Garlic Is Up
Forum Archives
John
Location: Puget Sound corridor
Posted: Nov-09-2004 at 10:20am
The hardneck garlic (Spanish Roja) planted on the 18th of October has pushed it’s way through the 1 to 2 inch leaf much and is now 4” high. The other hardneck varieties are showing. Are they early? Should I muclh some more?
Susie
Location: Washington, Southwestern
Posted: Nov-10-2004 at 6:32pm
I have three varieties of garlic planted, some early Italian, some late Italian and some from a grocery store bulb, (is that legal?) and they're all 2-5 inches out of the ground already. I'm pretty sure my garlic did the same last year and all came out tasty.
Every shrub is a habitat to a few, every field a habitat to many.
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Nov-11-2004 at 6:24am
John,
Spanish Roja is classed as a Rocambole variety of the ophioscordon (hardneck) subspecies. The storage life of these are only around six months so I am not surprised that they came up quickly but I have not had that much growth in just 3 weeks.
I have used Killarney Red as my Rocambole for several years as I find it is "better adapted to wet conditions" (to quote Filaree Farms). Last year I recorded my Oct. 20th planted Killarney Reds as Jan. 9th emergence and their five leaf stage on March 8th. They were harvested on July 14th and 90 days later the 20 bulbs still weighed 5 lbs.
We did have that teens/twenties cold snap after Halloween last year that may have slowed down the emergence. I do know that some of the varieties seem to require close to 30F soil to break dormancy but I have only keep records of the stages for the last two years and both years had the Halloween record temps.
This year I have not yet had soil temps below 45F so the cloves that have broken dormancy have been encouraged to think its late February and grow leaves.
By the way, I keep the records in an Excel sheet that creates a chart by stage and variety. It was orginally developed to record flower growth stages by an garden book author I tracked down in Canada after I couldn't figure out how to build it myself. He was kind enough to send me a copy of his file and I have been using it on garlics, tomatoes, etc. since 2002.
It seems that I need to plug my weather and soil temps records into the same chart and see what I learn. And I also better keep a close watch on my bed for emergence.
Gary
John
Location: Puget Sound corridor
Posted: Nov-12-2004 at 11:01am
Thanks for the input Susie and Gary.
Actually the Spanish Roja was an impulse buy while browsing around DeJongs in Woodenville, the price was right, a buck a head.
I have the planting dates recorded for all my Garlic, actually all my vegees, along with what varieties and location. I have not recorded the emergence dates of the garlic but I think historically its been around the first week in January. I put down blood meal or fish fertilizer (last year both) mid to late January and then hit them with liquid fish every four to six weeks until the end of May.
Even though I have Ron Engeland’s book “Growing Great Garlic” I never counted the leaves until reading Gary’s post about Garlic last spring. Leaf count was not mentioned in Travis’ article “Garlic Lovers Unite”, which was my original plant garlic inspiration.
My garden area is on the side of a hill, sloping to the southeast, it takes in the early spring and late fall sun really well, soil temperatures can be 5 to 10 degrees warmer than other areas in my yard. Right now I’m crediting the warm fall weather and sunny afternoons for the early emergence of my garlic. I would like to acclaim my beautifully prepared garlic bed but that credit most hold until after the harvest, size and taste are the controlling factors there. By the way I grow two Rocambole varieties, three Porcelain and one Purple Stripe, spaced 8 inches apart in 10 foot rows.
If the weather prognostications hold true for a warmer dryer winter, I may be fertilizing earlier than anticipated.
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Nov-13-2004 at 6:13am
After John & Susie's comments above, I looked at my beds for emergence yesterday and found one variety up already also. It is Xian which I learned about in one of Chester Aaron's books. This is the first year I have grown it as Filaree had been out of stock for a while.
I think John's right about his SE bed and the extra warmth. I probably slowed down my emergence as I used old 'wet' straw as my mulch.
Above 40F soil temp is the leaf growing point for garlic according to Engeland. We can have that most of every winter in the Maritime PNW. The other limit is the hours of daylight until Feb.
To get a consistent reading on soil temps, I record them in the morning -- 6 to 8 AM depending on the time of year. This normally gives me the coolest temp of the day so I am understating the growing temps somewhat.
As I have mentioned earlier, I grow rows across a 4' raised bed. My plants are five inches apart and the rows are 9" apart. This is 45-50 sq. in. per plant and sure seems to work better than closer spacing choices that I have seen. 6x6 is the smallest I would recommend as the drop off in plant size at 4x4 has to be seen to be believed. But then that asian gardener sold five garbage sacks of his scapes to local restaurants for $2/lb.
