Garlic Lovers Thread - Growing and Eating in the MAF

I meant to say- let Judy tell us cuz she has the big garlic...
Maybe using the containers let them speed up; some extra warmth? Mine are in a raised bed but only six inches raised?

If garlic needs so much Nitrogen--how about a hand-full of lawn food sprinkled all over?
That would be very high in N.

I read the link, Judy. Not many of us have Horse manure available????
Best i could do is buy a couple bags of that "Humus and Manure" at HD.
You can smell the manure when you open that bag!

Hey! maybe that 'soil" could be used to make Compost Tea????
I have a zillion knee high nylons rotting away. Fill and soak in a 5gal bucket as suggested
in the link...

What do you all think? I better get with it--I have not fertilized my garlic with anything...
I am sure I dug in some of my compost, though, before planting.
G.

Go with a handful of lawn fert since you have it.

The new wisdom on compost tea is NOT to soak it for days.

My garlic has a leaf disease- I think Downy mildew. Ends of some leaves turning purple and tan.

http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/factsheets/garlicdiseases.pdf

Is that the same as what the Impatiens has?
Can they cross-infect?

Bummer! Gita

i don't know.

My garlic looks very healthy and is about twice as big as a week or two ago! Glad to know it wants to be fed... I have some granular 10-10-10 that I can throw at it. Don't forget to feed your spring-blooming bulbs also as their blooms come to an end... that extra boost will help their leaves feed the bulbs for next year!

Jill--for the bulbs? same thing--10-10-10-?

Or--Bulb Tone? I have that. I do not have any 10-10-10. Should get some.
Seems to be recommended for many things...

As I have said before--I seldom fertilize anything. i DO do Roses. And--occasionally MG liquid.
My fault! Things would be more "lush" if i did. At least a lot more robust.

I get SO tired doing all the watering and weeding and mowing----fertilizing gets pushed to the side.

Gita

I tend not to fertilize either, same reason I think. Plus, I just irrationally feel like if I do everything else, that they 'should' have enough.
I fed my bulbs earlier, using blue water the stuff as soon as the leaves appeared, a few times.

I did not go back and check any specifics , but I did a Bulb Aftercare article one spring-
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2399/

Minnesota Garlic Crop Wiped Out--August 2012
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cornucop/msg0813043821394.html

sigh.
there goes my high from last yer, feeling like I'd found a problem free crop.

Me. too. Along with hosta . coleus, roses, impatiens, basil tomatoes, potatoe bees and butterfliessand elms and oaks and ash, our forests, bananas......

Interesting how each grower thought it was their own fault, or the weir weather until they came together and began to compare notes

Bleek/ Bert from Touch of Nature says to fertilize bulbs 3 times -- in fall, at planting time, in spring as soon as they start growing and getting buds, and again right after flowering. Bulbtone would be good... seems to me a high phosphate fertilizer would be especially useful in fall, for root growth over winter... but you can just throw some granular 10-10-10 around, I think.

I have some OLD...OLD fertilizer I got in the late 80's. it iss called "Electra"---and it was used, exclusively,
by the very famous, large Florist here that I worked one spring season at.

I sprinkled some of that all over my garlic. Who knows--it may be nothing but dust by now....
Just in case it still works--NPK ratio--5-10-3. It says in the below link it is no longer made...

http://thegardenconsultantri.blogspot.com/2008/10/mourning-death-of-electrai-think-i-can.html

Gita

This from Burpee on garlic fertilization

SOIL PREPARATION:
Garlic should be planted in a fertile, well-drained soil. A raised bed works very well. Remove stones from the top 6 inches of soil. Work several inches of compost or well-rotted manure into the bed, along with 10-10-10 fertilizer.
SPRING CARE:
When the leaves begin to grow, it is important to feed the garlic plants to encourage good growth. A teaspoon or two of a high-nitrogen fertilizer that decomposes slowly, such as blood meal or Osmocote should be gently worked into the soil near each plant. If the mulch has decomposed, add a layer to help retain moisture and keep weeds under control. In late spring some garlic varieties produce flower stalks that have small bulbils. Cut these stalks off. This will insure that all of the food the plant produces will go into the garlic bulb itself and not the clusters of bulbils. In the month of June the garlic plants stop producing new leaves and begin to form bulbs. At this time you will remove any remaining mulch and stop watering. The garlic will store better if you allow the soil around the bulbs to dry out.
________________________________________

The more top growth garlic puts on once growth starts in early Spring the more energy the plant will have to 'store' in the new head forming in the ground. This is why garlic is fed in early Spring.

This message was edited May 1, 2013 8:28 PM

Thanks, Coleup!

Sounds like we might be a little late with the fertilizer, then... but better late that not at all, I'm sure.

I didn't realize the soil around them needed to dry out. LOL, I figured the opposite and planted them right along the soaker hoses! I'll shift those, and they'll stay reasonably dry-ish, depending on the rain.

Hello Garlic Lovers. I've started harvesting my garlic scapes this past week.

The Elephant garlic sent up flower stalks first and then Music. Harvested enough for a good stir fry aaddition fo Memorial Day meals!

Garlic Man has been cutting scapes for about two weeks now and offering small bunches of them for sale at the Farmers Market. along with what he calles garlic onions which are like green onions but really are first year garlic grown from bulbils.

