Should I try Garlic?

For over 11 years my only garden crop was popcorn. Had my own varieties. Now, I do not have enough teeth left to eat popcorn. Garden has been idle for 2 summers now. Should I try garlic? My soil is very sandy, no clay, some humus. Gets sun most of the day but all day long. Fenced in - rabbits and deer. Google tells me fall planting is best. Missed that. Probably get my bulbs from Jungs. Anyone here with some experience that might help me decide? Gene

The Garlic in the summer will probably go dormant in the sun . fall or spring , sounds like a good crop to grow.. Mine come up early even from under the frost and snow in early spring.
My Garlic likes it cool . . I never get the bulbs to grow back to size ,, But I have Garlic ..lol

Of course those I don't dig or use are dormant again about mid-summer , then they return a while in the fall .. A few short weeks they grow "poof" then their gone again ..

Sorry, but I do not understand.

What is it that you do not understand ..?
Garlic will grow for a while in the spring , you can plant it then . It is only usual and more natural as a fall planted bulb .. Think Daffodils ... About the same , really .. Except you can't eat Daffodils ..lol

This message was edited Jan 31, 2014 3:00 AM

gasrocks - Have you considered Egyptian walking onions? They're like a perennial onion/shallot and they're quite fun to grow with their strange shapes. Plants last for years and you can harvest from both the top "ornamental" cluster or dig them up.

Cindy - thanks so much. Just ordered some. Gene

The strongest ever ready here, all seasons except February is the garden leeks , Kind of strong though , but dependable .
Usually harvesting the leaves or stalks and letting them grow back again. My Egyptian walking onions have gone dormant also the past summer ,, surprised me when they did that .. likely a water thing though , not as attentive as I often should be..

Strange about the walking onions going dormant in summer. Do they need to be divided? I planted some in my father's garden a long time ago and they grew for years being totally ignored. His garden though did sit a little lower than his yard so maybe more moisture?

When I get more of them going , I will move a few to see where they grow best , My Garlic likes light shade , I would not of thought that either ,
So it has to be an earth , moisture , temperature , difference going on there ,

The leeks grow anywhere Sun , shade , The desert, the forest , they would grow .

My onions, are not happy here . Easiest things to grow giving me trouble growing them , makes me wonder .
At least they all grow here though , I should be happy with that

I do recall that the walking onions in my dad's garden did get afternoon shade from wild crab apple trees so maybe you have a point, juhur. His onions have been in the ground for about 30 years and they were from bulbs from an old garden as well. DD now has offspring of them in her MI garden. Have never grown onions or leeks since my gardens have been mainly ornamental. I do wish (at times) that I had space for a real vegetable garden instead of sneaking them in among the perennials and shrubs but limited sunlight dictates.

Here is a very informative website for garlic in Wisc.

http://www.wegrowgarlic.com/12401/17001.html

Got mine from here. This will be the third year of growing it. Won second place in the county fair with mine. lol

Getting the spot in the garden ready. I'll be planting the garlic soon. It should be planted around the second week of October.

Gene, were you able to get any garlic?

No garlic. I tried Walking Onions instead and they did not survive the dry spells and weeds. May get some garlic now. Gene

Gene - your walking onions didn't make it? Sorry to hear that. I had the impression that they were pretty fool-proof but sounds like I was wrong.

Older plantsof walking onion are virilent , strong , and hardy , Thing is , Establishing any is about the same as most ..
Garlic that fell in my garden , are growing now , fall and spring the Garlic grows here , I never get large bulbs though ,

I got 15 bulbs. Only 6 sprouted. Only 4 made it to a foot tall. I did water and weed them. But I guess I lost interest after a while so the fault is probably mine. Though if anyone else asks, I'll say it was my poor soil. Gene

Gene, d-mail me your address and I can send you some.

Gene - Still sorry about your "poor soil". :)