[Mum2mj]

Hi all
Hope everyone had a great Christmas 
As above, I really didn't have time to get any garlic in the ground & we've had some hard ground frosts this last week. I've got two varieties that I can apparently plant in spring which is okay but one variety is def autumn planting. Can I plant in pots in a sheltered place do you think?
Any advice welcome

[mumofstig]

Hopefully we'll lose the hard frosts next week, and you can plant them out then.................

[snowdrops]

Or you could plant in modules or individual pots & plant out later.

[sunshineband]

Or you could plant in modules or individual pots & plant out later.

This works well and you can keep them in the pots for quite a while if they have enough root space

[Growster...]

Or you could plant in modules or individual pots & plant out later.

This works well and you can keep them in the pots for quite a while if they have enough root space

We have some from last year, and although I wanted to plant them in November, I forgot, so they're going into modules pretty soon!

And I can't even remember what they are, other than that we bought them several years ago, and they reproduce every year...

[Mum2mj]

Modules it'll have to be then as I haven't gotten around to preparing a bed yet either 
Will they be okay being outside in modules with hard frosts? I don't have a greenhouse or coldframe anymore

[Growster...]

Modules it'll have to be then as I haven't gotten around to preparing a bed yet either 
Will they be okay being outside in modules with hard frosts? I don't have a greenhouse or coldframe anymore

Just pop 'em in, Mum, they don't mind a frost as they seem to thrive on a bit of the cold, so you may have a sheltered spot there you can keep an eye on them...

Why worry, you have them ready, just go for it!

;0)

[Mum2mj]

  okay will do!

[pigguns]

Not being a garlic expert in any way, I thought Autmn garlic has to experience a frost to clove up?

[Kristen]

I thought Autmn garlic has to experience a frost to clove up?

Yup

[Mum2mj]

They do like a frost but I was worried the modules wouldn't be protective enough as there wouldn't  be much soil around them & also the impact of frost on cloves that haven't started growing yet 

[Kristen]

also the impact of frost on cloves that haven't started growing yet

That I don't know, but I'll tell you next year. Haven't planted mine yet  and they are outside, lying in a heap on the ground, covered with a sheet of perspex, propped up on a couple of bricks, which has been there since they were harvested ... good intentions and all that.  I'm hoping to plant them in the next couple of days, so we'll see if they grow well next year ... or not

[BabbyAnn]

I thought Autmn garlic has to experience a frost to clove up?

Yup

sorry to sound contradictive, but I might question that theory .... last year when I was late planting some out (mid-January 2014), we never had any frost whatsoever thereafter and if anything, the weather was very mild.  I was a little worried about them not turning out alright but in fact they were fine.

This year I'm once again late planting the last batch and was hoping to finish off during the Christmas break but with snow and ice on the ground, in the meantime have resorted to planting them into pots.  They are somewhere cool and frost free at the moment (windowsill in an unheated room) as I want to encourage the roots to grow before popping them outdoors later.

[Kristen]

last year when I was late planting some out (mid-January 2014), we never had any frost whatsoever thereafter and if anything, the weather was very mild

Yes, you are quite right. There is no need for "frost" as such, just a period of "cold". So Garlic planted in modules should not be mollycoddled in a heated greenhouse, for example, but rather subjected to low temperatures to encourage it to clove-up.

[Growster...]

We have some more garlic on The Patch, which is a mixture of 'Christo' and 'Thermidrome'. The former romped away, but the latter sulked for several weeks, so I cloched them, and they're now 6" high.

I read somewhere that cloching helps form a better bulb,, and so it seems - so far!

I guess it gets pretty cold under a cloche even if there's a frost, and there's not much chance of the ground really heating up during the daytime!

It's an interesting crop to grow, and I've had many failures in the past, so we'll see this year!