Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
jmzaleski

What happened

jzaleski
10 years ago

My garlic wont head up, I planted it in the spring, is this the normal, or did I do something wrong. I thought I'd have garlic by now.

Comments (7)

  • theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
    10 years ago

    Garlic really shouldn't be planted in the spring as it results in smaller bulbs. For the biggest bulbs it should be planted in the fall and left to overwinter. However, even by planting in spring you should have gotten garlic by now.

    What month did you plant? How deep did you plant? How far apart did you plant? Did you plant individual cloves or did you plant the whole, unseparated bulb? And is your garlic leaves still green or have they browned? It's a lot of questions but more info is needed to find the cause of your problem.

    Rodney

  • jzaleski
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I had a problem and could not plant in the fall, I planted them about ten inches apart and about four inches deep. The leaves are still green and starting to brown on the edges, I dug around one plant, there's not much of a head.I planted them very early same time i planted my onions, my onions were very nice, I have them drying. I was just wondering how long I should leave the garlic in.

  • theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
    10 years ago

    Four inches is too deep, in my opinion. I only plant mine about two inches deep. That coupled with the Spring planting might be the cause of your problems.

    As for when to harvest, I wait until about half of the leaves are brown which happens in July for me. If you wanted to you could pull one up now and use it as fresh garlic. You don't have to wait for garlic to be fully mature, it's fine to use anytime. However, if you plan on storing it then it does need to be fully mature.

    Rodney

  • kristincarol
    10 years ago

    Unless your soil is like cement, 4" should not be too deep. 10" otoh, is farther apart than I have found necessary. I plant in raised beds, about 6" deep and 4" apart and get a majority of large to huge heads that way.

  • jzaleski
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I just checked my garlic and a few of them are getting scapes, so maybe I have to wait a little longer, I wonder if I should water them. thanks for the replies.

  • jzaleski
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I think you were right about to deep, the scapes did not come on until I moved the soil around. Well we live and learn and when we think we know it all we're out of here.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    Onions and garlic do not need to be planted too deep.
    I used to plant my garlic such that the tip of the clove was covered an inch . With the onion set, the tips slightly covered.