[Yabba]

That's really cool, but :

You plant a supermarket bulb, costs a few pence and what the hell worse comes to worse, you lose those pence and buy certified seed next year

You get really unlucky and they're diseased, so you lose your few pence

And every other member of your site risks getting that disease

Gets worse if it's a disease that lingers for years yeah? (we're currently fighting a disease with our dahlias, gonna take a few more years to kill ... it's not fun )

¥

[bluelou]

Thanks DD. I have just read Galen and Trikidiki comments and I am rethinking planting supermarket garlic as i am starting a new allotment and dont want to risk any problems on the new land for me or others. Does anyone know of any good offers on good garlic seeds/bulbs?

[Yabba]

Thanks DD. I have just read Galen and Trikidiki comments and I am rethinking planting supermarket garlic as i am starting a new allotment and dont want to risk any problems on the new land for me or others.

Thank you

¥

[Trikidiki]

Wight Garlic Farm do a spring planting selection for £10.25

2 Bulbs Solent Wight
1 Bulb Picardy Wight
1 Bulb Tuscany Wight
2/3 Bulbs Lautrec Wight

http://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/Spring-Garlic-Planting-Pack-9602F43967.aspx

[bluelou]

Thanks Trikidiki, what a great website. Sadly the spring planting selection is to big for me, as i am need one bulb to plant as i grow in containers. Handly website to have on favorites.

[Yorkie]

Bluelou

I have a bulb you can have, it's an autumn planting one so not sure how well it will do but you're welcome to it if you'd like - just send me PM with your address details if so

[RobertB]

The only allium disease you're likely to come across is white rot, and that wouldn't be passed on via supermarket bulbs as they'd rot. It's a very nasty, infectious fungus disease which is often on allotment sites already (it is on mine), is almost impossible to get rid of, and can be spread just by walking mud around.

I've got it, but I've been able to control it by rotating, and being ruthless about burning any infected bulbs. I always get a few.

I've been growing Solent Wight and Albigensian Wight for years. I used to have Purple Wight as well, but mixed it up with Albigensian one year, and then found I'd only planted the latter. There are plenty of others out there, and if you're growing the Wight varieties you don't really know what you have as he makes up his own names. They vary a lot from garden to garden, so it's worth trying new ones to see which suits you best. Apparently a lot of 'different' varieties are the same things under different names. Patrick has some good information on his blog http://www.patnsteph.net/weblog/ .

[Trikidiki]

They get rust as well.

[realfood]

Supermarket garlic bulbs can carry a whole series of diseases which may not be apparent to the eye, though I frequently see signs of rot on supermarket bulbs bought for eating. You have a choice of basal rot, white rot, rust, botrytis rot, nematodes etc. These are not harmful to humans, but devastating if they contaminate your soil. Bulbs sold specifically for growing have to be inspected by trained inspectors during their life cycle in the fields to stop disease spreading.

[bluelou]

Bluelou

I have a bulb you can have, it's an autumn planting one so not sure how well it will do but you're welcome to it if you'd like - just send me PM with your address details if so

That is very kind Yorkie, I brought some spring planting bulbs at the weekend, so hope to do better this year. But thanks for the offer.

[andtiggertoo]

You would hopefully only have to buy in garlic once, as you can save a few cloves of your own each year to replant up the next season.

I have done this with autumn planted garlic, not sure if spring planted garlic stays good enough over the winter to be planted in the following spring.

[peapod]

Mine hasnt andtiggertoo.  Perhaps it was storage though, OH kept it in the fridge instead of where I strung it up as he was worried (rightly as it turns out) about frosts.

Im getting new this year, but I wish Id spotted it in wilkos first!

[andtiggertoo]

sorry to hear that peapod.

my garlic was originally planted in autumn, harvested the following summer and replanted in autumn again.

For the kitchen I whizz it all up in the blender and freeze in ice cube trays, and put the little blocks in a plastic tub in freezer. I did plait a few bulbs just because they look so nice hanging in kitchen but they have just started to sprout, so I know I'd fail to keep to spring planted garlic fit to replant right through the winter.

[Sweet Pea 2]

hmm, I thought I was doing the right thing by planting last years bulbs.  I prob didn't look after them which would explain the lack of growth  40 cloves

[andtiggertoo]

mine have definately survived the winter but they have put on much less growth this year than they had this time last year. I think it is the harsh frosts we've had. It doesn't kill it ( I think it's needed to split the cloves to form a whole bulb once it gets growing), but it's slowed down the growth.

I think my garlic shoots are ranging from just breaking the soil surface to about an inch tall at best, but they do look ok. In contrast my autumn planted onion sets are about 4" high now.

I mentioned the freezing for culinary purposes because i know I wouldn't look after them in the kitchen, never mind for planting out again the following spring ( hence the autumn planting)