I am in my second year of veggie growing and have had some success and failures, garlic being on the failure side, all the gardening books I have seem to have differing views on how deep to plant the bulbs. I plant mine in pots in October (1st yr with tips showing, 2nd yr 2" deep) in my cold frame then I put them in the ground when I have room (when my brassicas have gone), then when the leaves turn to yellow in summer I dig them up and the result is very disappointing - very small bulbs! Can someone pls help.
Oh, I too am very dissapointed that the excellent weather forecast has gone, it was great for knowing when to look out for frosts.
I have to smile reading the reports on garlic, I gave bulbs to my daughter to grow but after the length of time that should have grown decent store there were these miniture bulbs no bigger than a finger nail,(really cute) we still laugh as they were perfect.
I plant it at varying depths depending on the time of planting and the conditions, but as long as it is below the soil, and not mroe than an inch deep (think this covers all the variations listed!) I don't think you should have problems. As for harvesting, I can't wait until it is really ready and usually start before the foliage starts to yellow -this makes for a particularly juicy crop. But the majority I try to lift once the foiliage has yellowed and on a dry, warm day.
i planted garlic for the first time last year and it was a great success. I lifted it when it started flopping over. I will be planting mine in november.
I grew some wonderful Solent Wight and Blanak last autumn, following Pippa's advice about ridges in an earlier blog. The spring-planted ones grew hardly at all, so I've left them in the ground to see what happens (if anything). Also disappointed about the weather forecast disappearance!
I have grown garlic for the last two years and this year my garlic was useable but on the small side. I noticed some rust on the leaves and advice books said that rust can stunt growth and lead to rotting off. As well as removing any leaves with rust, the advice was to harvest early. Can rust be treated or how long do I now need to avoid garlic in this area?
Hi There is no chemical control available for garlic rust but keeping the foliage dry ie no overhead watering, will help to keep it in check. Yes it can reduce growth as it causes the leaves to die back early, but unless it hits very early this is of little significance in my experience. Best to rotate garlic with other crops ie 3-4 yrs, but the rust won't remain in the soil but other problems might!
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Oh, I too am very dissapointed that the excellent weather forecast has gone, it was great for knowing when to look out for frosts.
The spring-planted ones grew hardly at all, so I've left them in the ground to see what happens (if anything). Also disappointed about the weather forecast disappearance!
There is no chemical control available for garlic rust but keeping the foliage dry ie no overhead watering, will help to keep it in check. Yes it can reduce growth as it causes the leaves to die back early, but unless it hits very early this is of little significance in my experience. Best to rotate garlic with other crops ie 3-4 yrs, but the rust won't remain in the soil but other problems might!