Garlic, Advice Please

I have never grown garlic, but would love to try it. Since I don't know "beans" about garlic, except I like it, what is a good one to plant in my Zone 6. Any tips about caring for it etc.

Defoecat,

Just get the heads of garlic from the store, break them apart and plant under you maters. It is supposed to help keep aphids off 'em. When the bud forms on the stem of the garlic, bend it over so you dont make more seeds and the bulb will grow. That's what I do.
http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/pickle.htm

thanks imakylady. I didn't know if the ones from the store would work or not. Will try it and let you know the results.

I'm not in your zone but I never grow garlic from the store..I have heirloom creole varieties that I keep going year to year. As far south as I am, we need short day-length varieties that grow over the winter. I plant in late Oct-early Nov and harvest, usually, aroung summer solstice. I have patches spread out throughout the garden--there is one really good garlic company in Texas with good varieties for all
areas of the country and superb growing advice read the link in the thread above....(I've bought stuff from them--they are an excellent co.)
Debbie
A small area of mine--picture about 2 weeks ago.

I've never tried to grow garlic "for the bulbs", but I have sprouted cloves of the store bought ones in pots with my herbs so that I could have garlic leaves. I don't like "green onions", so everywhere I see a need for "green onions", I use garlic leaf trimmings. ...one can never have enough garlic... good luck!

Grow garlic that is suitable for your area. A lot of the garlic sold in supermarkets is a California Artichoke variety which may or may not be best for you.

Garlic is usually planted in the fall to get some root development done before the cold weather. Sometimes a very early planting will succeed.

Here's another good site with basic garlic growing info: http://www.naturalhub.com/grow_vegetable_type_garlic.htm

Wayne

Thanks everybody for the information. I have looked at both sites, and have gotten some good information.

Bonnie

Garlic sets are available at your local plant nurseries also, just like onion sets. Just put in the ground and grow like onions. You might try a couple of the cloves of ones from the grocery store and compare the two, just for fun.
I grew some from the grocery store last year. They grew but didn't get very big. But they were useable. Try it and see, nuthin to loose.

I've grown "grocery store" garlic for going on 10 years now. (Possibly longer!)

Grocery store garlic is usually "California White" (but may also be know as Ca. Artichoke, as Wayne mentioned above) and yes, garlic is day-length sensitive. I normally plant it in the Fall, around late October/November here in NC. (This year I was late planting out so started some in cell packs and transplanted them in late winter...so far, so good!)

A good rich soil (humus-y) with a side-dressing of N in early spring for topgrowth and a good dash of Potassium for bulb growth will bring you great results. (And again, the size of your harvest bulb will depend on when you plant the cloves.)

Ah yesss...garlic! Fried garlic (in olive oil!), baked garlic (so smooth and tasty!), pickled garlic (yummy!). Ya gotta luv it!

Shoe.

My grocery store garlic may not have gotten very big because I didn't fertilize it properly or planted it at the wrong time. Thanks Shoe, good things to know. I may give it another try here in zone 6.

Shoe, so your advice would be to wait until fall to plant? I don't want to do it at the wrong time, get disappointed and never try again.

PeggieK...I would certainly give it another try. Even the topgrowth is delicious even if you don't get huge bulbs. Besides, whatever size bulbs you get can be split into cloves and you can replant them and they'll become more and more acclimated to your climate as the seasons go by!

Sure wish this pic hadn't been resized so small...these are two of my most favorite harvests!

Howdy defoe!....

I think you'd be more successful with a Fall planting. If you plant now then by the time the topgrowth is large enough to help the bulb growth then it'll be a little too late for the bulb to really gain in size. What you'd end up with is small bulbs/small cloves. But, look at it this way...now you can better plan your Fall garden and be more "relaxingly prepared" for planting your garlic.

Thanks for the info. I will wait until fall, when I put out the broccoli and such.

I love garlic too--it's really a "no care" kinda plant for me...never lets me down. I just really like the heirlooms fro gourmetgarlicgardens--have been sowing the same varities for almost 20 years now.

Cool website http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/ - I like the quote : "Grow Garlic! The Life You Save May Be Your Own!" on one of their pages!

The site is just loaded with info! And the nicest folks if you ever need to talk to them!

Hi Defoecat, In Iowa, I fall plant. They come up in the spring and are ready to dig around July. I usually order from Territorial Seed. They have a great selection. Then you can save your own largest cloves and replant in the fall. I love the look of garlic growing.

Garlic is planted like your Fall bulbs (tulips, dafs, crocus, etc.), BUT, IT ABSOLUTELY can be planted in Spring ie, right now. You will get some development by the time you need to plant your Fall bulbs. A good place for lots of information is www.thegarlicstore.com . They have some varieties available now that can still be planted. You can always just order a small amount now and then re-order again your stock for your Fall planting.

Megan

This message was edited Apr 6, 2006 5:06 PM

Thanks everybody for your information. I think I will wait until fall, then I will have something new to look forward to next spring. I had just never considered growling garlic, was always content to buy it at the grocery, then my D(twin) S asked if we could grow it, and that put me on this present search. I will try to follow up, and tell you what I planted this fall.

Just ran across this thread - starts out simply enough as a lovely photo and turns into a tutorial on growing garlic - just thought someone might be interested. There's several pictures & some ideas on cooking the garlic flowers, too ... http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/523128/