Winter planting of garlic and onions-help

jercarol 9/14/2011, 4:46 pm

When do I plant my garlic and onions for the winter? How long before frost date? Also i have some garlic that is sprouting already, should I plant this?

My first SFG did great this year but the trouble was it made me soooo lazy that I let many things go to long before picking...HUGE nasty green beans! LOL

Thanks,

Jerry in MD:D

**camprn** 9/14/2011, 6:32 pm

jercarol wrote:HUGE nasty green beans!

Make really good spicy dilly beans! Wink

If I was in your zone I would plant end of October through the end of November. When do you usually get snow sticking to the ground? you want to put it in before then.
Read more here. Very Happy

westie42 9/14/2011, 11:30 pm

Weather this year still has us scratching our heads over how to do much in the garden. With frost or even hard freeze tonight the growing season could come to an abrupt halt for much in the garden. It should get back to normal but It sure feels like doing my garlic planting here in 4B about a week early makes sense. Look at the we grow garlic website for a good tutorial on growing garlic. www.wegrowgarlic.com . Most likely other garlic sellers have tutorials on line also. I just bought a good book “The Complete Book of Garlic” by Ted J Meredith but have not had time to digest much info yet but this weather may hurry that process a bit.

AprilakaCCIL 9/14/2011, 11:37 pm

westie42 wrote:Weather this year still has us scratching our heads over how to do much in the garden. With frost or even hard freeze tonight the growing season could come to an abrupt halt for much in the garden. It should get back to normal but It sure feels like doing my garlic planting here in 4B about a week early makes sense. Look at the we grow garlic website for a good tutorial on growing garlic. www.wegrowgarlic.com . Most likely other garlic sellers have tutorials on line also. I just bought a good book “The Complete Book of Garlic” by Ted J Meredith but have not had time to digest much info yet but this weather may hurry that process a bit.

Weather this year still has us scratching our heads over how to do much in the garden

Yep...I'm scratching my head often here lately. Does not help my being a newbie to all of this either!!!

westie42 9/14/2011, 11:46 pm

LOL, I think being a newbie my have it’s advantages at a time like now as you don’t have as many assumed expectations.

AprilakaCCIL 9/14/2011, 11:50 pm

westie42 wrote:LOL, I think being a newbie my have it’s advantages at a time like now as you don’t have as many assumed expectations.

Great point here westie42 lol!

jercarol 9/18/2011, 3:41 pm

Thanks everyone for the imput. Any onion suggestions??

pharmerphil 9/26/2011, 8:00 am

here in s.e. Mn. we will plant garlic in about two weeks (second-third week of October) 6-8 inches apart (depending on variety) knuckle deep..and mulch with 3-4 inches of grass hay..or oat straw (haven't decided on which and the availability of GOOD 1st. cutting grass hay)

as for onions, never have fall planted any, except walking onions

FamilyGardening 9/26/2011, 12:45 pm

can i use store bought garlic.....we bought some to can with and some of the cloves were so tiny...it didnt seem worth trying to peel them.....so i was wondering if i can stick them in the ground? or pot? Im trying not to plant anything to over winter in to the SFG because we are going to make my 4x4's and 2x8 taller and hubby said we could build a couple more cheers

for next year!...so our red rock SFG is going to go under construction this winter Very Happy

thanks

rose

pharmerphil 9/27/2011, 6:29 am

FamilyGardening wrote:can i use store bought garlic.....we bought some to can with and some of the cloves were so tiny...it didnt seem worth trying to peel them.....so i was wondering if i can stick them in the ground? or pot? Im trying not to plant anything to over winter in to the SFG because we are going to make my 4x4's and 2x8 taller and hubby said we could build a couple more for next year!...so our red rock SFG is going to go under construction this winter

thanks

rose

Rose. you could try them; however, some store bought garlic has been treated so they will not sprout, making germination difficult..to impossible.
Also, most store bought garlic is soft neck, not knowing what type grows best in your area/region, this type may not be the best for your area.
Here in Mn. hardneck varieties are the best bet.
Sitting here with a great big bunch of beautiful heads makes me want to plant the smaller cloves and EAT the Big ones...But, the opposite is the rule, choose the biggest/best for re-planting and eat the small cloves...
That being said; Many have planted store bought garlic (myself included) and had a fair to good harvest!
Good Luck, hope this helped Smile

Good Green Guru 9/27/2011, 6:57 am

Unfortunately most grocery store garlic sold in the US these days was grown in China. Garlic from China is generally treated with chemicals - typically maleic hydrazide or methyl bromide- or treated with radiation to stop sprouting and to kill insects and plant matter. It is frequently also"whitened" by using chlorine or with a mixture of sulphur and wood ash.
These are great reasons to grow your own as Garlic is recognised as a valuable ingredient in maintaining a healthy life and combating disease.

