[Ice]

I am rubbish at growing garlic and this year is no exception.  Mine were in all winter and got a good frost but they were really small, just like all the previous ones.

Any tips for growing good garlic out there please?

[mikem]

Only my first time growing them this year, probably beginners luck but this is what I did:-
2/10/08   Bought bulbs and put in fridge
5/10/08   Raked over the plot and applied Growmore
6/10/08   Planted with added bone meal
1/1/09   All growing well, applied Growmore
1/5/09   Applied Growmore
17/5/09   Applied Growmore
24/6/09    Harvested and now drying off, most look (and smell) pretty good

[Ice]

Didn't add bone meal.  What soil do they prefere?

[barney rubble]

Only my first time growing them this year, probably beginners luck but this is what I did:-
2/10/08   Bought bulbs and put in fridge
5/10/08   Raked over the plot and applied Growmore
6/10/08   Planted with added bone meal
1/1/09   All growing well, applied Growmore
1/5/09   Applied Growmore
17/5/09   Applied Growmore
24/6/09    Harvested and now drying off, most look (and smell) pretty good

that reads like some pretty good diary keeping - you desreve good crops for that alone!

[Lardman]

Im really pleased with those that avoided the leaf miner.

Garlic cloves from thereallygarlicycompany
Planted : Nov 05

On the old bean trench - added a hand full of poultry pellets raked over and pushed cloves 2inches down, spaced at around a trowel apart (6"). Raked a few handfuls of growmore in around April. Other than that just weeded now and then.

My soil is very sandy and free draining - but the bean trench had 5 bags of horse manure the spring before.

Are they just small - other than that fine. The ones I planted from the supermarket came up really small almost spring onion like.

[Ice]

They split into cloves but are really small.

[SG6]

Planted mine last Oct/Nov.
Ground was dug over and compost and fertiliser applied (chicken poo pellets and growmore).
All got off to a great start and looked to be doing well.
Lifted 4 a couple of days back and all are small.
All have formed cloves.
Foliage is dying back now so will haul them all out next weekend.
(Then dig over the section and plant the celariac.)

Problem I have is that I planted a clove from a supermarket 2 years ago and got pretty good results.

This (last) year I planted 3 named varieties and not a one appears bigger then the supermarket ones I shoved in the year before. They did however cost a damn sight more.

[Lardman]

I think if you're going to have things sitting there for 9 months without being able to check all is ok it justifies paying for the extra for "proper" seed cloves. 

I'll be ordering again this year - and getting some of their oat cakes while Im at it... Cos they're lovely !

[Ice]

I did roughly the same SG6.  Someone, somewhere must know the secret.

[Mitsy]

mine are left over from supermarket just popped in pot when sprouting are going great. I always do it no problems 

[Trillium]

They really do need terrific soil, full of humus, manure and anything else you can throw in. they also need regualr watering if its a bit dry. People forget what a hungry crop garlic really is. And the timing is crucial for planting. They need to be in the ground by end of October so that when daylight hours start lengthening in the new year they've got roots set in and can start growing. 

[Ice]

Thank you Trillium.  So it's a really hungry crop to raise and needs lots of manure.  That's where I've gone wrong.   I did water it when it didn't rain much but it seems my soil was just too poor.

[Trillium]

Is it possible to snag someone into making a raised bed to grow the garlic in? 

[Ice]

I grow in raised beds.  How would that help?

[fekq]

bought solent wight (from marshalls i think), planted them in our very sticky clay soil in Oct/Nov and ignored them. they were flooded over winter, got terrible rust... and are a good size and taste fabulous! OH took some into work and they've even converted non-veggie growers into wanting to grow their own next year!

so think there's got to be a bit of luck involved!