According to him, once the scapes are up and cut the garlic is in to bulb completion time when it forms the wrappers that protect the cloves and make them store-able for the long term. Kinda like each aboveground leaf represents one wrapper. When four or so of the bottom leaves turn brown it is time to harvest. He estimates 2 - 6 weeks post scape cutting to harvest, of course depending on weather. Garlic needs to have green leaves to cure properly, unlike onions that you just let die back before harvest.

Since I am growing all of my garlic in containers, in 'potting soil' I have carefully dug down around several plants to get an idea of bulb size. Elephant is about double what I planted and others are approaching golf ball size. With warmer weather here this week I am hoping bulbs size will increase. I hope harvest time gives me bulbs the size of the ones we got from Garlic Man and used for seed!

How are you all doing?

I guess the shallots will need to have their tops fall over and dry before they are ready to harvest.

Judy

Pictured garlic 'Music' scapes Elephant Garlic flower stalk above tall bearded iris!

thanks for the info.
I noticed scapes on my Elephant garlic last night, none on the others. I think the others necks are shrinking down a bit from their fattest diameter, maybe starting to dry up.
My challenge will be keeping the varieties separate after harvest. Minimum I want to keep the largest one or two each for replanting.

I thought it was nice of Mother Nature that the garlic I grew last year lasted (just barely) freshness wise until chives and spring onions were growing .

Judy--

I need a bit of 'educating" here....
--How do I know a "scape" from the regular leaves? Is it a skinny leaf shooting up?
--How far along do you allow the "scape" to grow before cutting it off?
--WHAT is so edible about the 'scape" ? You said you harvested them for a stir-fry?
--I have not fertilized this area at all.....should I still do it? The only thing, from what
you mentioned, that i have is Osmacote. I do not have dried blood...need to get some...but...$$$$$

My Elephant garlic leaves are almost as big as yours, Sally. The other garlics look just like a ninch of Chives
The Shallots have fine leaves and all have the "falling over" look...

Well--it IS my first time....I tend to plant things and forget them...not doing anything special...
Sometimes, when i do these "experiments", it is not worth the space they take up.
I could, easily, use the space I gave this "experiment" for something else...
besides--I am not a heavy garlic user.....as I do not cook all that often...Then I use garlic Powder
or granulated garlic. I DO use freshly chopped garlic when I make my Pickles, though.

Judy--I would appreciate you posting pictures of what to look for when it is time to harvest any and all that we planted..

Thanks, Gita

Just went outside to take these pictures

--My Elephant Garlic
--The Shallots mess (that is Dill among them)
--All the other garlic
--My whole garlic/shallot bed...
--My Pakistani neighbor's Grandkids--They came out to walk to the school bus..
The girl is in 4th grade....The little boy (ahem--the Devil) can't wait to go to school.
I pity the teacher.....He is NOT used to being with other kids and is quite assertive and spoiled.

Just a couple quick responses. Just remember that I am as new at garlic growing as any of us. I'm basically doing what Garlic Man does and relaying it here.

Trickiest part of garlic growing is knowing when to harvest " the goal being largest bulbs that (like Sally and Nature achieved) will keep the longest.

Most say cutting the scapes (see pic below) where they join the stem before they form the second curl will produce larger bulbs than letting them go to flower. Plus the scapes are edible. Scapes have that little 'bump' somewhere along their length

Once scapes are formed the bulb and individual clove 'wrappers' start to form. If bulbs are harvested before wrappers are fully formed, that bulb won't keep as long. If harvested after wrappers are fully formed but left in ground too long, the bulb will begin to split apart into individual cloves. Again, shortening storage life.

Scapes are like green onion tops but garlicky.

Will see if Garlic Man has anything to add early tomorrow am.

Gita, too late to feed now. Yours still look like good growth.

Pic 1 singke scape first curl Pic 2 two scapes uncut note lighter colored bulge. No curl yet.

thanks.
I broke the scapes off my Elephant garlic yesterday, no curl.

My other shows no sign of scapes. I seem to recall these softnecks are not expected to make scapes.

Last year I harvested in June- but I think we had more hot weather by then (now) also. They had started to look like they were drying up and some bent over. The individual cloves were hard to peel. I attribute that I guess to them being fresh, and maybe I had lifted them a bit early, not allowing the cloves to separate at all _??

Next is details about how it should cure. Maybe a new thread at that time..

Just killing time before bed--and decided to check out ATP.

Lo and behold--a nicely illustrated (photos) advice on when and how to harvest garlic.
Very timely--no? Gita

http://allthingsplants.com/ideas/view/dave/1307/When-Is-the-Right-Time-To-Harvest-Garlic/

I have a scape on one of my Elephant garlics!!!!

How long should i wait before I cur it? It is just beginning to have a slight turn...

G.

Gita, the scape on the elephant garlic will just grow straight up without curling, so you can cut it now.

If you don't cut the scape, there will be a flower like chives or, in the case of elephant garlic a giant allium! I'm letting one of mine bloom.

Nice article by Dave on garlic harvest!

Wonder what all this rain will do to picking that ideal harvest time??

Sally, I'll start a new 'harvest and cure' thread after I talk with Garlic Man at Farmers Market tomorrow am

Is that OUR Dave???? I did not make the connection......
Boy! he has matured--no more skinny face! Still--good looking....Better, actually....

You know what I learned from him, that we had never discussed here--is that--
for every lower leaf that yellows--it is making another layer of that papery stuff on the head.

Did you know that--Judy?

Lets move over to Part #2

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1317821/