Stick with the two links I posted, you can't go far wrong with Gardeners
World website and the RHS. Get some books written by famous UK
gardeners and read those.
I’m reading as much as I can. The problem is that there is too much conflicting info.
out there. In the space of a day I’ve
read/been told that garlic cloves must be six inches apart, three/four inches apart (ruralsprout site),
three cloves in a six inch pot (The Garlic Farm site) and then find a site
where garlic plants are crammed right
next to each other!
Very confusing to say the least!
I'm probably reading too much and keeping to the two sites that you mentioned might be a good idea.
Back when we went to school we went through a proven system of education, we started out in a nursery, then infants school, then junior school and so - on. It works pretty well, it was and is a structured approach.
Right now you're not doing that, we're just faced with info coming at us from all over the place. So you've got people growing stuff and they don't even know the basics of what a plant needs because they never started at the right place to begin with. It's up to you to educate yourself, so maybe take a step back and review the learning process.
I picked up a book by Titchmarsh called 'How to be a gardener' and read it. It's easy to follow and set me on the right path.
Some things have a right and a wrong way, some have many different ways and none are wrong or right. As far as garlic and spacing is concerned then look at it logically. Get a pic of a whole grown garlic plant and consider each of it's 3 main parts: How big is a garlic bulb? Lets say a golfball. How big are the roots? How far have they spread from the bulb? How wide does the top growth go? As far as garlic is concerned this is not an issue as they're thin and go straight up. If it was a cabbage we would space a lot further apart to suit the top growth, but not to suit the roots as they are smaller.
So the governing factor for garlic is probably the roots as they spread out a bit further than the bulb, lets say to the size of a tennis ball.
So once we've got answers to all that and considered them we can plant accordingly. Put each plant in where it can't interfere with the one next to it or the sides of the pot.
^ That there is your very basic considerations on spacing. Once you've got a few growing seasons under your belt and you're getting consistently good results then you can (if you so wish) move onto step two. Step two is trying different methods. This is when we try Supermarket garlic, we put them closer together or further apart to see what happens, grow something hydroponically, trying different composts or fertilisers etc.
You see, the closer they are the more you can fit into a space so it's more productive. BUT they'll need feeding more as there is only so much nutrient to go round down there. Also they might start touching each other and some people like to grow like that (personally I don't).
Where are you on the Pennines btw? I may have asked you before, but i'm sorry if I forgot.
Plant in Oct/Nov - it is an amazingly resilient plant and about the only thing on my plot that survived the cold snaps this winter. Spring garlic is always inferior as it lacks the months of setting down a good root system.
You basically need a raised bed or similar. Most ground doesnt have a sufficient depth of fertile soil and so the bulbs will be small and underwhelming.
I picked up a book by Titchmarsh called 'How to be a
gardener' and read it. It's easy to follow and set me on the right path.
My father was an excellent gardener but I don’t think that
he ever read a book about it in his life. It may be that it's something that you just pick up as you go along. I think that I've taught myself how not to grow garlic which will be very useful when I have another go at it
Where are you on the Pennines btw? I may have asked you
before, but i'm sorry if I forgot.
A few miles west of Buxton
At about 750 feet on the western edge of The Pennines. Clay soil.
@InTheMoorlands I'm new to garlic growing, too. The reading I've done came down to two options; hardneck or softneck garlic. Each can be grown in my area, but hardneck is cold hardy, so that's where I started. Since we have a long, cold winter here I always go with plants or vegetables that can adapt or cope with the worst conditions. I opted for an autumn-planted variety that needs the cold of winter to get going. I also planted directly into a raised bed instead of containers, so I'm no help there. I do agree that there is so much information, it can be difficult to decipher what applies to your garden in particular. My greatest resources have been other people in my area who grow garlic, and suppliers within my hardiness zone. I wish you luck on your garlic adventure, and I'm hoping my own turns out well.
New England, USA
Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
You can waste years learninng from experience and books have long been a source of info so don't dismiss it out of hand.
The How to be a Gardener series on the Beeb was brilliant for explaining how plants grow and what they need to soil types and local conditions to what and when to plant where. I don't actually believe you know how to grow garlic or you wouldn't have asked the original question.
Let's just hope the answers you've had will help you do better next time and, if you de decide to grow cabbages or root crop or salds etc, do take heed of simple advice form the Gw and RHS websites before diving in as different crops have different requirements and spacings and many can be grown in pots.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
My father was an excellent gardener but I don’t think that
he ever read a book about it in his life.
