I grew garlic in Oct. for the last 2 years

Garlic should be no problem for you, as far as growing it goes. 8A should head up without a prep-chill like we need in zones 9 and 10. Recommended planting time for real winter areas like yours is around the vernal equinox. Further south and it needs to get into October before the weather cools significantly. Garlic planted in the fall will have more time to develop a strong underground system than spring planted garlic. The plants will go dormant if you get enough cold, but will bounce back when the weather warms. Harvest in zone 9 and above is around March or so. Your zone will be later.

I hope that is what you were after as a winter crop, because harvesting garlic in the winter requires significant environmental changes⦠temperature controlled grow houses or moving south of the equator.

As we approach the garlic seed shipping season, our higher zone growers might want to re-read this http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/flgard/msg0411054313013.html

Larry

I had great garlic last year, here on the 8b/9a border. I planted some in November and some in early January. Both made heads, but the November garlic was much bigger (no surprise). The November garlic heads were every bit as big as the heads of seed garlic.

I pre-chilled my garlic for 8 weeks. That might not have been necessary with the cold winter we had, but the problem is you never know in advance whether the winter will be cold or mild.

Zackey, you are in the S. portion of 8b, just a little ways across the FL/GA border, right? You probably need to grow garlics that are adapted to mild winters, or pre-chill the garlic before planting.

I am linking a great website with information about good garlic varieties for mild winter areas, along with planting instructions.

Note: I don't have any affiliation with this site, but I did buy some really nice seed garlic through them last year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Garlic in Mild Winter Areas