Garlic harvest
 

My garlic harvest:
https://ibb.co/Hd7JqY4

How do I make them grow bigger next time?

I know they get bigger as the bulbs I used for planting
were twice this size.

Many thanks,
-T

Garlic harvest
 

T wrote:
My garlic harvest:
https://ibb.co/Hd7JqY4

How do I make them grow bigger next time?

plant only the largest cloves, space 8-12 inches
apart, plenty of sun, good soil, regular watering,
keep weeded.


I know they get bigger as the bulbs I used for planting
were twice this size.

not all bulbs will be large, but enough of them
should be to keep replanting some larger cloves.

those look wet, so i sure hope you didn't store
them all bundled up like that? they should be dried
out well (cured) before bundling.


songbird

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/17/19 3:41 AM, songbird wrote:
those look wet, so i sure hope you didn't store
them all bundled up like that? they should be dried
out well (cured) before bundling.

Thank you!

I thought they'd dried out. I'd better double check!

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/18/19 8:34 AM, T wrote:
On 7/17/19 3:41 AM, songbird wrote:
Â* those look wet, so i sure hope you didn't store
them all bundled up like that?Â* they should be dried
out well (cured) before bundling.

Thank you!

I thought they'd dried out.Â* I'd better double check!

They are so dry, the wrappers crunch when you
touch them.


We have around 4% humidity around here, so if they
were even wet, they are not so now.

Garlic harvest
 

T wrote:
....
They are so dry, the wrappers crunch when you
touch them.


We have around 4% humidity around here, so if they
were even wet, they are not so now.

ok, that's good. just make sure they are fully
dried on the outside before bundling as if you
wrap them all together when they are wet you can
get them to rot inside the bundle.

garlic here is not ready to come out yet.


songbird

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/20/19 4:44 PM, songbird wrote:
garlic here is not ready to come out yet.

Did you overwinter them?

Garlic harvest
 

T wrote:
On 7/20/19 4:44 PM, songbird wrote:
garlic here is not ready to come out yet.

Did you overwinter them?

they are planted in the fall. the ones
i just dug up were extras i wanted to remove
so i'll eat them up. the bulbs and cloves
are not that big because they were growing
in a clump likely started from a single
dropped scape bulbulle a few years ago.
there's another clump near that one i need
to remove.


songbird

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/20/19 8:27 PM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
On 7/20/19 4:44 PM, songbird wrote:
garlic here is not ready to come out yet.

Did you overwinter them?

they are planted in the fall. the ones
i just dug up were extras i wanted to remove
so i'll eat them up. the bulbs and cloves
are not that big because they were growing
in a clump likely started from a single
dropped scape bulbulle a few years ago.
there's another clump near that one i need
to remove.


songbird


I my feral trough, I planted five olive sized
garlic bulbs just to see how they will go feral.

I will be interesting!

Garlic harvest
 

T wrote:
....
I my feral trough, I planted five olive sized
garlic bulbs just to see how they will go feral.

are they a hardneck garlic?

did the bulbs have individual cloves in them
or were they a single clove?

the first year for many scape bulbules will mean
they grow larger but don't subdivide, the second
year they often will divide and from then on you
have a clump which will cycle through. so some of
the cloves will increase while others will either
be dormant or stay about the same size. that is
why it is hard to remove once it goes off to the
wild. you think you've pulled it all but there
are some cloves down there hiding. so you have to
dig it up and sift the soil pretty well to find
them all and even then you might miss a tiny one
and it will then be back the next time the weather
turns cool/wet again. these plants have cunning
plans for world domination.

i gave my sister some bulbules years ago and they
put them on her land in southern CO (which is
probably similar to what you have there for climate)
and so far they are surviving, but not doing much
else. i don't know how they are doing the past few
years now that a gardener is staying there more of
the time, perhaps they finally got fertilized and
watered more or ... will have to ask. :)


I will be interesting!

