Garlic, when to plant?

clairebeautiful

clairebeautiful

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Have read and heard that garlic is one of those that you plant in the Fall and let it stay dormant all winter.

So I'm wondering, is now the time to plant? (I'm in NC, no freezing nights yet, but it is getting down to the 40s and daytimes are hovering around 60).

Also, is there any truth to taking a clove straight from a bulb from the store and growing it in my garden?

Garlic growing tips - much appreciated.
 
There are 2 types of garlic. soft stalk garlic which should be planted in the spring - it has a soft stalk and is prone to rotting over winter and is not as hardy ( I understand), tends to have smaller more numerous cloves but grows more quickly and not surprisingly hard stemmed/stalk garlic which has a hard stem. It is the hard stem stuff that is planted in autumn. it tends to grow more slowly, it is hardier than soft stemmed garlic varieties and tends to have larger cloves. It is also my preferred version, but as mentioned before requires a much longer growing season.

Personally I have always purchased garlic from garden centres because I like to know what variety I am growing and that it is a hard stemmed version. Usually I purchase it with my onion sets which get planted out around October. We had our first frost here last night (ground frost) so now is the getting close ot the limit of planting our around Cheshire in the UK.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
There are 2 types of garlic. soft stalk garlic which should be planted in the spring - it has a soft stalk and is prone to rotting over winter and is not as hardy ( I understand), tends to have smaller more numerous cloves but grows more quickly and not surprisingly hard stemmed/stalk garlic which has a hard stem. It is the hard stem stuff that is planted in autumn. it tends to grow more slowly, it is hardier than soft stemmed garlic varieties and tends to have larger cloves. It is also my preferred version, but as mentioned before requires a much longer growing season.

Personally I have always purchased garlic from garden centres because I like to know what variety I am growing and that it is a hard stemmed version. Usually I purchase it with my onion sets which get planted out around October. We had our first frost here last night (ground frost) so now is the getting close ot the limit of planting our around Cheshire in the UK.
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Interesting and good to know. Someone gave me one of the hard stems (I think!!) the other day. Must get it in the ground.
 
We just planted garlic that had sprouted from the grocery store and we have had garlic for months. I am in Georgia and so far my plant is holding up pretty well. My green onions (which you can plant the same way) is still doing really good too.
 
How do you know when to harvest them? I'm wary of bulbs and tubers, because I'm so impatient.
 
zestery said:
How do you know when to harvest them? I'm wary of bulbs and tubers, because I'm so impatient.
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With garlic, unless you want green garlic, you need to wait until the plant has flowered, shrivelled up & died. Then lift it and hang it up to dry somewhere dry & warmish.
As for potatoes/carrots/parsnips/beetroot. if you dig them up early you get smaller tubers. With carrots this usually means they are sweeter. But the best thing to do is plant a line of them and harvest them as you need them, using your harvesting to thin the crop naturally. With beetroot, you can eat the younger leaves in salads so I always used to plant extra beetroot. With potatoes, if you are careful or have one of those patio containers that allows it, you can simply remove a couple of tubers as and when you want, leaving the plant to continue growing. (this is more difficult in a veg plot, but not impossible).
 
Thanks! I had heard the "wait till it dies" thing about potatoes, but didn't know you could harvest early (though of course that makes sense, now that I think about it) and certainly didn't know you could selectively harvest them.

Good to know, I think I'll try some garlic for starters, I certainly eat enough of it!
 
I'm just happy mine seem to be growing, the weather is poop outside but the shoots are few inches high now and look ok!
 
I bought some organic garlic recently and one of the cloves was just beginning to sprout. I planted it in a pot and the green shoot is growing rapidly. I shall allow it to grow and flower and seen what happens. Hopefully I shall get a new garlic bulb from it eventually.
 
A few years ago, I purchased one chive plant and two garlic plants. I kept them in large containers because they spread wildly. Every summer they come up no matter how cold the winter has been. I have done the same with thyme, parsley, and onions. Now, the mint I planted has jumped out of the container and spread out into the driveway.
I have done so well with containers that I no longer plant from seeds.
 
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