Tomatoville® Gardening Forums - View Single Post

austinnhanasmom · October 25, 2011

This is my third season with garlic. The first year was a bust. I cut ALL of the leaves in the spring - thinking they were scapes...

I will have to try the 4-5 week chilling next year. I chilled for 2 weeks.

Last year, I planted some in late Sept and some in late Oct. I was happier with the earlier plantings, but it could have been the barely amended bed (vs a well amended one) and not the planting times..

My Sept plantings yielded some incredibly sized cloves, in my opinion - especially for a first year planting.

I planted in four batches. The first batch was my own varieties from last year and the subsequent batches were new to me - 2 orders and a trade.

I have planted 45 varieties of garlic, 4 varieties of shallots and 1 winter onion.

My soil is nasty clay but I added aged manure a few months ago. Even the older, better amended, beds were nearly hard as a rock by the time I planted.

So, at planting, I made a map and dug a trench. I tried to carefully place the cloves and fill in so they would stay in place and be 6" apart. Some varieties have cloves popping up and the cloves shifted! I fear some are now too close together. I have found that, for me, a map and markers are essential. I used bamboo sticks for markers but think yanking them out is too alluring for my kids/their friends. Since the beds are planted, I'll measure where the bamboo markers are and document that...Last year, the harvested garlic varieties looked similar to this newbie. Only when I cleaned/removed the wrappers could I maybe tell the difference - and then not always. I don't care for my own use, but keeping them separate is necessary for trading!

Next time I plant, I will try to till the soil a month before planting and then dig a small hole for each clove (use a dribble??), keeping the surrounding soil intact.
We are due for freezing temps tonight, so I am frantically mulching leaves to create a blanket for the garlic beds. My trees are in denial of winter and keeping their leaves! Nothing like mowing the neighbors' yards for garlic mulch....

October 25, 2011	#13
austinnhanasmom Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Z5, CO near Denver Posts: 225	This is my third season with garlic. The first year was a bust. I cut ALL of the leaves in the spring - thinking they were scapes... I will have to try the 4-5 week chilling next year. I chilled for 2 weeks. Last year, I planted some in late Sept and some in late Oct. I was happier with the earlier plantings, but it could have been the barely amended bed (vs a well amended one) and not the planting times.. My Sept plantings yielded some incredibly sized cloves, in my opinion - especially for a first year planting. I planted in four batches. The first batch was my own varieties from last year and the subsequent batches were new to me - 2 orders and a trade. I have planted 45 varieties of garlic, 4 varieties of shallots and 1 winter onion. My soil is nasty clay but I added aged manure a few months ago. Even the older, better amended, beds were nearly hard as a rock by the time I planted. So, at planting, I made a map and dug a trench. I tried to carefully place the cloves and fill in so they would stay in place and be 6" apart. Some varieties have cloves popping up and the cloves shifted! I fear some are now too close together. I have found that, for me, a map and markers are essential. I used bamboo sticks for markers but think yanking them out is too alluring for my kids/their friends. Since the beds are planted, I'll measure where the bamboo markers are and document that...Last year, the harvested garlic varieties looked similar to this newbie. Only when I cleaned/removed the wrappers could I maybe tell the difference - and then not always. I don't care for my own use, but keeping them separate is necessary for trading! Next time I plant, I will try to till the soil a month before planting and then dig a small hole for each clove (use a dribble??), keeping the surrounding soil intact. We are due for freezing temps tonight, so I am frantically mulching leaves to create a blanket for the garlic beds. My trees are in denial of winter and keeping their leaves! Nothing like mowing the neighbors' yards for garlic mulch....