:) always! life is tenacious.


songbird

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/21/19 5:36 AM, songbird wrote:
are they a hardneck garlic?

They scape.

If they go wild, they will have to hae adapted to
boring through concrete, as my soil around the
trough is so hard it throws sparks when you
try to shovel it.

I had to hack out the trough with an ax.

I am, pretty sure they will stay in the trough.
And the lack of water will kill anything that
decides to make a run for it!

:-)

-T

Garlic harvest
 

In article
songbird writes:

that is
why it is hard to remove once it goes off to the
wild. you think you've pulled it all but there
are some cloves down there hiding. so you have to
dig it up and sift the soil pretty well to find
them all and even then you might miss a tiny one
and it will then be back the next time the weather
turns cool/wet again. these plants have cunning
plans for world domination.

Sounds a lot like field onion, which has been a common weed most
places that I've had a garden. Time and frustration just brought
me to accept that what I dug up was "most of it." Also, unless the
compost gets really hot, they'll survive that as well.

I don't *seem* to have much onion right now. Just the creeping
thistle (which is mostly dying under the mulch this year -- a welcome
surprise).

On topic: After last year's neglect, I believe I have reclaimed a
space suitable for garlic. Hopefully I will be planting it this
fall. No clue currently on varieties. I suspect one softneck and
one hardneck, since I don't know what I prefer. The catalog
descriptions are of limited value, since I don't know whether the
grocery store garlic is "hot" or not (probably not). And if I
haven't had "hot," how do I know whether I like it?

--
Drew Lawson Some men's dreams
for others turn to nightmares.
I never would have thought this
in my wildest dreams.

Garlic harvest
 

Drew Lawson wrote:
....
Sounds a lot like field onion, which has been a common weed most
places that I've had a garden. Time and frustration just brought
me to accept that what I dug up was "most of it." Also, unless the
compost gets really hot, they'll survive that as well.

it is definitely not onion. hardneck garlic. very hot, very
good.

the patch out back i've been gradually removing my mistaken
scattering of bulbules eons ago is now being mowed this season
because i had no time to get back to it and Mom was sick of
looking at it. i'm pretty sure the garlic under there will
come back next spring and for years after as bulbs can store
a lot of energy. they will keep downsizing until given a
chance to recover. the smaller bulbs will not survive - yet
in the end we shall see what happens. i really want to plant
that area next season.


I don't *seem* to have much onion right now. Just the creeping
thistle (which is mostly dying under the mulch this year -- a welcome
surprise).

yeah, mulch will help make it easier to remove it as the
roots will grow in the mulch much easier than in poor subsoil,
but the thistle here which is a real PITA has no trouble
going down 2-3ft in the clay. i keep digging it out when it
surfaces and then i track any bits of root back down as
far as i can. eventually it gives up and runs out of energy
but that is a challenge. cardboard layers work as mulch.
persistent weeding after elimination is required here to
keep it from coming back.


On topic: After last year's neglect, I believe I have reclaimed a
space suitable for garlic. Hopefully I will be planting it this
fall. No clue currently on varieties. I suspect one softneck and
one hardneck, since I don't know what I prefer. The catalog
descriptions are of limited value, since I don't know whether the
grocery store garlic is "hot" or not (probably not). And if I
haven't had "hot," how do I know whether I like it?

if you like to eat raw garlic like a slice of an apple
then hot is good. :) if you like it for cooking and tend
to fry it in oil and then discard the garlic because that
is enough garlic flavor for you then hot is not what you
are after. it depends upon what you like and what you
might use it for.


songbird

Garlic harvest
 

T wrote:
songbird wrote:
are they a hardneck garlic?

They scape.

If they go wild, they will have to hae adapted to
boring through concrete, as my soil around the
trough is so hard it throws sparks when you
try to shovel it.

I had to hack out the trough with an ax.

