[Syrius H Kumquat]

Hello everyone,

I grew a supermarket-bulb's-worth of garlic last year in a small bed about 2ft x 4ft.  Today I went to the plot with five bulbs, and had to choose between expanding the small bed and digging an entirely new one.

It was drizzly and rainy and the any new area (expansion of small bed OR new bed) would mean digging through turf - the plot is not yet given over to cultivation entirely so basically, it's either grass, or I've covered it because I'll be growing on it next year.

Being lazy and given the weather, I opted to expand the 2ft x 4ft area, and put the garlic in.

I'm not taking it out because I'm a stubborn sod, but the question is - will the fact that some of the plot was used for garlic last year/this year be a serious problem - essentially, should I rotate garlic?  The parts of the plot I've managed to tame and cultivate is rotated and I know some stuff, like asparagus (which I'm not growing) doesn't rotate, but does garlic...?

[mumofstig]

Garlic, just like all the other Alliums, should be rotated - but as long as you didn't plant the bulbs in exactly the same place as they were - they will be ok.

[Syrius H Kumquat]

I'm pretty certain that I didn't get them in the exact same place (the odds would basically be impossible...) and most of the cloves went into the new bits I'd dug...so that's a relief.

Many thanks!

[Goosegirl]

People who grow onions, garlic, etc for commercial reasons have to use the same ground. Have a look at Robinson's Mammoth Onion website and see what they say. As long as you buy your bulbs from a reliable source it should be fine.

[DD.]

As long as you buy your bulbs from a reliable source it should be fine.

And thereby hangs a tale if you use supermarket garlic!

[mumofstig]

People who grow onions, garlic, etc for commercial reasons have to use the same ground. Have a look at Robinson's Mammoth Onion website and see what they say. As long as you buy your bulbs from a reliable source it should be fine.

As discussed on this recent thread
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=126920.msg1485695#msg1485695
the products used are no longer licensed as soil drenches.