John, have you tried any silverskins yet for their braiding and storage capabilities? I was hooked by Filaree's Nooka Rose & St. Helens descriptions as "West. WA heirlooms". This year I have also added Silver White.
The Asiatic "Japanese" also caught my interest with "from an elderly West. WA farmer". I mention these descriptions because I have learned that Creole does probably mean a garlic for southern locations. I have not been greatly rewarded by Creole Red though I decided to try one more year. I gave up on Burgundy and Ajo Rojo in prior years.
As to the forecast, I still favor those of George Taylor of the Oregon Climate Service at OR State. He does say drier this year. You can read his 2004/05 forecast at:
OCS Fall/Winter Forecast -- 2004
Gary
John
Location: Puget Sound corridor
Posted: Nov-14-2004 at 9:24am
I seem to get better size from Purple Strip and Porcelains varieties and they store better that Rocambole.
I have grown Inchelium Red (Artichoke) and Nootka Rose (Silverskin) both softneck varities. I phased them out because it took 4 or 5 heads to come up with 15 large cloves for planting. I did learn how to braid them, however, which is kind of neat. Don’t hang them in the kitchen like the Italians, temperature and humidity to high, they sprout.
I did some extra work on the garlic bed this year if production equals the effort, I may add a softneck or two and just restock rather than attempt to be a self sustaining. That way I won’t end up with a bunch of cloves looking for pot although there are certainly worse things.
Have not grown Creole varieties as they seem to all originated in Spain and we have a hard time duplicating that microclimate, on the other hand, Asiatic varieties interest me but our winters may be to mild.
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Nov-15-2004 at 11:20am
John,
I have been pleased with Asian Tempest and that influenced my trial of Japanese this year. I do try to spread the quantities thru the year based upon their storage potential; as in short term, medium, and long term varieties. I keep them bagged separately and work on using or gifting them based upon their life.
Gary
John
Location: Puget Sound corridor
Posted: Dec-02-2004 at 10:43am
1 Dec
Spanish Roja now uniformly 8 inches tall most have three leaves, some four. If it were late February early March I’d be pleased, now I have a concern. All other varieties are less than an inch. Some shallots are also beginning to emerge, but I think that’s pretty normal. I think Travis said in one of his articles that he like to see a little green just to confirm that things are growing.
Another concern is my artichokes, which on 31 October I dutifully cut back to four inches (I even measured) and then covered with mulch have busted thru and are now over foot high. Those that did that last year died in the January cold snap.
Cover crop of crimson clover, vetch, rye and fava looks good though.
bakingbarb
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: Dec-03-2004 at 6:26pm
John, I am now worried about my arti's
~BakingBarb
trav
Location: Washington, Western
Posted: Dec-05-2004 at 2:26pm
I like to keep a few old blankets around for surprises like that (meaning the artichokes, not the garlic). If we get a forecast for a really cold night - or a few of them in a row - I just carefully lay a blanket over the plants. Then when the cold snap ends, remove it.
Note that by "really cold" I mean teens or low 20s, not just freezing.
You need to also be careful removing the blanket, since it weighs a lot more than a row cover and can break a stem if you pull it the wrong way.
Another option that works pretty well is to lay a double layer of row cover (Agrofabric, Reemay, etc.) over the top of the plants. I do this inside of my hoophouse to help protect things like lettuce on those rare occasions when it gets really cold. This solution is a bit more succeptible to wind though.
Travis
AmyPNW
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Dec-22-2004 at 1:46pm
I often have garlic growth that starts in the fall after I plant in October. I try to keep the planting later in October since we usually have warmer temps at the beginning of the month. I don't worry about the early growth too much. The maritime temps we have are fairly forgiving. Some of my online gardening buddies in places like Maine have to keep garlic mulched and covered until the spring growth but we are living in a much better place as far as cold goes. Even the cold temps and the cold east wind last winter didn't seem to affect my garlic. I have trialed a lot of varieties, but right now I am growing Georgian Fire and Kettle River Giant. The ever dependable elephant garlic(leek) volunteers every year no matter what I do unless I clean it out completely.
I didn't have any artichokes that made it through last winter but the three previous winters they did just fine. I guess it will depend on the winter. One can always keep a close eye on the reports and cover for those cold nights like Travis suggests.
To garlic,
Amy
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Feb-02-2005 at 11:02am
Garlic Bed:
- My last variety popped above the mulch today
- My first up, Xian, is reaching the 5-leaf stage
- My 8AM soil temps have been above 45F since mid-Jan
- Just a week left before my first 10 hour day
All are signs of the need to feed. Which is why my computer annually starts telling me to fert the garlic on Feb. 1st.
