Garlic - help please

11 years ago

Good day all,

I have five very nice garlic bulbs saved from last year that were going to be planted in October/November 2012, but I did not plant them because we are moving in late spring. These bulbs are the best select from four generations in my location now and are big, potent, hardy and well suited to my climate. However, I am moving and obviously I cannot plant them here. I could in theory plant them at the new location when the soil has thawed, usually in early to mid April for that area.

My aim is not to have a great harvest for 2013, but rather to have a harvest for planting in late 2013. Is there any thing I can do to save this garlic, or do I start anew at the new house?

Thanks for the advice.

Michael

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Comments (5)

planatus
11 years ago
If you plant your saved garlic in April and let it grow as usual, you will keep your strain going. The bulbs will be small because of their shortened growing time, but you will get bulbs. If they are hardecks you can let a few produce topsets, too.
kristincarol
11 years ago
You could plant them in containers now so you can easily move them. I had pretty good luck when I tried planting 7 or 8 in a 18" plastic pot.
night_scented_stock
11 years ago
Hi still_kris,
Did you leave the garlic in the pots all season and get good results ?
kristincarol
11 years ago
I did not do so this year, but last year I did three or four 18" pots and had pretty good results. However, those were planted in Fall just a bit after my regular crop.

If keeping your precious heirloom strains is important then I'd try this because they will probably rot before planting time this year.

You do not get many per pot, but it should be worth it.
elliosc
11 years ago
I used to plant in pots when I didn't have a space in the garden. I planted them very close (maybe 1-2" apart). Once i had a spot, I carefully took them out, preserving the roots as best as possible, and planted them in the garden. Never had any issues with transplanting troubles, but this was done in the fall.

The first time I grew garlic, I think I left them in buckets pretty much all winter, putting them in the ground in Feb.

I don't think that's the ideal way to grow them by any stretch of the imagination, but if it gets you an extra month or so of growth, it might be worth it.