[Ian_A]

I usually buy in garlic bulbs (and shallots) to plant over-winter and have been delighted with the results. However, garlic bulbs are not cheap from the garden centres/online shops etc - and I get through a LOT of garlic, so will try again using some of this year's harvest. Last year I tried it with a couple of saved garlic bulbs I grew but some creature had got to them so had to buy some, so the end of that experiment!

For those of you who have planted garlic that you had saved from garlic you'd grown yourselves, did you get much success? And should I be planting the larger or the smaller to maximise bulb size (soil, weather and everything else willing!!)

thanks

[BabbyAnn]

Last year I replanted Illico and Purple Wight  - I had selected out the biggest bulbs from last year's harvest and I planted all of the cloves (big and small)  This year's harvest has not been as fantastic as last year though still a good crop, but neither have the bought in garlic so basically I could say replanting has been successful 

I'm not sure I would want to replant any cloves from this year's harvest as I won't have enough for my own usage and will probably get some fresh bulbs in for autumn and try a couple more different varieties while I'm at it.

[strangerachael]

Yes, I have done this but I moved plots before I could harvest the results! When i peered through the gate i could see that the garlic was coming up and looked to be doing very well. So long as you have no pests or diseases in it, there is no reason why it shouldn't do as well as bought bulbs. In fact they say that if you continually replant your own cloves over time it will adapt to your particular soil and situation. Try and use the biggest, healthiest looking ones for best results.

[sunshineband]

I have grown garlic from cloves harvested the previous season for some years.

I plant the biggest, juiciest ones, and make sure that I plant autumn ones at the right time and not get them mixed up with spring ones 


 (Like I did one year  :blink: )


The crop is consistently good, even this year with the autumn planted ones 

[shokkyy]

I plant the biggest, juiciest ones, and make sure that I plant autumn ones at the right time and not get them mixed up with spring ones 

Biggest cloves or biggest bulbs? Last year I replanted both Marco and Iberian Wight, using the biggest cloves.  They're still drying right now so not sure about clove size because I haven't cleaned them off yet, but certainly the bulbs look smaller than my average size last year. Maybe it's just the weather conditions.

[suziet88]

Yes, I used the cloves from last years harvest.  Not sure on the variety though! but they were successful.

[sunshineband]

I plant the biggest, juiciest ones, and make sure that I plant autumn ones at the right time and not get them mixed up with spring ones 

Biggest cloves or biggest bulbs? Last year I replanted both Marco and Iberian Wight, using the biggest cloves.  They're still drying right now so not sure about clove size because I haven't cleaned them off yet, but certainly the bulbs look smaller than my average size last year. Maybe it's just the weather conditions.

Biggest cloves 

[Nikkithefoot]

I usually replant some of the biggest cloves. This years harvest has been poor generally so it is likely that 'seed' garlic for next year will also be more expensive. I'm saving and replanting the best of what I have.
The conditions this year were dreadful

[thestens]

Garlic this year has been reasonable and these were saved bulbs from the previous years crop. They were basically ones that had been bought in Tesco etc for culinary purposes. This autumn I will try an experiment and by some from a garden centre/internet that are claimed to be for northern climes and also plant some saved from this years crop to see if there is a difference. Also you should plant bigger bulbs.

[BabbyAnn]

Garlic this year has been reasonable and these were saved bulbs from the previous years crop. They were basically ones that had been bought in Tesco etc for culinary purposes. This autumn I will try an experiment and by some from a garden centre/internet that are claimed to be for northern climes and also plant some saved from this years crop to see if there is a difference. Also you should plant bigger bulbs.

You'll find that the varieties for "northern climes" will be a pleasant surprise in comparison   

[mumofstig]

I agree my scottish grown Music did really well despite the cr@p weather

[Amilo]

I don't know why but I always seem to get better results from garlic bought from the food shops than I do from buying from the gardening shops