Missed the garlic boat?

I've been given a bag of seed garlic. It's from some nice heads harvested in late summer that I'd hoped to get sooner for fall planting, but oh well. When should I plant them, here in zone 6? And what can I expect by way of a harvest? Also, must they be planted in a particular position? I'm new at garlic, so any advice is welcome.

AGHHHHHHH. No one?

Anybody? I am interested to know the answers to this one!

My guesses - plant the cloves pointed end up (not the attachment end) about a cloves length into the ground in the spring. Use as garlic chives or wait until next year to harvest as bulbs. There - that's my guess.

-Kim

Zeppy, I would expect the ground to be frozen, by January, I use to live in Radford (zone 6) and spent quite a few years in the Charlottesville, area (z 7). Not a garlic grower, but from the cultural instructions it appears that anytime in the fall early winter before the ground freezes is good. Spring planting works, but the bulbs will be smaller since the daylenght triggers will be missed. http://www.naturalhub.com/grow_vegetable_type_garlic.htm
http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/C854.htm#Garlic%20Culture
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1627.html
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/cropsystems/DC7317.html
http://thegarlicstore.com/index.cgi/howto.html

Wonderful; thanks!

Yep, Fall planting is what I do here and that's what it takes for me to get good-sized bulbs (harvest around June/July).

However, you can also go ahead and start your cloves in cell packs, Zeppy. The deep six-packs are good if you have some left over from last year. This way the cloves can start growing their roots now and have a bit of a head start rather than waiting till Spring. Or, if you have a nice-sized container then fill it with soil mix and plant directly in there now.

Plant the cloves about 4 inches apart and as deep as they are long, just barely under the ground level. (And yes, pointy end up.)

Wishing you great success! Soon you'll be showing off braids of garlic, eh!? :>)

Ah, good idea, Shoe. I'll do it!

You may be able to plant in early spring, according to Garlic-Central http://www.garlic-central.com/when-to-plant-garlic.html

Wayne

Thank you, Wayne. I wonder how long the chilling should take place? I suppose it's sort of "forcing..."

Zeppy--
I'm clueless about what you should do but I've got TONS of Lousiana Creole Garlic varieties growing and will save you some cloves this summer if you are a garlic lover. They are great!
Debbie

I too am new to the world of garlic planting... So this thread caught my eye :)

Out of curiosity, what is "Louisiana Creole Garlic"? A friend gave me some German White garlic last year to try in my cooking and I noticed that it was far and away better than anything I could find in local grocery stores. That's all I know about garlic (grocery stores= boring, garden-fresh=good)! Is the Louisiana Creole variety spicier than most?

Zeppy...you oughta take Debbie/dmj up on the creole garlic....those varieties apparently do well in hot weather areas...would be perfect for our long hot summers! (Then share your extras with me!)

calypsa, La Creole garlic apparently originated in Spain and also the south of France. They are a more heat tolerant variety(s) and are great both for cooking but also for heating raw/as is. I haven't grown any German White (only Calif White). Maybe you should check into getting some growing stock and see how it does for you in your area. Can never have enough garlic!

I'm just reading these past three posts for the first time... I intend to! I love Spanish garlic (but I'm not sure my summer's quite as long and hot as yours, Shoe). When I lived in Spain we'd make this incredible garlic soup... oh dear, now it's in my head, I'll have to hunt down the recipe and make it again.

in a house that ALWAYS smells like garlic...
Zeppy

shoe you mean like these I planted three weeks ago. Ernie

Ernie, I mean EXACTLY like those! Beautiful!

Luv it!

I had some of those "50's" trays but decided to use my 36's this time (turned out the number of cloves I had came out to the proper number that would fit five trays).

Works great, doesn't it!!?

Hmm, we have some cloves of garlic from the grocery store, and I noticed one is growing a shoot! Would grocery store cloves work if I try what Ernie did? Do you do anything special first, or just plant them in the trays? Do you keep them outside? We are anxious to start our first "real" (I hope!) garden this year now that we have new property with a great, huge garden area. This could ge a good start!?

