (softneck).

i have no idea what that statement means. maybe you meant to say hardneck and softneck? rocambole is a hardneck but so is porcelain.

these are garlic types - porcelain (hardneck), rocambole (hardneck), asiatic (hardneck), turban (hardneck), purple stripe (hardneck), creole (not sure i think softneck), artichoke (softneck) and silverskin (softneck).

tom

[fortyonenorth]

You're right, Tom - I didn't want to get into too much detail and I inverted my examples to boot. I meant to write, hardneck (e.g. rocambole) and softneck (e.g. silverskin).

[Suze]

The Sunset website recommends planting garlic late Oct - early Nov for SoCal. I don't know your climate that well, so I'll just say if it is hot in Oct (90's - high 80's), you might want to wait until some time in Nov.

If you want to grow good garlic, good soil with adequate drainage is important. You'll also want to keep weeds to a minimum. I plant in raised beds, and the cloves are planted on six inch centers in all directions. You're not going to want to get much closer than that, even if the soil is excellent. If not growing in a raised bed, you'll need some space between rows so you can get in there to cultivate and harvest.

Pointy part of the clove goes up, the part that was attached to the basal plate goes down. Ideally, don't separate your garlic into the individual cloves until you're ready to plant - a few days or even a week or two probably won't be a big deal, but my point is, don't separate your order into individual cloves right after it arrives. I plant a couple of inches deep (make the hole to the second finger joint and drop the clove in), but in cooler zones I think they may go just a little deeper.

I mulch with a couple of inches of shredded leaves or straw after planting, and consider this an important step here in Texas. For one, it helps keep the weeds down and moisture levels even. It also helps keep the soil cool longer in the spring, which may not be as crucial in your area since you probably have cooler springs.

Artichoke, Asiatic/Turban and Marbled Purple Stripe types are probably your best bet. Creoles are also worth trying in your area as well if you can find planting stock. Also, Elephant Garlic (which is a leek) is fun and easy to grow. I space Elephant Garlic a little further apart, because the bulbs can get huge.

[habitat_gardener]

In northern Santa Clara Co., my tomato plants get hit by the first freeze in early Dec., so that's when I have space in the garden for garlic. I usually plant some of the garlic I've harvested in May/June (originally from farmers' market garlic, probably Calif. White). I don't break apart the bulb until I'm in the garden, where I plant the biggest cloves and eat/cook with the small ones. Most years I have enough to last until the next harvest.

Garlic does best in my garden in the sunniest (in winter) and most well-drained spot. I've had poor yields when I've planted it in other spots. I've talked to other local gardeners who moved their garlic around until they found the best spot.

I've tried other varieties of garlic a few times, either from the farmers' market or from Common Ground in Palo Alto. None of them have done as well as the Calif. White. I've been intending to try a whole bunch of other varieties, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

added: For grazing in the garden and for summer salads, I like to grow garlic chives. They're easy to grow from seed. I like to eat a leaf or two in the garden for a burst of mild garlic flavor. When they go into flower (mine are flowering now), you can eat the flowers, flower buds, and for a really intense flavor, the little bulblets that follow the flowers.

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by Suze

Artichoke, Asiatic/Turban and Marbled Purple Stripe types are probably your best bet. Creoles are also worth trying in your area as well if you can find planting stock.

this guy is in texas so the op or suze can find creole varieties here http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/creoles.htm

tom

[sprtsguy76]

Thank you to everyone chimming in. So many vareieites to choose from. Not sure yet what will be ideal for my area, but I'm doing some research. Winters here are on the mild side, we get just a handful of days during the winter that are below 32. Tom thanks for the link, looks like a great place to buy from.

Damon

[Suze]

Damon, Artichokes will likely be the easiest and most dependable (in your area) of the types I mentioned before, if you're looking for easy. They also (in general) tend to store very well. Favorites of mine include Inchelium Red and Early Red Italian. The ubiquitous California Early and California Late should also do very well for you.

My favorite Marbled Purple Stripe, hands down, is Siberian. Pretty much bulletproof here in Texas - I can always count on it to produce large bulbs. Also, it stores well, and makes nice, large scapes which we remove from the plants before they flower and enjoy in stir fry, roasted, on the grill, etc. Metechi also does well.

