first year for garlic... question!

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by afrance30

I decided to try planting garlic this fall and bought Silver Rose garlic to plant in garlic grow bags from Gardener's Supply, and recently read on-line that Silverskin varieties like Silver Rose should not be planted until spring. Is this true? I'm in zone 6a and I don't want to panic, but I was sure I had researched enough to have an idea of what to do. Now I feel lost and helpless.

What to do...?

silverskin should grow ok for you. silverskins are the only garlic that may be planted in the spring but fall is typically when to plant garlic. i never planted in spring. i grew grocery store silverskin garlic 2 seasons. it produced small bulbs for me and i stopped growing it in favor of varieties with large cloves and much better flavor.

you can plant it, you have nothing to lose but silverskin varieties have lots and lots of tiny tiny cloves especially the inner ones. huge pita to peel almost impossible, i crush them in a press. i'd be more concerned growing them in a bag vs the ground. i have read container grown garlic doesn't do well, no idea about growing it in bags but it doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

tom

[afrance30]

Thanks for all of the advice everyone. I did buy a hardneck variety, German White, and I plan on doing a test. I'll do two grow bags of Silver Rose and two of German White, and then plant both in a raised bed and see how they compare.

[barkeater]

If you want to try a softneck garlic that will overwinter with no problem plant Nootka Rose this fall. It thrives in my zone 3 climate. The advantage with softnecks is the cloves last for almost a year compared to 5-6 months for hardnecks.

[tjg911]

simonetti is an artichoke type softneck that is supposed to last a long time, maybe you can find it (try wegrowgarlic) and try it. karen at wegrowgarlic says it lasts her up to a year. i'm growing it next year so i'll give my comments then. large cloves with good taste and good storage, sounds like a good variety.

tom

[zorro777]

I've grown many types of garlic for decades in Wisconsin where it always gets -20º F in Zone 4a and have had every variety emerge in the spring every year. Hardnecks and Softnecks. This year I grew 19 varieties and all came up in the spring. I plant in the fall.

[Elizabeth]

afrance,

I bought some of the soft sided garlic grow pots from Gardener's Supply this year too.They are pretty much the same as smart pots, but shallower, so I think they will be fine - at least I hope so - all of my fancy garlic varieties are going in them next week.

[simmran1]

Afrance,

I really agree with Tom tjg911 on the growing technique.
Garlic will even grow during the winter months, mainly
because, though it’s freezing cold the ground as well as snow cover
is insulation in effect. Planting 2” below the surface,
freezing and thawing in garden soil does not normally heave the soil
to the point where the cloves are damaged.

But in a grow bag above ground the environment is much different,
and the cloves are much more susceptible to freezing and heaving.

I have never seen growbags advertised for growing garlic during
any season by any vendor. I guess if you don’t have garden space
your options are limited, but I wouldn’t waste the bag and potting soil.
I have and use tomato growbags during the summer and know they
are affected by the environment as I’m hoping to get another year out of
mine purchase in 2010. While the ones I got from Gardener’s Supply are
probably the best quality I see deterioration just be usage.
Anyway, you can experiment and do what you want but if you’re looking
for opinions, that’s my 2 cents. -Randy

[fortyonenorth]

Elizabeth, I imagine you're dealing with much different conditions in San Diego. Aside from the natural limitations of containers, I don't see any reason why container grown garlic wouldn't succeed in your area.

I have some grow bags that I just emptied of tomatoes and peppers along with plenty of seed garlic. I think I'll pot up several different varieties at the same time that I plant my in-ground garlic. I'm in zone 6b with an average winter low of 0 to -5 (which is pretty accurate, from my experience) so we'll see what happens. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

[zorro777]

Originally Posted by simmran1

Afrance,

I really agree with Tom tjg911 on the growing technique.
Garlic will even grow during the winter months, mainly
because, though it’s freezing cold the ground as well as snow cover
is insulation in effect. Planting 2” below the surface,
freezing and thawing in garden soil does not normally heave the soil
to the point where the cloves are damaged.

But in a grow bag above ground the environment is much different,
and the cloves are much more susceptible to freezing and heaving.

