[shokkyy]

I'm planning to try some of this from the Really Garlicky people this year, and I'm trying to work out how many I need to order. On their site they say it's 4 to 6 cloves per bulb, which doesn't sound many. And if these garlic do grow big, I'm wondering how far apart I'll need to space.

So if anyone out there has bought these before - are there really only 4 to 6 cloves per bulb? And how far apart do I need to plant the cloves? I'm planning three 4' rows of them, but if I'm not going to get many bulbs in each row I could do more rows.

[realfood]

Yes, that is about right for the number of cloves per head. they produce fewer, bigger cloves than softneck garlic which makes them easier to peel. I plant my hardneck garlic about 10 to 12 cm apart in the row. I grew music last year for the first time, and it did very well even though it was a tough Winter. Some of my other garlics could not cope.

[fatbelly]

I have grown Music before and the crop as good.
However this year I bought spring planted Garlic from Wilkos for about a pound for the bulbs and whilst the resulting bulbs are small they are excellent.

[Trillium]

Music is very reliable in our harsh Canadian winters so it will definitely do well for you. I always add lots of old manure before planting and always get lovely fat heads. I space mine between 6 to 8 inches apart in fall.

[shokkyy]

Music is very reliable in our harsh Canadian winters so it will definitely do well for you. I always add lots of old manure before planting and always get lovely fat heads. I space mine between 6 to 8 inches apart in fall.

Thanks for the tips. Just one question - I thought it wasn't good to put manure in ground where onions/garlic/shallots already are or are just about to be planted, becuase it was too rich and it would burn them. Or is that just an old wive's tale?

[Yorkie]

You shouldn't put fresh / unrotted compost near plants at all or they will burn as you say.

I've not ever heard that you should generally avoid manuring where onions etc are going to go, though.

[Trillium]

As Yorkie says, no fresh manure unless it's going where no crops will be until spring. If you're planting garlic and/or onions for winter, just use old manure in those areas, fresh on the rest.

[shokkyy]

As Yorkie says, no fresh manure unless it's going where no crops will be until spring. If you're planting garlic and/or onions for winter, just use old manure in those areas, fresh on the rest.

OK, thanks for that. I've got access to huge quantities of well rotted horse manure from the yard where I keep my horse. There's a very nice groundsman who's going to use his tractor to knock the top off the (enormous) pile so I can get the 8 year old stuff from the bottom.

[Yorkie]

Wow, eight years old, you lucky thing.

For the more recent stuff, just make sure that none of it could be contaminated with the herbicide aminopyralid or clopyralid

[shokkyy]

Wow, eight years old, you lucky thing.

For the more recent stuff, just make sure that none of it could be contaminated with the herbicide aminopyralid or clopyralid

The truth is nobody could ever be sure what herbicides have been used around any straw/hay bought in from other sources. Any decent yard would be extremely careful what herbicides they use on land where horses graze, though it's generally necessary to use some if you want to keep the land in good condition. On my yard I know it isn't being used on the pastureland and they grow all their own hay on site. My own horse is bedded on wood shavings but certainly other horses on the yard are on straw, which is bought in.

But I guess I'll just make sure I only take the old stuff from the bottom of the pile. The pile is vast, about 20 horses worth over 8 years, and that's a lot of poo. Pretty high class poo to boot, with some Olympic horse poo in there

[JohnB47]

Hey shokkyy, how much do they charge for P&P at Really Garlicky? I can't see that info on their site.

I might try planting 'Music' this Autumn, although Thermidrome did well for me last year (planted Oct 2009, lifted a month ago).

Thanks

[shokkyy]

Hey shokkyy, how much do they charge for P&P at Really Garlicky? I can't see that info on their site.

I might try planting 'Music' this Autumn, although Thermidrome did well for me last year (planted Oct 2009, lifted a month ago).

Thanks

It's £3.75. It's an awful big overhead on the price of the garlic, basically doubles the price if you're only buying a few garlic. I can't decide whether to order it or wait and see what varieties they've got at my local Wyevale. I did Solent White this year and they've done well enough, but they're not the biggest garlic in the world, certainly smaller than the seed garlic I started off with

[Trillium]

Too bad you don't have a gardening pal who also wants to order garlic and you could double up and split the p&p.

[mumofstig]

It's £3.75. It's an awful big overhead on the price of the garlic, basically doubles the price if you're only buying a few garlic.

I decided after all to order some from really garlicky and they added £2.50 to the £2.40 cost of 3 I didn't think that was too bad (but I'm sharing with a friend anyway, so it's even cheaper, but we are hoping for 6 cloves in each head  )

[shokkyy]

Yes, I had another play with the order on their site and it seems that 1 to 3 garlic is £2.50 P&P, 4 to 9 is £3.75, then 10 is £5.50. I was wanting to order 4, but that's not a good deal on P&P really, is it.  Though even at £2.50 for 3, that's still doubling the price of the garlic. Such a pity about P&P charges on a lot of the gardening supplies companies. They all seem to charge quite a lot for shipping, and it does put me off ordering online, particularly when it's only a small order.

Has anyone tried ordering seeds from www.seedsbypost.co.uk? Seems a good place to order seeds online, with free P&P and covering all the main brands.