Creoles can be a bit more iffy in my climate - I can grow them with some degree of success, but to grow them very well can be a bit more of a challenge than with the above mentioned types. I've tried several different Creole varieties over the last few years (basically any I can get my hands on as planting stock is hard to come by) and the ones that have consistently done the best here in Texas are Ajo Rojo, Creole Red, and Burgundy.

The cloves and bulbs tend to be smaller for Creoles, and storage isn't as good as with some other types, but flavor is very intense.

Filaree Farm (in Washington state) grows Creoles very well indeed. Some of my very best planting stock has come from there. Bob (Gourmet Garlic Gardens in TX) which Tom mentioned has been the source of some of my planting stock as well. Anyway, those are the two main sources (that I know of) for good Creole stock.

I suspect that the Asiatic/Turban types perhaps have more potential in your area based on comments on gardening forums I've read throughout the years from Ca gardeners. Here, they do fairly well, but I never get the huge bulb size that I've seen some Ca gardeners brag about... One nice thing about most A/T is that they are very early, usually the first type I start harvesting and you have to watch the leaves very carefully and not let too many go brown. Red Janice is one that does very well for me.

Elephant Garlic (leek) is mild, but makes huge bulbs and cloves, and huge scapes as well. I like the spring scapes from it so much that I'd grow it for the scapes even if it didn't produce bulbs.

Order as soon you can. Many of the garlic suppliers are already sold out of several of their varieties. For future reference, May-June is usually a good time to at least start looking, especially if you want to order from Filaree or Gourmet Garlic Gardens - and most especially if you want the best chance at their Creoles.

We Grow Garlic (another great source) does things a bit differently, and they seem to wait to start selling after they've harvested, but they still tend to sell out fast nonetheless.

Territorial Seed is another place to take a look at for planting stock, and so is Seed Savers Exchange.

Bloosquall, who occasionally posts here, sells garlic as well.

Hope this helps.

[sprtsguy76]

Suze- That really helps! Ya I'm just down the road from Gilroy, one of the 'Garlic Capitals' of the world. But want to grow more unique/rare garlic than what I can buy here anytime. Plus the sound of spicy/hot/pungent garlic sounds very good to me. Some of the varieties you have suggested sound great and I'll probably try a few of those to start out with. I'm thinking the Inchelium Red, Siberian and the Ajo Rojo. I was looking at Gourmet Garlic and man it seems a bit expensive, is this normal pricing for garlic? I'm going to pull the trigger anyway but may only be able to buy 2 varieties at 16$ a pound/sample plus a 10$ shipping fee.

Damon

[fortyonenorth]

Originally Posted by sprtsguy76

...man it seems a bit expensive, is this normal pricing for garlic? I'm going to pull the trigger anyway but may only be able to buy 2 varieties at 16$ a poun

Prices vary, but yes, good seed garlic tends to be expensive. Tom mentioned a few other alternatives near the top of the thread. You might want to take a look to see how their prices compare.

On the bright side, if you continue to grow garlic in future years, its very easy to save several bulbs of each variety and increase your own seed stock.

[sprtsguy76]

Well I just ordered two sampler's from GourmetGarlic, one of the mild-medium samples and one of the medium to hot samples.

So besides decent soil (check), mulching (will check) and keeping the weeds out (will check) is there any other growing tips you garlic heads want to share? I'm just assuming here but water demands for garlic are very low in the winter and higher in the spring and summer? Is this right? Thanks again everyone, looking forward to my first garlic year!

Damon

[beeman]

Originally Posted by sprtsguy76

So besides decent soil (check), mulching (will check) and keeping the weeds out (will check) is there any other growing tips you garlic heads want to share? Damon

I don't think anyone mentioned 'removal of the scapes' that's the curly flower head.
If allowed to flower and produce seed it will reduce the size of the cloves in the ground.
Some cut them off, then deep fry them. I find them too tough for my liking.

[TomNJ]

Beeman - Scapes are very tender when picked young - perhaps you are picking them too late. Ideally they should be picked when still in the curve and about 12-18" long. They are great stir fried, or grilled (my preference). Once they start to uncurl they begin getting woody and tough. Try some at 12" next year and see what you think.

TomNJ