Garlic coming up

I noticed that the garlic I planted in November has shoots popping up already. I assume this is due to the mild winter we've had here in SE Michigan. Have I lost this crop completely? What do I do?

Welcome N4packers! There is ton of stuff to check out here at the SFG forums! Hopefully you have read Mel's book - All New Square Foot Gardening. We are always enjoy pictures of gardens, so post some up...

Anyway, garlic is fairly resilient to cold, but if you get serious cold weather - down in the teens, then I would put a quick blanket over it. Even if the tops freeze and die, they should still grow when it warms back up.

n4packers wrote:I noticed that the garlic I planted in November has shoots popping up already. I assume this is due to the mild winter we've had here in SE Michigan. Have I lost this crop completely? What do I do?

Do you have any mulch on top of the garlic bed? You are so far north and we still have quite a while of winter to get through. if you can put some leaves, pine boughs, something like that over the bed, it may stabilize the soil temp. You have not lost your crop, but it may need a bit of protection.
to the SFG Forum!

Welcome to the forum. Garlic is very cold tolerant. Not to worry.

I planted on Nov 1st. and mine are about 4 inches tall. Heck even some of my tulips I planted on the same day as the garlic are poking thru but not as tall as the garlic. This goofy winter has alot of things screwed up...even me. Im riding my motorcycle one day and sweeping snow off the porch the next. LOL

N4Packers, Do you know what variety of garlic you planted? Some varieties spring out of the ground even before you get the snow shoveled off the deck. This year, I planted four varieties, with hopes they'd mature at different times during the summer. Chinese Pink is one of these, it's supposed to be mature enough to harvest in late May, early June and is long-storing. We'll see, as we've never grown this variety before. Already the tops are 8" to 9" tall. St. Helens Red is a mid-season variety we've grown for years, usually ready for harvest first week of July. Now showing growth above ground. Bavarian Purple is another mid-season one new to us, and just barely showing the tips of new growth. Sevilla Sunset is supposed to be late-season variety and shy about showing its tops this early. Supposed to be one that can be dehydrated. Again, we'll see. Anyone else out there growing any of these varieties and willing to share info on the garlic's growing habits in your neck of the woods? I'd love to know. Nonna

n4packers-- Your post got me curious so I went outside to have a look at what the plain old supermarket garlic was up to. Crumpled under the tarp, beneath the straw, with wild variable temperatures, 60 degrees this past week and snow today:

I don't think I am going to worry too much

My garlic was poking through a 5" layer of straw so a few days ago I just removed it. So of course we had frosts the last few nights. But Feb is pea planting month around here so I'm not worried about it. Some of the stunted, yellow shoots are already turning green and straightening up.



Kay

Thanks for all your responses. My garlic is just supermarket garlic and appears to be doing fine. We're in SE Mich. I also consulted a farmer friend and was told the same things...garlic is hardy and should do fine; mulch if you want to.

BTW, sorry it took me so long to respond. I thought I'd get e-mail notices, but perhaps I need to look into my settings here or on my e-mail account.

n4....to be notified by email, go to Profile, then click on Preferences and the 6th entry down, "Always notify...." you want to check 'yes' to be notified of any responses to any post you have posted to.

Thanks!