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Hi All,

Garlic when planted out in spring always gives lower yields because it has not received cold weather conditioning during growth.

Only garlic which has received this cold conditioning in the soil during growth will produce a worthwhile crop, or so I always believed!!!

However if you subject the cloves to -5 or -6 deg temperature in a refrigerator for 4 to 5 weeks, once there is evidence of the cloves coming to life again, it does invigorate these cloves into producing a greater harvest yield.

Now as I understand it from my guru there must be signs of renewed life in the cloves,as in the greening of the tops of the cloves, and or, root buds forming at the base. If these signs are not in evidence then it is a pointless exercise!!!

It, I am told, is best to lightly cover these cloves with soil or compost to approximate the conditions in which the garlic cloves would be cultivated. He did not use plastic containers, he used cardboard boxes for this purpose.

You all probably may know some of this, however this is for those who don't know.

This method is for spring planted garlic whereby the cold conditioning required by garlic, is given prior to planting out the spring planted cloves. It is a very clever yet simplistic way of fooling the clove into believing that it is in cold soil once the signs of growth are evident.

It was told to me by a very old member of our allotment society, he had problems with flooded soil during the winter. This resulted in his autumn planted garlic rotting in the soil, this man is a wonderful source of information on every aspect of cultivating the soil. He did conquer the flooding by slate trenching in 3 areas of his plot but this is what he did until such times as the problem was resolved.

However he did stress that the signs of growth must be evident for this cold conditioning to work!

From my own perspective I would also lightly spray both cloves, and or, soil / compost with a dilution of EM's to ensure no disease can affect said cloves during this period. However my guru was unaware of EM's and had no problems.

I myself have not required to use this method, but thought it should be made known to others who cannot, for what ever reason plant Autumn garlic. Nor am I advocating this as a method of cultivating spring planted garlic. I am only offering this as information for those who may wish to experiment on a small scale initially. If you find that it has worth then my post will have been worthwhile.

Apart from seeking the truth about TP, it is the knowledge of the old timers which I seek because they have so much to offer us in wisdom. I am just awaiting the chance to ask my guru about his seed saving methods.

Now I know that he does seed save, because There are always 1 or 2 Brussels sprouts plants on his plot which are allowed to go to seed and its the same with leeks, turnip and onions. However you need to catch him in a good mood and on a good day.

I always complement him on advice given and that it worked for me, and chat with him for a while.When I leave his comment is always " nae bother young yin" (which means you're welcome young man) I'm 67 for God sake!, however he's past 90, and still rides a bike to and from his allotment every day.

It was he who also showed me how to get rid of small patches of white rot from the soil. It is imperative that you check the roots of all garlic as it lifted, any which during the season have withered and died should have an area of a square foot pegged out for identification. Then using a fork loosen the soil within the area. Now build a fire on the area and keep it going for 2 to 3 hours.

I asked him if using a flame gun would have the same effect. His answer was "I'm trying to teach you something which works!!", a man of few words but best listened to!!!

As he was leaving my plot he said, "and remember to put the tines of the fork in to the flames for a wee while as they will be infected as well".

My next task will be to get him involved in TP cultivation, this is not going to be easy,he has very fixed views on the cultivation of the soil. However if I can get him to look at my plot next season,as to the have, and have not crops it might just sway him.

I'm relying on the undoubted intelligence of the man to see the worth of this experiment. However he may well just say that he will grow crops the way he always has!

If it costs money, he wont be interested, but I feel that I must try. If I can get him interested I will ask my son to source two metal drums for him to make his own charcoal. His knowledge would be invaluable to this quest. Now me helping him might just, instead of the other way around, maybe what is necessary to sway him!!

I leave you with this quote:- There are five elements: earth, air, fire, water and garlic. (Louis Diat)

The mind is like a parachute, its totally useless unless its open