I am, pretty sure they will stay in the trough.
And the lack of water will kill anything that
decides to make a run for it!

:-)

how deep is it?

for sure you don't want water pooling there at
any point, you don't care if it gets soggy and then
drains, but you don't want standing water.

what is the trench full of? is it mounded above
grade?


songbird

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/21/19 5:01 PM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
songbird wrote:
are they a hardneck garlic?

They scape.

If they go wild, they will have to hae adapted to
boring through concrete, as my soil around the
trough is so hard it throws sparks when you
try to shovel it.

I had to hack out the trough with an ax.

I am, pretty sure they will stay in the trough.
And the lack of water will kill anything that
decides to make a run for it!

:-)

how deep is it?

for sure you don't want water pooling there at
any point, you don't care if it gets soggy and then
drains, but you don't want standing water.

what is the trench full of? is it mounded above
grade?


songbird


It is about four foot long and 14 inches wide. It
is about 12 to 14" deep and back filled with peat moss
and original dirt, plug chicken poop based fertilizer.

The trough itself does drain, but takes hours. I water
every other day.

The trench is slightly below ground level so I can water
and not have it run all over the place.

I have five shallots growing like crazy in it right now.
This is their second feral year.

Oh and the green onion (scallions) nubs have starting
growing. Go figure.

The garlic marbles are still dormant.

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/21/19 4:58 PM, songbird wrote:
Drew Lawson wrote:
...
Sounds a lot like field onion, which has been a common weed most
places that I've had a garden. Time and frustration just brought
me to accept that what I dug up was "most of it." Also, unless the
compost gets really hot, they'll survive that as well.

it is definitely not onion. hardneck garlic. very hot, very
good.

the patch out back i've been gradually removing my mistaken
scattering of bulbules eons ago is now being mowed this season
because i had no time to get back to it and Mom was sick of
looking at it. i'm pretty sure the garlic under there will
come back next spring and for years after as bulbs can store
a lot of energy. they will keep downsizing until given a
chance to recover. the smaller bulbs will not survive - yet
in the end we shall see what happens. i really want to plant
that area next season.


I don't *seem* to have much onion right now. Just the creeping
thistle (which is mostly dying under the mulch this year -- a welcome
surprise).

yeah, mulch will help make it easier to remove it as the
roots will grow in the mulch much easier than in poor subsoil,
but the thistle here which is a real PITA has no trouble
going down 2-3ft in the clay. i keep digging it out when it
surfaces and then i track any bits of root back down as
far as i can. eventually it gives up and runs out of energy
but that is a challenge. cardboard layers work as mulch.
persistent weeding after elimination is required here to
keep it from coming back.


On topic: After last year's neglect, I believe I have reclaimed a
space suitable for garlic. Hopefully I will be planting it this
fall. No clue currently on varieties. I suspect one softneck and
one hardneck, since I don't know what I prefer. The catalog
descriptions are of limited value, since I don't know whether the
grocery store garlic is "hot" or not (probably not). And if I
haven't had "hot," how do I know whether I like it?

if you like to eat raw garlic like a slice of an apple
then hot is good. :) if you like it for cooking and tend
to fry it in oil and then discard the garlic because that
is enough garlic flavor for you then hot is not what you
are after. it depends upon what you like and what you
might use it for.


songbird


I love the hot stuff!

Garlic harvest
 

In article
songbird writes:
Drew Lawson wrote:
...
Sounds a lot like field onion, which has been a common weed most
places that I've had a garden. Time and frustration just brought
me to accept that what I dug up was "most of it." Also, unless the
compost gets really hot, they'll survive that as well.

it is definitely not onion. hardneck garlic. very hot, very
good.

I was unclear (again).

I did not mean to suggest that it is onion, just that they have
similar persistence.

--
Drew Lawson | "But the senator, while insisting he was not
| intoxicated, could not explain his nudity."

Garlic harvest
 

Drew Lawson wrote:
....
I was unclear (again).