--Dana

dana, I've grown 'grocery store garlic" for years. That variety is most likely gonna be "California White". And yes, you can stick your sprouted close in a pot/cell pack/whatever and it should do just fine.

If you set the pot outside, just don't let it freeze. Like any plant it would go into a shock if not properly hardened off.

Wishing you good fortune on your garden this year!

Shoe.

We're excited to get started, so this is something we can plant now-- what fun! We're both huge garlic lovers, too, so it will be a good way to start. :) Thanks for the info, and I'm sure glad I found this thread!

--Dana

This is great! I am definitely going to try planting in trays. I have some garlic I "lost" last year under the weeds that is sprouting up about 6"-8". I can dig them and re-plant in trays ad actually get a harvest. Nothing to lose anyway. And a fresh start in the Fall. Thanks!

Shoe I didnt think of the 32s think I may like them better. I did some in a big deep pan and some others in four inch pots as well .I should get an idea of which works best for me. I started about 300 ,my friends will be happy in another month lol.

Danak these are the same as grocery store ones I got the seed from a market garden Carl saves seed from year to year his wife braids hundreds of braids to sell and they save the ones with broken stems for seed .Noy to late go ahead on just bring them in at night as shoe says dont let them freeze good luck.

Shoe I couldn't resist yesterday lol look at my trainees grrrrr

I'm glad someone mentioned planting store-bought garlic that has turned into sprouts. I just came across an old few cloves in the back of the cupboard a couple of days ago and found that they were happily sending up shoots in search of the cupboard door. I have many spare pots laying around, so I've got the space to poke some into dirt. Is there any special type of growing medium that they would prefer? And since it's February and very cold still here in Michigan, I think they will have to be indoor garlics... Time for me to do some homework to see if this is a type that I can ever put outdoors :)

Debbie,

I'd love to have a start of the creole garlic... Perfect for my bayou recipes and a compliment to my file'... Would you share a clove or two with me?

Swoz

Yay, as soon as I get some time, I'm definitely going to plant them. When I was growing up we never did garlic, and we always waited until late spring to plant anything. How exciting! Thanks for starting this thread, Zeppy! I guess we didn't miss the boat. ;)

Shoe, if I've put them into the cell packs, at what point do I transplant? (Our last frost date is May 10 or thereabouts, though I know I should transplant well before then)

roseone...if your garlic is already 6 inches tall it sounds like it is doing fine where they are. Can you just cultivate around them, pulling the weeds away gently? If so, they'd be fine where they are and you probably wouldn't need to transplant them to pots.

Ernie, beautiful picture! Lookit that nice dark dirt! And yep, them "trainees" are paying close attention! Lookin' Good!

Zeppy, I'd set them out more by how their root system and top growth looks. If the roots are filling out the cell packs nicely and you have a balanced topgrowth I'd put them in the ground at that time. If they are growing in the house though I'd still harden them off before planting them out in the cold. My cell packs are growing just fine in an unheated g-house; they get sun and warmth during the day and cold at night so I feel they'll be comfortable and do just fine when I set them in the ground.

I planted mine in the fall. They are just starting to come up. Some shallots I planted at the same time started coming up sooner. This is my first time for garlic. I planted both the hard and soft kind. I have a number of varieties. I bought it from a grower and it was quite costly - $16 a pound! It better not rot on me for that price!! Hopefully it'll all work out and I"ll be using the cloves from this year's harvest to replant for next year.

Gwendalou

As a good place to buy and get info, I bought my garden starter pack from Filaree Farm in 2004. I paid $18.00/lb also. I learned that the sandpoint garlic didn't do so hot, but the Purple Stripe and Silverskin variety did very well, with the Silverskins being the largest bulbs here in my 7a NC garden. This past November 2005, I planted the 2 types cloves in the ground. The are about 3inches tall now. Can't wait till June/July to harvest and dry them out. Looking to obtain more hot weahter types. Thanks.

Rebecca30

Seeds of Change is where I got mine, $6.65 for half a pound (internet price). They carry several varieties.
http://www.seedsofchange.com/garden_center/browse_category.asp?UID=&category_id=6345