[karooba007]

I am looking to plant a lot of garlic. They are expensive compared to onion sets. does any one know were i can get cheap garlic bulbs?

[penance]

Not really that expensive when you think you get 10 - 15 cloves from a bulb.
Not sure where to get them cheap, most places have similar prices.

[Clampit]

Does anyone have any luck with garlic sold in the supermarkets? I'd have thought that'd be your cheapest option.

[DD.]

Problem with supermarket garlic is that it may not be suitable for growing in this climate, (you may get lucky). Buying from a reputable merchant assures you of this.

[Quetzal]

well the garlic in my local supermarkets has been noticably low-quality (for cooking purposes) for the last 6months or so. Really small cloves. I think it might be a false economy to try growing those.

OTOH, my two local wyvale centres have a lot of garlic in stock at the moment - Christo, Arno, Marco varieties (I think), plus elephant garlic. I got three bulbs of Arno for £2.50, and the ones I've planted had really decent chunky looking cloves and about 11-12 per bulb.

The upmarket garden centres in my area don't have any garlic atm - I was rushing around to try to find some because i realised that the ones i just mail ordered from T&M were for delivery september 2009 :oops: Well, planning early is good, i guess.

[DD.]

If you try elephant garlic you may be sadly disappointed. Sure it grows big, but has little flavour. It's really a closer relative to the leek.

[karooba007]

supermarket galic won't grow well. i want to grow my own because the ones you buy at the shop don't tast that good.

[vegmandan]

If you're lucky enough to have a Wilkos store near you you won't find a cheaper supplier.

I use theirs every year and If I remember rightly they were £1.50 for 3 bulbs.

They store so well too that I've been able to use my own to plant the following year if I've not eaten them all.

So if you got about 40 cloves from 3 bulbs that'd be less than 4p per bulb.

That's pretty cheap.

[karooba007]

yes i think Wilkos is best. i am going to count how many cloves in one bulb, never really noticed but i think its six.

[8Bed]

I was in FOCUS yesterday (The D.I.Y. Store) They had Garlic for planting for £1.99 bag or 3 for a fiver. They were quite small though, A bit smaller than a golf ball. The ones i got from Thompsons were more expensive but were the size of a cricket ball.

For the record they had many other stuff for planting too like Onion sets, Strawberries, Shallots etc. They also have a wide variety of potato sets coming soon i believe.

-8bed

[SG6]

I grew supermarket garlic for a couple of years and had reasonable success. They came out a bit smaller then what I had bought and I had to keep them cold before planting for a couple of weeks.

However they were much crisper then ones in the supermarket when I harvested them and seem slightly stronger in flavour. Made damn strong garlic bread.  :shock:  :shock:

I was quite happy but I did simply use them as a cheap trial option. They filled in a small gap, I learnt a few bits - like allow them to get cold before planting, when to harvest and I had very little to lose. 19p    

This year I purchased 2 or 3 larger varieties, just hope they do as well. But may well go and select a couple of Sainsburys finest el cheapo garlic. :?  As long as it costs no more then 20p.

[alfman]

Yes, I did the same as Vegman, found them very cheap at Wilco's but I've never tried them before so its a fingers crossed crop.

[karooba007]

8bed i went down to focus and found the garlic, 4 bulbs in a packet for £1.99, 3 packets for £5 . good stuff. but i didn't buy them   .
on closer inspection i found that the ones in the store i went to had some off the cloves mouldy. i did look for packets that didn't have any cloves with mould but i couldn't find any. poor storage and poor ventilation.
as its my first time growing, i didn't know if it was ok or not, if one of the cloves in the bulbs was moldy. so i went for the safe bet and left them.
looks like its wilcos for me garlic.

[karooba007]

SG6 on the net they keep saying not to use supermarket garlic.

[Gardeningguru]

SG6 on the net they keep saying not to use supermarket garlic.

Well yes they do.  However, there is a difference between growing a few at home in amongst the beds, and growing a large number at an allotment.

The largest concern when planting supermarket produce (of any kind) is the risk of diseases being introduced to your plot.  An the more you plant the higher the risk.

An of course, as has been said, many supermarket varieties have travelled from warmer climes, and simply won't do well at all.

I have personally grown both supermarket potatoes, and garlic, with decent results.  However, I did just do it in a spare flower bed at home though, rather than at a plot where I itend to grow larger numbers.