I have never seen growbags advertised for growing garlic during
any season by any vendor. I guess if you don’t have garden space
your options are limited, but I wouldn’t waste the bag and potting soil.
I have and use tomato growbags during the summer and know they
are affected by the environment as I’m hoping to get another year out of
mine purchase in 2010. While the ones I got from Gardener’s Supply are
probably the best quality I see deterioration just be usage.
Anyway, you can experiment and do what you want but if you’re looking
for opinions, that’s my 2 cents. -Randy

I agree. Plants in containers do not have the benefit of the Earth's heat, are more exposed to wind and don't benefit as much from the insulating effects of snow cover.

[tjg911]

i hate to disagree with those who are agreeing with me but i don't think containers or bags are a good choice for growing garlic because i read in The Complete Book of Garlic: A Guide for Gardeners, Growers, and Serious Cooks By Ted Jordan Meredith that garlic does not grow well in containers.

as to the cold and not being in the ground, if you are in a latitude where the ground freezes the garlic cloves are in rock hard frozen soil so nothing is growing and the same would be the same for containers. when your ground is frozen solid 2' deep, it is not any different than being in a container and having that frozen solid but in the ground it is somewhat protected from say +5 or -15 degrees. i'm not sure that matters when garlic is only 3 or 4" below the ground but with 2' of snow on the ground that does insulate the ground but a container should be too. now if all you have is 5" of snow then the container is not insulated.

now when it warms up the ground does protect from heat and i suspect that's a lot more important. hot weather crops like hot soil and containers are ok but garlic is not a cuke or pepper plant.

tom

[fortyonenorth]

I agree - and looking at the Gardener's Supply website, their description seems to suggest that this is an ideal way to cultivate garlic - which, IMO, it is not. However, I don't see much of a downside for mild weather climates. In San Diego the closest they get to a cold spell is a losing streak by the Padres. Freezing temps, heaving/thawing are non-issues for those in zones 9 & 10.

Originally Posted by tjg911

i hate to disagree with those who are agreeing with me but i don't think containers or bags are a good choice for growing garlic because i read in The Complete Book of Garlic: A Guide for Gardeners, Growers, and Serious Cooks By Ted Jordan Meredith that garlic does not grow well in containers.

as to the cold and not being in the ground, if you are in a latitude where the ground freezes the garlic cloves are in rock hard frozen soil so nothing is growing and the same would be the same for containers. when your ground is frozen solid 2' deep, it is not any different than being in a container and having that frozen solid but in the ground it is somewhat protected from say +5 or -15 degrees. i'm not sure that matters when garlic is only 3 or 4" below the ground but with 2' of snow on the ground that does insulate the ground but a container should be too. now if all you have is 5" of snow then the container is not insulated.

now when it warms up the ground does protect from heat and i suspect that's a lot more important. hot weather crops like hot soil and containers are ok but garlic is not a cuke or pepper plant.

tom

[Elizabeth]

LOL - THAT kind of cold spell comes far too often between the Pads and the Chargers. I have a theory on that - the tougher the climate, the tougher the team....

I am firmly in the nothing ventured, nothing gained camp on the garlic. I had always heard that garlic isn't great in containers, but these containers are different than most, so what the heck. If they don't work for garlic, next year I'll use them for herbs.

I don't know about the heaving freeze stuff from personal experience. I have lived in areas of freeze, but it was in the San Diego foothills, so the freezes weren't the pipe busting, sidewalk cracking kind...although we did have the water freeze in the garden hose, which was kinda funny when you turned it on - all these water cylinders popping out the end.

[tjg911]

oh i thought the op asked that question and she is in ohio, gets cold there. but zone 10, cold is what 45 degrees?

[Elizabeth]

LOL - Heck no, cold is 60 - that's when we pull out our woolies, thin blooded folks that we are.

Really though, it drops into the 40's or high 30's on the coldest nights, no further than that. It's really rare to see frost here. When it happens every few years it really nails our fragile little plants.

[lakelady]

Last year (I'm also in Zone 6) I grew garlic and it did great! Planted in October, and I bought organic garlic at the farmers market and just stuck some cloves in the ground (hard and softneck varieties). In July I pulled a few, they were great but not ready ....now I have more that I got from Territorial Seed Co that I'm going to plant next week. Can't hurt to try!