Garlic is here!

The garlic orders have started to come in. Today I received my order from wegrowgarlic.com.
Now the hubby knows why I want two 4x6 beds. One dedicated to my garlic. I have two more kinds coming plus multiplier onions for the other bed.

Bavarian


Chinese Purple

Since you are in my region, when do you plan on planting it? Do you plant 5, 9, or 16 cloves to a foot, or do you have a different system?

Last year I planted the last day of October. I just planted grocery store garlic and had great luck. I planted 9 to a square and I think I will stick to that again this year.

think I will do the pre-soak they recommend though.

"Basically what you do is soak the cloves overnight in a solution of one heaping tablespoon of baking soda, one tablespoon of liquid seaweed, and one tablespoon of vinegar per gallon of water. (we start with warm water for the soak but that's our own variation) Then follow up with a three or four minute soak in either 140 proof vodka or rubbing alcohol just before planting. The skins will fall off the cloves during this soaking process, that's okay. Note: You really don't want to do this soaking process inside the house. It stinks to high heaven!!! Also be sure to process each variety separately or you're not going to know what they are when you're all done."


They also suggest topping with 3-4 inches of straw. I will use leaves because I have PLENTY!

Hello - I just planted a batch of garlic today. I too will use leaves as a cover. What needs to be done from here? Do I need to water it? This is the first thing I have ever planted.

shogun357 wrote:Hello - I just planted a batch of garlic today. I too will use leaves as a cover. What needs to be done from here? Do I need to water it? This is the first thing I have ever planted.

Nope, plant it and forget it. Congratulations, you are a gardener.

So, camp, do you have to try not to water the garlic square when you water the rest of the sfg? Do you just start watering it in the spring when it develops leaves or when?

This is the first time I've planted garlic and I'm unsure about when/how much to water it. Thanks.

I would plant it and forget it. It will slowly do it's own business. I wouldn't water it unless it was a very dry environment. It wont need a lot of water until spring. This time of year things grow very slowly; when the temperature goes down, cell division decreases and ceases around 36F. It will snow and water the bed just enough. In the spring after the green foliage begins to show and the mulch has been lifted you may want to add a layer of compost onto the bed surface to feed the plants. Seriously, garlic is just simple.

Thanks, camprn. It rarely ever snows here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, though. I know it seems odd to those of you who are so used to snow, but snow is so rare for us here that it's one of those things you call each other about - "hey, it's snowing, go look quick before it stops!" It's like a holiday if it actually snows enough to be able to build a small snowman. A lot of the younger kids here probably haven't seen actual snow yet in their lifetimes.

Hope we all have good luck with our garlic!

I just planted my garlic and shallots yesterday. I did the baking soda soak, then the rubbing alcohol soak before planting the garlic. Now that bed is garlic/shallots/asparagus. I'm excited about this. So far, the underground crops have been my most successful!

camprn wrote:

shogun357 wrote:Hello - I just planted a batch of garlic today. I too will use leaves as a cover. What needs to be done from here? Do I need to water it? This is the first thing I have ever planted.

Nope, plant it and forget it. Congratulations, you are a gardener.

I hope to harvest many German Hardnecks next season.

Not sure if this is necessary or even a good thing to do but I covered my garlic box with a layer of burlap and topped it off with an inch or so of mulched leaves. Good? Bad? Waste of time? Thanks!

You are going to want to remove the burlap and just put the leaves down (4+ inches) when the ground actually gets colder, which will be soon, in a few weeks. Between now and then the garlic will grow under ground and may poke a little green out, but that is ok.

I've cleaned up my beds and added lots of compost to one preparing to plant garlic tomorrow. Is there anything special I need to do since I'm planting in a tabletop?

Kay