The best garlic for planting in my opinion is garlic purchased from local organic farms or markets. You are purchasing locally grown garlic varieties that will produce in your climate zone.

Good Green Guru

**camprn** 10/2/2011, 8:28 pm

http://www.motherearthnews.com/grow-it/how-to-plant-garlic.aspx

Chopper 10/3/2011, 4:20 am

Good Green Guru wrote:Unfortunately most grocery store garlic sold in the US these days was grown in China. Garlic from China is generally treated with chemicals - typically maleic hydrazide or methyl bromide- or treated with radiation to stop sprouting and to kill insects and plant matter.

That said, I did use supermarket garlic and has really good success. being in California I suppose it could have been 'local" (Gilroy) but I have no idea. All I know is I won't be buying garlic anytime soon. I harvested a year's supply!

Still, for the not super cheap, buying garlic to plant from a seed source is a more sure way to success.

pharmerphil 10/4/2011, 6:59 am

Agreed Chopper...I have purchased and planted garlic from the local Coop with success, but that was certified organic.
last years crop though was from seed stock purchased from local growers...we planted 176 cloves and harvested 176 fresh Large beautiful heads

quiltbea 10/4/2011, 10:30 am

When buying garlic to plant, try your local organic farmer's market for fresh garlic you buy to eat. That's what I did last year. They told me they used no chemicals so I felt safe in planting the cloves. Worked out just fine for me. You can then also be sure they are the variety that grows well in your area.

I understand garlic needs to grow some roots before hard frost arrives so just be sure to plant them a few weeks before heavy frost. In zone 5a that's around Columbus Day. Light overnite frost won't hurt new plantings because they are underground.

Good luck!

**camprn** 10/4/2011, 10:42 am

Last year I planted my garlic the second week of October. It took right off and I had lovely healthy greens about 4-6" tall when snow hit (I had mulched with autumn leaves). My plan is to plant my garlic 10/28/11 the last day of the waning moon. We'll see if that helps some Very Happy

Dunkinjean 10/10/2011, 3:26 pm

I ordered my Italian Late Garlic and just received it today!

It is my 1st time growing garlic so I am very excited. cheers

Anyway, has anyone ever grown garlic around the sides of the box? (I thought garlic helps deter some bugs)

Or do most people plant 9 in each box?

Thanks for the help. flower

moswell 10/10/2011, 7:36 pm

Camprn - based on your experience in NH last year, I decided to wait at least another week before planting my garlic and shallots this month! It was 80 degrees or so here this weekend, after all. Smile

quiltbea 10/10/2011, 8:41 pm

I planted 22 cloves today, the 10th, in 4 squares. I was putting 5 per square and had 2 leftover I didn't want to waste, so tucked those in as well. I hope I have as good luck as I did last year.

Winter planting of garlic and onions-help 09-28-12

Winter planting of garlic and onions-help 09-28-12

This years take from last fall.

pharmerphil 10/11/2011, 4:57 am

Ours is scheduled to go in this coming weekend...
Sure is tough picking the seed stock cloves...
The Rule being: Plant the Largest cloves-harvest large heads...

We were blessed with the majority of last years crop being big lovely heads, so the picking was easier...;
but still, it's tough to take the ones You'd LOVE TO FIND...in the market and KEEP for the kitchen...
And PLANT the cloves You'd Love to...But never would find in the market into the ground...
But, Ya gotta keep your eye on the prize...and those big juicy heads of fresh garlic come summer!!

**camprn** 10/20/2011, 10:23 pm

I am going to plant mine just a wee bit closer than this fella recommends.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=MYfcb3LAoX4

sherryeo 10/21/2011, 3:57 pm

Wow! I got my $14.62 worth of seed garlic - 2 bulbs! It cost almost as much for shipping as for the garlic. I did want to start out small since I've never grown garlic, so I guess that's ok. It'll be worth it if they grow well and give me bulbs to plant next year.

I got 10 cloves from one of the bulbs and planted those today in one square. I think I'll wait until later to plant the others to see how they'll do after being refrigerated for a few weeks. We have to refrigerate some flower bulbs to make them grow here due to our (usually) mild winters, so I wondered what effect it would have on garlic. Some of you may scoff, but it's just for fun anyway. I've learned to be much more relaxed about gardening and enjoy the process from some of the more experienced forum members. Very Happy

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