Higgs Boson wrote:
On Jun 4, 3:26 pm, "David Hare-Scott" wrote:
Higgs Boson wrote:
I always plant garlic cloves between my roses. They seem to be
effective in keeping off pests.

But when the garlic tops die and I lift the new heads, they are so
tiny! Pathetic.

Any relevant experience out there?

TIA

Do you feed themand water them if it is dry? You need good healthy
tops to grow big juicy bulbs.

They're right between the roses, so they get a good soaking every
week-10 days.

Do you plant them in the right season for your climate?

That's what I'm wondering now, based on several comments.
What IS the right season for So.Calif coastal - mild Mediterranean
climate?
As I wrote in another reply, I've been planting the cloves after
pruning roses.
which here is mid to late January.

Any thoughts?


I would have thought then you would plant them sooner in autumn say
October-November.


How long is the time from planting to tops dying?

Mm...I shoulda paid better attention. AFAIK, I've seen tops
dying from about mid-May.


My understanding is that the tops dying is triggered by heat. So they are
only growing about 4 months, if you plant sooner you may get them to grow
longer before they die off they stand a chance of being bigger.


How deep do you plant them?

Not very. Is that good or bad?


I plant upright with the top of the clove (the sharp end) a little below the
surface of the soil.


Tx for your analysis; await replies w/interest.


As others have said, you should plant big cloves to get big bulbs.

David