[Mr B]

Hi All,
    Looking to grow garlic for the first time and believe that now is a good time to plant them. I think that my soil my be a bit too wet for them through the winter so I was wondering if I could grow them in pots on the patio over the winter and then plant out in early spring. Has any one tried this?
Regards,
Chris

[crh75]

I have never tried them in pots myself. But I'm sure you can. I would use fairly deep pots (6-8 inches).
I'm sure it will work a treat.

[Trillium]

That would be the best size to start out (6-8" deep) as the roots will get quite large and you definitely don't want to stunt the bulb growth.

[Ropster]

yes I have done this before and it works fine, as others have said use decent sized pots as they have big

[Parsnip]

Yes, I grew mine in pots last year and i'll put some in at home this year too ( we go through  lots of garlic) - It was very successful 

I used big pots that I'd grown my green beans in before, using the same compost.

[SG6]

The post says that you want to plant them initially in pots then in spring replant them into the ground.

Not sure how well they would take the relocation. They could stall in their growth and some could die.

Could you not simply leave them in the pots to grow or simplier plant them next spring and let them grow then. This was how I grew them the first couple of years and fairly good.

[Mr B]

Hi All,
    Thanks for the response, I think I will try a few in deep pots and see how they go and try some in the ground at the same time and another lot in the ground in the spring and see which works best.
   Thanks again,
Chris

[Elcie]

Hi All,
    Thanks for the response, I think I will try a few in deep pots and see how they go and try some in the ground at the same time and another lot in the ground in the spring and see which works best.
   Thanks again,
Chris

Would be great if you let us know which one was most successful!  I was thinking about pots as don't see why they wouldn't grow successfully in them as long as they were deep enough.  Good luck.

[Mr B]

Hi Elcie,
     The ones in the pots came through the winter fine as did the ones that were planted in the ground both lots are now 3" high. seems the soil is not too wet as first thought.
regards,
Chris

[bonfire]

Early spring is a few weeks away but you can plant garlic in open ground anytime from now on. A few more dry days make a big difference to how workable the ground is. Garlic doesn't mind how wet it is planted - in the wild it is a plant for boggy places that dry out in summer. It is just your standing on the wet ground to plant it that is undesirable. If it's your first go why overcomplicate and go through the palaver of planting in pots then replanting a few weeks later?

Patience is an underrated virtue and a lot of the forcing, potting and protecting I see around me seems to be for the benefit of the gardener rather than  the crops.
Use the space compost and pots for plants that need a start out of the cold like tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and so on.

[bonfire]

Ooops! Didn't notice this was from October..............
My comment a bit too late to be helpful then.

On the other hand why have pots of garlic kicking around all winter when you have months and months to plant them in open ground from September till spring? Garlic is about as hardy as you can get.

I'm still perplexed.