[ex-cavator]

I feel cheated. I went into a gouple of garden centres a few times up until a couple of weeks back and they kept telling me they didn't have any garlic bulbs in yet. Now you're telling me I'm too late 

Good job my lad got some a while back and put them in - trouble is, they're about 6" high now - will he have to protect them from the frost? 

[AlaninCarlisle]

I wondered about that as well 

They are supposed to need a period of cold in order to split properly into cloves, aren't they?

This must be an allotment myth. I just save a few bulbs from the previous year's crop and split off the cloves. I then raise them in fibre pots in a large heated propagator in the greenhouse in January. As soon as they start to shoot, I cut off the heat and just leave them to grown on and then plant them out in March with the shallots and onion sets

[sunshineband]

I feel cheated. I went into a gouple of garden centres a few times up until a couple of weeks back and they kept telling me they didn't have any garlic bulbs in yet. Now you're telling me I'm too late 

Good job my lad got some a while back and put them in - trouble is, they're about 6" high now - will he have to protect them from the frost? 

No, they will be fine... they don't mind snow either 

[arugula]

I wondered about that as well 

They are supposed to need a period of cold in order to split properly into cloves, aren't they?

This must be an allotment myth. I just save a few bulbs from the previous year's crop and split off the cloves.

This is no myth, it will depend on whether you are growing hard or soft necked garlic. Many people grow both, one over winter and one from spring onwards.

[AlaninCarlisle]

I grow several varieties of soft-neck plus those big ones sold as Elephant Garlic. I stayed away from hard-necks as my neighbour told me they don't keep as well

[arugula]

Hardnecks are the ones which people overwinter and which benefit from the cold to help their bulb division.

[arugula]

And they keep well.

[DD.]

They certainly do.

Mine were still good a year after harvesting them.

[AlaninCarlisle]

Thanks for that, I never realised that each of the two types needed different treatment. Also my neighbour must have been passing on a myth of his own when he said that the hardnecks were more perishable

[Trillium]

Softnecks are better for shorter daylight hours of growing while hardnecks are better in longer daylight hours of growing. Most areas can grow both but in our climates, hardnecks will always do better than softnecks.

As for planting times, always remember that garlic originates from Siberia, and as long as you can dig the ground to plant it, it will grow for you (just not late in the spring).

[mumofstig]

Garlic World
http://www.garlicworld.co.uk/garden/

says this

the ophioscorodon group in the cooler, wetter conditions of northern Europe, the sativum group in the warm, fertile areas of the Mediterranean

(ophioscorodon = hardneck and sativum = softneck.)

In practise many of us grow softnecks successfully every year  :blink:

[shokkyy]

I've always been a bit confused by the autumn/spring planting thing with garlic. I've always planted garlic in the autumn, regardless of variety, with no bad results so far. The T&M site says the only difference between hardneck and softneck is that hardneck produces a flower stem and softneck doesn't, and because of that softneck stores better. But I don't really understand why some varieties are recommended for autumn planting and some for spring, because on the T&M site it doesn't seem to be related to whether they're hardneck or softneck.

[DD.]

Can't understand the storage bit. Hard neck dries out to a really solid thick stem which does not rot.

[Salmo]

The thing about garlic needing a cool spell to make it split is true. However I believe the requirements are only a soil temperature below 10 degrees C for 3 weeks so you should have no worry in the UK. If you live in southern europe or the Canaries it might become an issue

[AlaninCarlisle]

I believe the requirements are only a soil temperature below 10 degrees C for 3 weeks so you should have no worry in the UK.

That's a north Cumbrian summer