I did not mean to suggest that it is onion, just that they have
similar persistence.

oh, ok. :)

i made sure the first clump i took out was dried
out yesterday by spreading it out on a garden sheet.
made it easy to pick them back up (and the dirt that
falls off 'em) when the day was done. i think only
a few bulbules rolled away.


songbird

Garlic harvest
 

T wrote:
....
It is about four foot long and 14 inches wide. It
is about 12 to 14" deep and back filled with peat moss
and original dirt, plug chicken poop based fertilizer.

The trough itself does drain, but takes hours. I water
every other day.

that may be too often, maybe twice a week
would be enough or even once a week (depending
upon how well the soil there holds the moisture).


The trench is slightly below ground level so I can water
and not have it run all over the place.

I have five shallots growing like crazy in it right now.
This is their second feral year.

Oh and the green onion (scallions) nubs have starting
growing. Go figure.

:)


The garlic marbles are still dormant.

did you plant these recently?

the garlic here grows almost all year if
given a chance. the only time it stops is
right after the tops die back in the middle
of the hot summer, then it will start to
put out roots once there are any rains and
you can see it start growing again in the
fall. some winters it will stay green under
the snow if there is enough snow cover.
even with the ground freezing solid down
well below the root zone it will still
survive and come back once we get some
warmer late winter/early spring days.

i'm talking about the garlic that is left
in the ground. the bulbs that i lift and
divide to replant or give away or eat don't
get replanted until Sept/Oct so they won't
do much while in cool dark storage.


songbird

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/23/19 6:53 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
It is about four foot long and 14 inches wide. It
is about 12 to 14" deep and back filled with peat moss
and original dirt, plug chicken poop based fertilizer.

The trough itself does drain, but takes hours. I water
every other day.

that may be too often, maybe twice a week
would be enough or even once a week (depending
upon how well the soil there holds the moisture).


The trench is slightly below ground level so I can water
and not have it run all over the place.

I have five shallots growing like crazy in it right now.
This is their second feral year.

Oh and the green onion (scallions) nubs have starting
growing. Go figure.

:)


The garlic marbles are still dormant.

did you plant these recently?

Two or three weeks ago. If they come up, I would
expect them to show themselves in the spring.


the garlic here grows almost all year if
given a chance. the only time it stops is
right after the tops die back in the middle
of the hot summer,

That is when I harvest them

then it will start to
put out roots once there are any rains and
you can see it start growing again in the
fall. some winters it will stay green under
the snow if there is enough snow cover.
even with the ground freezing solid down
well below the root zone it will still
survive and come back once we get some
warmer late winter/early spring days.

Mine stays green all winter long. It is really
something to behold green shoots sticking up
above the snow. Gots to get me a few picture
of it.

i'm talking about the garlic that is left
in the ground. the bulbs that i lift and
divide to replant or give away or eat don't
get replanted until Sept/Oct so they won't
do much while in cool dark storage.

I am thinking of replanting in a few weeks of so.

Thank you!

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/23/19 6:53 AM, songbird wrote:
that may be too often, maybe twice a week
would be enough or even once a week (depending
upon how well the soil there holds the moisture).

We have 4 to 6% humidity and adiabatic drying winds.
I have tested it out. If I don't water every other day,
things start to badly wilt on me and I get blossom
rot even on my cherry tomatoes.

Blossom rot on peppers and eggplant is pathetic looking!

Garlic harvest
 

T wrote:
....
I am thinking of replanting in a few weeks of so.

if it is hot and dry there's no reason to do that
until it gets cooler and the rains return. well i
guess one reason to do it would be if your storage
space is poor and they would be better off in the
ground instead of being cooked and dried out in a
hot garage or something...

you could do an experiment and plant some early
and plant some later and compare results. :)

i have replanted immediately after harvesting
here, but we get rain so there is no real risk of
dessication.


songbird

Garlic harvest
 

T wrote:
On 7/23/19 6:53 AM, songbird wrote:
that may be too often, maybe twice a week
would be enough or even once a week (depending
upon how well the soil there holds the moisture).

