[tommyboy]

Hi all, Could someone tell me how to prepare garlic for planting & how deep ect. Thanks.

[Yorkie]

Make sure the bed is not waterlogged - use raised ridges if necessary.

You split the bulb and plant individual cloves separately.  I put mine deep enough for the soil to cover them, but some people leave the tip just showing through.

No onward care needed (except perhaps to fleece until the roots are established, to prevent birds pulling them out) as they are fully hardy.

Again, some people feed the soil with compost or manure or something like that when preparing the bed but I'm useless at that sort of thing and they seem to grow nevertheless 

[tommyboy]

Hi, Thanks for that Yorkie, Do i peal the cloves or just seperate and leave skin on ?

[Ropster]

You dont need to peal them. in fact its probably not a good idea

[Yorkie]

Agree, just bung 'em in - better not to push them in though, so as not to risk damaging the root plate.  Make a hole with a finger and drop them in.

[jolly jen]

i just bung my in a hole,,,cover them with soil,

planted them october ,they are growing already

[supervegman]

me too they are growing like the clappers so have started to cover then in cloches as it getting very wet at the mo

[Trillium]

Good idea to cover them when there's too much rain as the grown bulbs will likely rot after harvest. Garlic needs only a certain amount of water for adequate growth; excess will swell the bulb to the point of softness and cause fast rotting.

[sloworm]

I have put mine in pots because the soil is so waterlogged and will hope to transfer them later on I do hope this will work 

[supervegman]

Good idea to cover them when there's too much rain as the grown bulbs will likely rot after harvest. Garlic needs only a certain amount of water for adequate growth; excess will swell the bulb to the point of softness and cause fast rotting.

well there has been alot of rain last few weeks but have for the last ten days been covering then with plastic and taking it off suring the day to try and dray the beds out a little

[Plottered]

so theres no need to protect against frost ?  mine were planted in mid  november and have shot up already but they got caught with frost last night, should i protect them or leave them in future?
same question for onions planted in october

thanks

[Elcie]

so theres no need to protect against frost ?  mine were planted in mid  november and have shot up already but they got caught with frost last night, should i protect them or leave them in future?
same question for onions planted in october

thanks

Just leave them plottered.  As they are overwintering varieties they can cope with pretty much anything the winter throws at them.  In fact, garlic benefits from a period of cold weather as they need it to remind them to split into separate cloves.  Without that period of cold you will probably end up with one large clove instead.

[Cazzy]

[Highjack Alert]

With all the rain we've had up here I didn't get my garlic in, would it be ok to plant this month or better to wait until early spring?

[Plottered]

[Highjack Alert]

With all the rain we've had up here I didn't get my garlic in, would it be ok to plant this month or better to wait until early spring?

thanks cazzy...what about the onions please?

[Trillium]

Onions are from the same family as garlic and are just as hardy. Your only real worry with either is excessive water/rain which eventually leads to rot.