General information and discussion about cultivating onions, garlic, shallots and leeks.
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September 9, 2011 | #16 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut
Posts: 2,570
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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
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September 17, 2011 | #17 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Cincinnati
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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.
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September 20, 2011 | #18 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: NE Kingdom, VT - Zone 3b
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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.
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September 20, 2011 | #19 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut
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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
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September 27, 2011 | #20 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: North Cent Wisconsin zone 4a
Posts: 15
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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.
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September 28, 2011 | #21 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: San Diego Coastal - Zone 10b
Posts: 204
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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.
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Elizabeth If I'm going to water and care for a plant it had better give me food, flowers or shade. |
September 28, 2011 | #22 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Iowa Zone 5
Posts: 305
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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
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September 28, 2011 | #23 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NW Indiana
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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? |
September 28, 2011 | #24 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: North Cent Wisconsin zone 4a
Posts: 15
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September 28, 2011 | #25 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut
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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
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September 28, 2011 | #26 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: NW Indiana
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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.
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September 28, 2011 | #27 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: San Diego Coastal - Zone 10b
Posts: 204
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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.
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Elizabeth If I'm going to water and care for a plant it had better give me food, flowers or shade. Last edited by Elizabeth; September 28, 2011 at 12:47 PM. |
September 28, 2011 | #28 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut
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oh i thought the op asked that question and she is in ohio, gets cold there. but zone 10, cold is what 45 degrees?
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September 28, 2011 | #29 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: San Diego Coastal - Zone 10b
Posts: 204
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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.
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Elizabeth If I'm going to water and care for a plant it had better give me food, flowers or shade. |
October 2, 2011 | #30 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: northern NJ zone 6b
Posts: 1,862
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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!
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