Elephant Garlic

I know that garlic in general should be planted in the fall but what if you planted it in the Spring?
And also--I found some elephant garlic at the produce department at the grocery store. The cost was a lot less than buying elephant garlic from the catalogs. Would you grow it if you bought it from the grocery store? Do they spray garlic with something that comes from the produce department? This was a large garlic bulb with 6 to 7 giant cloves. I love the flavor. It is milder than regular garlic. I want to plant it.......now.......Can I ? I ask myself what is the worst outcome if I did......and I can't think of a bad outcome. With a long growing season--
I don't see why it wouldn't have enough time to get big and start new in the Fall.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

CarolynPhillips wrote:I know that garlic in general should be planted in the fall but what if you planted it in the Spring?
And also--I found some elephant garlic at the produce department at the grocery store. The cost was a lot less than buying elephant garlic from the catalogs. Would you grow it if you bought it from the grocery store? Do they spray garlic with something that comes from the produce department? This was a large garlic bulb with 6 to 7 giant cloves. I love the flavor. It is milder than regular garlic. I want to plant it.......now.......Can I ? I ask myself what is the worst outcome if I did......and I can't think of a bad outcome. With a long growing season--
I don't see why it wouldn't have enough time to get big and start new in the Fall.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

What could it hurt to try? The only time I have grown garlic was an accident. I planted the cloves from a head I got at the grocery store just to have the smell in the ground to deter gophers & such - which it did wonderfully! Then, to my surprise, several months later when I was cleaning out that bed, there was an unusual looking weed growing :scratch: - looked kind of like green onions, but I knew I didn't plant any (I had completely forgotten about the garlic cloves). So, I gently pulled and nothing happened. So then I started digging around the stem - and discovered a garlic head! Almost every clove I put in the ground grew into an small head of garlic. I don't think I planted them at the right time and the heat of summer stunted them, but it was still a great surprise!

TC

sorry----in between moving and breaks

The other question is== do you grow garlic kinda like you do onions when it comes to
making the bulb grow larger? I always heard that you should leave the top of the bulb
exposed and this would make the bulbs grow larger quicker. Gradual exposure as the bulb
grows larger.

I'm growing garlic myself for the first time.
In October I went to the local Farm Stand where I knew they grew only organic crops. I bought a couple of garlic heads and planted some of the cloves, pointy side up, 4 per square in 3 squares in my beds around Columbus Day early Oct for a summer crop. They need time to grow some roots before winter.

This is the further information I found in gardening books.

For a fall crop the following year you can plant them 1-2 weeks AFTER a hard frost in fall.

In spring encourage vigorous leaf growth by applying foliar seaweed or fish emulsion spray every 2 weeks. They need about 1" water a week from early spring to early summer and extra water if conditions are dry.

From July to harvest, stop watering.
Let the tops start to dry but not completely.
When there are 3 sets of green leaves with 3 sets of dry leaves, pull the crop.

Lay them on the ground in a shady spot to dry out for about 2 weeks. Or you can pull them up right there and lay the tops of a neighbor garlic over the garlic bulb nearby to shade it. Bundle and hang in cool, dry place at 32-50 degrees Fahrenheit with 60% humidity.

Keeps well 4-9 months in dry place. Do NOT freeze.
Do NOT keep in refrigerator.

As a companion plant:
Plant garlic cloves around roses, fruit trees and sugar peas as a companion to repel beetles.
Plant 2" deep and sow 3-4" apart.
Soak cloves a few hours before planting.
Do not mulch til the blades are up a short height.

Its all new to me but I'm going to try it. Especially the companion to roses, fruit trees and sugar peas. The Japanese beetle has become a vicious enemy for these things in my gardens. I feel it can't hurt and if it helps just a little, its worth the effort.

I have grown grocery store garlic with great success. If you plant garlic in the Spring, the bulbs will be smaller, but still very tasty. Then you could buy & plant more in the Fall for the following year.

Check out We Grow Garlic. They sell garlic by the bulb, not the pound & I ordered several different kinds last year. I planted them in the Fall, but they started growing right away and I was afraid they would be killed by the winter weather, but they stayed green all winter & are really taking off now.

Here is a previous thread that may be helpful.

Thanks camprn, the link to Hood River Garlic was great with lots of info. I've bookmarked it.