Garlic?

[spryte]

I have a head of garlic that has spouted... can I just plant the cloves?

[GotGarlic]

Yes, you can. We do it regularly.

[spryte]

Green sprout up or down?

[GotGarlic]

Up, toward the sky Separate the cloves and plant them separately and they will make new heads. Here's more detailed information: My Store Bought Garlic sprouted.... - Allium Forum - GardenWeb

[spryte]

Nice!! Thanks!!

[Maverick2272]

Yup, got a couple of cloves that are going to go in the ground soon here, I hope it isn't too late to get em started?

[Katie H]

Doesn't the soil have to be a bit sandy or porous in order to work best?

[kadesma]

Nope Katie, we just turn the earth and break it up, then plant..Where we are the earth is or was very hard and packed, we added some gypsum and now have some great soil for our garden.

kadesma

[VeraBlue]

Okay, this really interests me.....

Tell me what to expect, please.

[Bilby]

Everybody tells me that snails/slugs avoid garlic and similar vegetables but here, they ADORE my spring onions, chives and garlic. One day there is a tub of green, next day a tub of dirt!

From memory, garlic likes a decent amount of water in well draining soil in a sunny position. Stop watering though when the garlic leaves starts to dry out as they should be mature. When the leaves are dead, harvest and store in a cool, dry place, preferably in the dark. Shoe box is ideal. However, I have often been too slack and have just harvested direct from the ground as needed instead. The snails hit last year's crop so I need to go and plant some more this year.

[Adillo303]

Spryte, (Tongue in cheek) maybe you are not putting enough garlic in your food.

Vera Blue - I followed the link in post #4 and it was pretty explanitory. The only thing it did not say was if garlic flowers or not. There is a follow on link on that site that goes to a garlic farm. Should be a lot of info there.

[YT2095]

another tip (literally) is when they get towards the end of growing, they will form a seed head that will flower, pinch that off.
your garlic will grow another ~10-20% bigger without it.

you Can eat it also :)

[Loprraine]

I've never had any luck when I planted them in the spring. I usually plant them in mid October, and harvest in July / august. Garlic scapes are great!

[bethzaring]

professional and amateur garlic growers plant their garlic in the fall. Even the links gotgarlic provided, say to plant in the fall. The reason for fall planting is to acheive maximum growth of the bulbs. If you do not care about the size of your garlic cloves, then plant them now.

I raise garlic to use and sell, so the size of the bulb and individual cloves are very important to me. I peel the vast majority of the garlic I use and I can't be fooling with small cloves. I raise a stiff neck white porcelain variety and have bred for large cloves, which really expediates meal prep. I would much rather peel one 2 ounce garlic clove, rather than 8 cloves that total 2 ounces in weight.

If you choose to plant your garlic now, I suggest that you only plant the largest cloves from each of your heads of garlic.

[bethzaring]

I forgot to provide the links for growing and using garlic that I keep bookmarked.

We grow great garlic in Wisconsin

The Deliberate Agrarian: Making Great Garlic Powder

Hood River Organic Seed Garlic - Garlic Tips - Garlic, Softneck, Hardneck

[spryte]

Hmmm... is this like growing flowers from bulbs? If I plant now am I likely to get anything?

I've tried to do spring flowers from bulbs a couple times. I plant in the fall.. but since my containers are above ground, and Pittsburgh winters don't really 'stay' all that cold, they usually sprout and die off some time during a warm stretch in January.

[bethzaring]

Originally Posted by spryte

Hmmm... is this like growing flowers from bulbs? If I plant now am I likely to get anything?

I've tried to do spring flowers from bulbs a couple times. I plant in the fall.. but since my containers are above ground, and Pittsburgh winters don't really 'stay' all that cold, they usually sprout and die off some time during a warm stretch in January.

I have never planted garlic in the spring, I don't know. I think you would be able to harvest something and maybe the resulting bulb would be smaller than the one you started with?? And the only experience I have with flower bulb planting is in the ground and I have had no die off.

[spryte]

I'll give it a shot!

[Maverick2272]

Originally Posted by bethzaring

professional and amateur garlic growers plant their garlic in the fall. Even the links gotgarlic provided, say to plant in the fall. The reason for fall planting is to acheive maximum growth of the bulbs. If you do not care about the size of your garlic cloves, then plant them now.

I raise garlic to use and sell, so the size of the bulb and individual cloves are very important to me. I peel the vast majority of the garlic I use and I can't be fooling with small cloves. I raise a stiff neck white porcelain variety and have bred for large cloves, which really expediates meal prep. I would much rather peel one 2 ounce garlic clove, rather than 8 cloves that total 2 ounces in weight.

If you choose to plant your garlic now, I suggest that you only plant the largest cloves from each of your heads of garlic.

So you guys are saying to plant the garlic in the fall and let them winter in the ground and that there won't be anything of significance in bulb size until next summer?
I am going to plant a couple just as an experiment now (might as well since they are sprouting on me!), and see what happens but sounds like I am not going to get much more out than what I put in.

[bethzaring]

Originally Posted by Maverick2272

So you guys are saying to plant the garlic in the fall and let them winter in the ground and that there won't be anything of significance in bulb size until next summer?
I am going to plant a couple just as an experiment now (might as well since they are sprouting on me!), and see what happens but sounds like I am not going to get much more out than what I put in.

Like any plant, garlic starts to grow as soon as you plant it. Yesterday I dug one of my garlic plants and it looked just like a leek, straight white part down to the root, no bulbing formation whatsoever. So yes, I guess most of the bulb formation will be this spring and early summer. Garlic is harvested in most places in early July.

I would suggest to you all who have sprouting garlic and a place to plant it, go ahead and experiment. I do not know when it will be ready to harvest, but I'm guessing it will be before or close to the time to plant garlic in the fall. If you are happy with your garlic, then you can just replant it at the appropriate time, Oct. to November for harvesting the following year. But it is recommended for garlic lovers, to plant a recommended variety from known seed stock (not unlike what I sell).