He probably tried something and if it worked, did that again and if it didn't, tried something else. It's not fool proof, as a method, because the weather changes and what works one year may not the next. But then again, when you read a book, the author is invariably giving advice based on their own experience, which will be location and soil specific. Anyone who moves house a lot is unlikely to be a successful gardener - it takes a while to learn about the place you live.
Don't be hard on yourself, don't give up on what you have until you've proven it doesn't work and try to keep a journal so next year, you can develop your strategy.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I think that you have shot it with these no matter what you do. Unless you read the label you do not know where the shop bought garlic was initially grown. If its Spain or another hot country its a no, if its China you don't know where abouts in China it was grown it could be hot or a cold area. When I was in hospital for several months my wife planted 200 at our allotment and they look brilliant. She says she is now queen of the garlic as well as queen of the strawberries. When I came home I planted a couple in pots in the greenhouse and they don't look too bad but not as good as the ones at the allotment which are under netting. My experience of spring set garlic is that they never produce as large a bulb as the autumn set ones and they don't get the frosts to split the bulbs into cloves.
The information you find varies because conditions vary. 6 inches apart might be to far in a good soil with adequate rain and not far enough in a poor or dry soil.
It also depends on how big you like your garlic, do you want massive palm sized bulbs with huge cloves or do you want small bulbs with correspondingly small cloves.
So just plant them out however you like and see if you get what you want from them. Personally I plant mine about 2-3 inches apart in the row and 8 inches between rows. It works for me I get medium sized bulbs almost exactly the size you find sold in the supermarket, and I can get my hoe down the rows. My garlic came originally from the supermarket, I've been growing the same stuff for the last 8 years.
Posts
It works pretty well, it was and is a structured approach.
Right now you're not doing that, we're just faced with info coming at us from all over the place. So you've got people growing stuff and they don't even know the basics of what a plant needs because they never started at the right place to begin with.
It's up to you to educate yourself, so maybe take a step back and review the learning process.
I picked up a book by Titchmarsh called 'How to be a gardener' and read it. It's easy to follow and set me on the right path.
Some things have a right and a wrong way, some have many different ways and none are wrong or right.
As far as garlic and spacing is concerned then look at it logically. Get a pic of a whole grown garlic plant and consider each of it's 3 main parts:
How big is a garlic bulb? Lets say a golfball.
How big are the roots? How far have they spread from the bulb?
How wide does the top growth go? As far as garlic is concerned this is not an issue as they're thin and go straight up. If it was a cabbage we would space a lot further apart to suit the top growth, but not to suit the roots as they are smaller.
So the governing factor for garlic is probably the roots as they spread out a bit further than the bulb, lets say to the size of a tennis ball.
So once we've got answers to all that and considered them we can plant accordingly. Put each plant in where it can't interfere with the one next to it or the sides of the pot.
^ That there is your very basic considerations on spacing. Once you've got a few growing seasons under your belt and you're getting consistently good results then you can (if you so wish) move onto step two. Step two is trying different methods. This is when we try Supermarket garlic, we put them closer together or further apart to see what happens, grow something hydroponically, trying different composts or fertilisers etc.
You see, the closer they are the more you can fit into a space so it's more productive. BUT they'll need feeding more as there is only so much nutrient to go round down there. Also they might start touching each other and some people like to grow like that (personally I don't).
Where are you on the Pennines btw? I may have asked you before, but i'm sorry if I forgot.
Plant in Oct/Nov - it is an amazingly resilient plant and about the only thing on my plot that survived the cold snaps this winter. Spring garlic is always inferior as it lacks the months of setting down a good root system.
You basically need a raised bed or similar. Most ground doesnt have a sufficient depth of fertile soil and so the bulbs will be small and underwhelming.
My father was an excellent gardener but I don’t think that he ever read a book about it in his life. It may be that it's something that you just pick up as you go along. I think that I've taught myself how not to grow garlic which will be very useful when I have another go at it
A few miles west of Buxton
The How to be a Gardener series on the Beeb was brilliant for explaining how plants grow and what they need to soil types and local conditions to what and when to plant where. I don't actually believe you know how to grow garlic or you wouldn't have asked the original question.
Let's just hope the answers you've had will help you do better next time and, if you de decide to grow cabbages or root crop or salds etc, do take heed of simple advice form the Gw and RHS websites before diving in as different crops have different requirements and spacings and many can be grown in pots.
Don't be hard on yourself, don't give up on what you have until you've proven it doesn't work and try to keep a journal so next year, you can develop your strategy.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."