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Time to put them in now!!!

Anyone got a good reasonably priced garlic supply? If so, care to share???

SunnyJim wrote:Time to put them in now!!!

Anyone got a good reasonably priced garlic supply? If so, care to share???

Morrisons!

Really? I planted some Te$co garlic last year. Not good. Not good at all. It was all going well, and then split early and I ended up with a mass tangle of small new shoots, and lots of little cloves with no outer 'paper' holding it together. The 'seed' garlic I got from Garden Organic grew straight and true and produced some lovely bulbs though... perhaps I'll sacrifice this years crop and stick them back in the ground?

Bought some elephant garlic from the local farmers market last year too. that grew brilliantly!

I've only ever used ordinary shop bought garlic for planting. Never had a problem, it's very hardy as you know and should end up looking like the bulb you bought. Been growing it like this for over 30 years.

I'll have to try Morrisons then!

I've only used shop bought garlic and they've been fine. Now I just take the best few bulbs from last year's crop and grow my own.

There is such a difference between paying 35p at a greengrocers and £2.00 at a garden centre, for what appears to be the same thing.

Aren't we a little early for broad beans? I thought November was the time for planting them.

Yes. Probably November. Is it too late for autumn onion sets?

SunnyJim wrote:Not good. Not good at all. [...] lots of little cloves with no outer 'paper' holding it together

This happened to mine too. I wonder if its less to do with the type of garlic used and more to do with too much or too little watering or something else. It was my first attempt - shall try again this year.

Didn't someone here say that the times to sow and harvest garlic were (as a rule of thumb) the winter and summer solstice? i.e. Sow on the 21st of December and pick on the 21st of June. It might have been Andy who said this - he's a bit of a hippy afterall

SunnyJim wrote:Yes. Probably November. Is it too late for autumn onion sets?

If we have a mildish autumn it might still be worth planting some Japanese onion sets now. We planted seed in trays in August and transplanted them a couple of weeks ago together with the garlic. The seed is much cheaper than sets and you are less likely to have them bolt.

We'll be planting broad beans in compost in loo roll centres in the polytunnel/greenhouse in October and planting them out in November. They need to be protected from pheasants, if you have them around, because they will pull out the plants and eat the seed.

kenneal wrote:They need to be protected from pheasants, if you have them around, because they will pull out the plants and eat the seed.

Or pigeons, I suspect, since I don't think we have many pheasants around, but something did for our broad beans last year,


Peter.

Erik wrote:Didn't someone here say that the times to sow and harvest garlic were (as a rule of thumb) the winter and summer solstice? i.e. Sow on the 21st of December and pick on the 21st of June. It might have been Andy who said this - he's a bit of a hippy afterall

I may have said it, but Jim has definitely said it.

I happened upon a great pile of organic garlic in sainsburys a couple of weeks ago, knocked down to 10p a bulb, it's growing strong...

I have the second lot of onions to go in tomorrow.... yes, I know I'm late but things happen

Andy Hunt wrote:

Erik wrote:Didn't someone here say that the times to sow and harvest garlic were (as a rule of thumb) the winter and summer solstice? i.e. Sow on the 21st of December and pick on the 21st of June. It might have been Andy who said this - he's a bit of a hippy afterall

I may have said it, but Jim has definitely said it.

Yeah, that is a rule of thumb, but you can plant them earlier if you like. I planted mine in about this time last year and the ones I got from Garden Organic grew wonderfully. Best garlic I've tasted. I'm going to sacrifice the crop to use as this years seed garlic.... going to put them in today in fact, and what a glorious day for it!!!!

I thought the solstices thing was for shallots. Garlic goes in now or sooner.