We have 4 to 6% humidity and adiabatic drying winds.
I have tested it out. If I don't water every other day,
things start to badly wilt on me and I get blossom
rot even on my cherry tomatoes.

Blossom rot on peppers and eggplant is pathetic looking!

does your soil contain any clay? usually such poor
water retention would be attributable to not having
clay. also the general condition of your plantings is
that they are in smaller excavated spaces so that is
likely a big part of your wilting. the root systems
of larger plants in normal garden soil will be about
the same size as the plant mass above the ground...
(just an FYI :) )...

anything you can do to block those winds will also
help (as long as they do not block all the light).


songbird

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/24/19 4:37 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
On 7/23/19 6:53 AM, songbird wrote:
that may be too often, maybe twice a week
would be enough or even once a week (depending
upon how well the soil there holds the moisture).

We have 4 to 6% humidity and adiabatic drying winds.
I have tested it out. If I don't water every other day,
things start to badly wilt on me and I get blossom
rot even on my cherry tomatoes.

Blossom rot on peppers and eggplant is pathetic looking!

does your soil contain any clay? usually such poor
water retention would be attributable to not having
clay. also the general condition of your plantings is
that they are in smaller excavated spaces so that is
likely a big part of your wilting. the root systems
of larger plants in normal garden soil will be about
the same size as the plant mass above the ground...
(just an FYI :) )...

anything you can do to block those winds will also
help (as long as they do not block all the light).


songbird


Our soil is pretty much decomposed sandstone. It is
part of an old ancient lake bed. It is mostly round rocks.

I have found my ground pots work best if I hack them down
to over 18" deep and about that much wide too. It is no easy
task. Some of those rocks are pretty big.

Smaller ground pots grow smaller plants. Trial and error

Got YUGE peppers growing this year! Well, except for
one ground pot that I seriously need to dig out next
year. Got one pepper that is about 8" long. Last
year's best was about 5" long.

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/24/19 4:33 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
I am thinking of replanting in a few weeks of so.

if it is hot and dry there's no reason to do that
until it gets cooler and the rains return. well i
guess one reason to do it would be if your storage
space is poor and they would be better off in the
ground instead of being cooked and dried out in a
hot garage or something...

you could do an experiment and plant some early
and plant some later and compare results. :)

i have replanted immediately after harvesting
here, but we get rain so there is no real risk of
dessication.


songbird


The heat breaks in late August, so I think I will
do as you suggest.

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/24/19 4:37 AM, songbird wrote:
does your soil contain any clay?

It is mineral/rock powder. It does not
retain water. I does repel it though. It
will eventually sink in, but takes about a
half hour of standing. When it dries back out,
it is very similar to cement and will throw
sparks to a shovel or ax.

Garlic harvest
 

T wrote:
On 7/24/19 4:37 AM, songbird wrote:
does your soil contain any clay?

It is mineral/rock powder. It does not
retain water. I does repel it though. It
will eventually sink in, but takes about a
half hour of standing. When it dries back out,
it is very similar to cement and will throw
sparks to a shovel or ax.

organic material and a bit of clay will help
keep both water and nutrients in place.


songbird

Garlic harvest
 

On 7/28/19 4:30 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
On 7/24/19 4:37 AM, songbird wrote:
does your soil contain any clay?

It is mineral/rock powder. It does not
retain water. I does repel it though. It
will eventually sink in, but takes about a
half hour of standing. When it dries back out,
it is very similar to cement and will throw
sparks to a shovel or ax.

organic material and a bit of clay will help
keep both water and nutrients in place.


songbird


Peat moss and organic chicken skat based fertilizer plus
back fill (2/3 is rock) seem to be doing the trick