I'll be out in the sun shortly using a Liquid Fish & Kelp product from Down to Earth. Just in case the soil temps drop the plants will at least get a foliar feeding.
Gary
CaraD
Location: Oregon, Western
Posted: Feb-09-2005 at 10:40am
My garlic was about 5 inches tall, until one of the children left the garden gate open and the goats ate it down to about an inch above the soil. We'll see what it does now.
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Feb-09-2005 at 11:20am
Mia Cara,
Garlic greens is part of many cuisines. Next time to get for yourself. There should be plenty of energy left below the ground to keep them growing. Due give them some liquid fert now and scratch in a balanced fert April 1st. Water like it is lettuce.
Gary
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Mar-20-2005 at 1:13pm
I know that this may seem like iffy advice with the weather system passing us now but your garlic needs to have at least as much water as you would apply to your lawn between now and mid+ June.
The drier the weather is the more water we will need to apply. When you start to reduce the irrigation, will depend upon our next 3 months weather.
I am working on some ET (evapotranspiration) garlic conections to the numbers that we all can see from AgriMet's location at Aurora, OR. My intent is to build a percentage ratio from Aurora's lawn ET to my garlic.
I'll report later.
Gary
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Mar-31-2005 at 5:14am
Got your garlic bed weeded yet?
It's time to weed, remove the mulch, and apply a complete fertilizer (say 3 lbs/100 sq.ft. of COF). You might want to use some corn gluten in the fert to help with the weed control over the next month or so.
I will also apply liquid fish fert on May 1st and maybe June 1st depending on the scape growth. Last year my scapes started early between 5/25 and 6/10. I'll apply the June fert if they haven't started.
Gary
John
Location: Puget Sound corridor
Posted: Apr-01-2005 at 1:03pm
Mulch removed, initail weeding complete, fertilizer has been applied. Garlic is shallow rooted so take care working it into the soil.
The recent rains are much appreciated, I was hand watering. However, it seems to have saved some of my ground cover that I tilled under hours before the big rains came. I got over three inches in March.
I don't know the names of most of the weeds that invade my garden but one is called "Red Sails" lettuce that bolted and was tilled under. I'm out there with a little trowel moving little weeds instead of pulling or choping.
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Apr-01-2005 at 5:03pm
John,
Red Sails proves what Trav says about El Nino winters. Sow early (and often) and you will be rewarded by edibles!
Gary
John
Location: Puget Sound corridor
Posted: May-22-2005 at 12:02pm
My walk around on 1 May revealed that the Spanish Roja hardneck garlic was continuing its penchant to lead the pack by starting to send up scapes weeks ahead of their anticipated arrival.
Now, besides the scapes emerging, the stalks appear to have spilt and there are up to a dozen feather like leafs coming out. In addition, the stalks have lost their rigidity and bend in the wind . I have not seen this phenomenon before. Has anyone?
They were beautifully tall with seven or eight broad dark green leaves. Could it be the more than abundant moisture that we have had recently?
A reminder for those of you who are growing hardneck garlic, that it is recommended that about week after the scape starts to uncoil, begins to turn woody,and stand up straight, it should be cut off at the top plant leaf. This redirects the energy downward into the bulb. Scapes are excellent in various stir fry dishes and for the brave add a little bite to a salad.
GardenNut
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posted: Jun-29-2005 at 12:15pm
Oh no! Wasn't there once a whole HUGE post about harvesting garlic? I can't find it anywhere! It's getting so late in the season (Usually my garlic starts splitting by July) that I'm thinking of pulling it up even though there are a lot of green leaves (it's been so wet!). The bulbs are huge and fully formed (I couldn't wait, and the spaghetti sauce needed garlic ). And it looks like this short dry stretch is all we're going to get for a while....
What are the rest of you garlic growers doing?
Chris Sunset 4 USDA 8a
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jun-29-2005 at 6:27pm
Chris,
Yes there was one that I and others wrote. I am sending a PM to Deb & Lisa to see if they can post it up NOW at the critical TIME!
Gary
DebbieTT
Location: Washington, Kitsap Peninsula
Posted: Jun-29-2005 at 8:52pm
Here is the link to the Archived post:
Check your garlic for leaf browning
gary
Location: Washington, Puget Sound Corridor
Posted: Jun-30-2005 at 11:38am
Great Work Deb!
The link above takes you to a 4-week long garlic discussion from mid-June last year. I think we covered most everything then. Take a look and see if you have more questions and we'll answer them.
I'll also update for the varieties that I planted for 2005 and why I dropped/added from 2004.
Gary
GardenNut
Location: Washington, Western Cascade Foothills
Posted: Jul-01-2005 at 1:07pm
Thank you! Thank you!
Chris
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
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