My first garlic crop, planted last September, is now flowering. I lifted one
plant but the bulbs were still small. What should I do with the flowers? Cut
them off to prevent too much energy going to them or leave well alone?
Thanks for your help.
Regards
Seb


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"Seb Flyte" wrote:

What should I do with the flowers? Cut
them off to prevent too much energy going to them or leave well alone?

Cut them off and stir-fry if they haven't gotten too tough. This is pretty
late in the season, so I'm not sure how my American data travels across the
pond. Generally, garlic starts forming bulbs after the equinox. Harvest
when about half the leaves have turned brown.
Garlic competes poorly with weeds; this may not be important in your
garden, but it _surely_ is in mine!

(Let's just say that I plant the bright red Chard because it's easier to
find...)


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

"Seb Flyte" wrote:

What should I do with the flowers? Cut
them off to prevent too much energy going to them or leave well alone?

Cut them off and stir-fry if they haven't gotten too tough. This is pretty
late in the season, so I'm not sure how my American data travels across the
pond. Generally, garlic starts forming bulbs after the equinox. Harvest
when about half the leaves have turned brown.
Garlic competes poorly with weeds; this may not be important in your
garden, but it _surely_ is in mine!

(Let's just say that I plant the bright red Chard because it's easier to
find...)


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

I usually plant garlic in late Oct / Nov
and harvest as soon as the leaves yellow and lie flat,
usually July.
I don't think I've ever left them to flower.

I'd be interested to hear what others say.

Best regards from Ray

I wonder why we never see garlic harvested and sold "in the green".
That is pulled just before the first signs of bulbing starts, then the whole
thing leaves and stems can be used, and it is a little less strong than it
will be when it is harvested as a bulb

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

I wonder why we never see garlic harvested and sold "in the green".
That is pulled just before the first signs of bulbing starts, then the whole
thing leaves and stems can be used, and it is a little less strong than it
will be when it is harvested as a bulb

--
David Hill
Abacus nurseries
www.abacus-nurseries.co.uk

"David Hill" wrote:

I wonder why we never see garlic harvested and sold "in the green".

I know at least one farmer over here who does just that. He tosses all the
undersized cloves left over from planting in a bed at the end of the row
and harvests them either pulled up whole or just the greens (they'll
produce several cuttings) in the spring.
Asian cooks snap 'em up!


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

"David Hill" wrote:

I wonder why we never see garlic harvested and sold "in the green".

I know at least one farmer over here who does just that. He tosses all the
undersized cloves left over from planting in a bed at the end of the row
and harvests them either pulled up whole or just the greens (they'll
produce several cuttings) in the spring.
Asian cooks snap 'em up!


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

"Raymond RUSSELL" wrote ...
I usually plant garlic in late Oct / Nov
and harvest as soon as the leaves yellow and lie flat,
usually July.
I don't think I've ever left them to flower.

I'd be interested to hear what others say.


Our's has been harvested for almost a month and is now hanging up and dry
having been plaited by Sue.
It's true, some are smaller than others, but if you leave them in the ground
the heads will expand, split apart, and each clove will start to grow again.
The head will not grow any larger after the leaves turn brown.
Some Garlic does flower as part of it's growing cycle, but that happens much
earlier and I would think it should all be harvested by now no matter where
you live in the UK. (Stands to be corrected)

--
Regards
Bob
in Runnymede, 17miles west of London, UK

"Raymond RUSSELL" wrote ...
I usually plant garlic in late Oct / Nov
and harvest as soon as the leaves yellow and lie flat,
usually July.
I don't think I've ever left them to flower.

I'd be interested to hear what others say.


Our's has been harvested for almost a month and is now hanging up and dry
having been plaited by Sue.
It's true, some are smaller than others, but if you leave them in the ground
the heads will expand, split apart, and each clove will start to grow again.
The head will not grow any larger after the leaves turn brown.
Some Garlic does flower as part of it's growing cycle, but that happens much
earlier and I would think it should all be harvested by now no matter where
you live in the UK. (Stands to be corrected)

--
Regards
Bob
in Runnymede, 17miles west of London, UK

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

Our's has been harvested for almost a month and is now hanging up and dry
having been plaited by Sue.
It's true, some are smaller than others, but if you leave them in the
ground
the heads will expand, split apart, and each clove will start to grow
again.
The head will not grow any larger after the leaves turn brown.
Some Garlic does flower as part of it's growing cycle, but that happens
much
earlier and I would think it should all be harvested by now no matter
where
you live in the UK. (Stands to be corrected)

--
Regards
Bob
in Runnymede, 17miles west of London, UK

I lifted them yesterday and found what you had said, that is most had split
apart into individual cloves. My original planting was from 4 heads, about
40 cloves. Now I have 16 good heads and 200+ individual cloves. Many of
these are of a good size and can be used. The smallest I will replant
although I see this is not recommended. Incidentally I am in Surrey.
Thanks for all the replies.
Regards

Seb


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"Seb Flyte" wrote in message 40 cloves. Now I have
16 good heads and 200+ individual cloves. Many of
these are of a good size and can be used. The smallest I will replant
although I see this is not recommended. Seb


Biggest problem I have with garlic is that any cloves left behind are very
vigorous the following year. In fact, I have an area I'd thought was garlic
free that's so handsome with it, I couldn't bear to uproot them in the
spring. My days of intentionally planting garlic are over--I'm going to
harvest my volunteers in the future and that ought to do us.

On Wed, 4 Aug 2004 08:08:09 +0100, Seb Flyte wrote:

...I have 16 good heads and 200+ individual cloves. Many of
these are of a good size and can be used. The smallest I will replant
although I see this is not recommended.

You should always put aside the best as your seed stock for the
next season. If you plant the runts, you will be selecting for
runtiness. Remember that even though propagated vegetatively,
there is some variation in the progeny.

BTW, "best" means best bulbs (or heads) not just best cloves.
When you lift your garlic, you should look over the yield and
select the one or two bulbs that have a good compromise between
number of cloves and size of cloves give the use you intend for
them.

If you only look over the individual cloves, you might be
selecting ones that came from bulbs with many other small cloves,
or very few cloves.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

Rodger Whitlock wrote:
: On Wed, 4 Aug 2004 08:08:09 +0100, Seb Flyte wrote:

: ...I have 16 good heads and 200+ individual cloves. Many of
: these are of a good size and can be used. The smallest I will replant
: although I see this is not recommended.

: You should always put aside the best as your seed stock for the
: next season. If you plant the runts, you will be selecting for
: runtiness. Remember that even though propagated vegetatively,
: there is some variation in the progeny.

I always thought the main danger was accumulation of disease (mild).
Large healthy stock is an indication of being relative disease free (or
the "diseases" borne are beneficial :-). Certainly small runty stuff could
be because of a viral infection which will be continued.

Paradoxical I know but select the biggest cloves from the best heads for
planting next for next years crops.

: BTW, "best" means best bulbs (or heads) not just best cloves.
: When you lift your garlic, you should look over the yield and
: select the one or two bulbs that have a good compromise between
: number of cloves and size of cloves give the use you intend for
: them.

: If you only look over the individual cloves, you might be
: selecting ones that came from bulbs with many other small cloves,
: or very few cloves.


: --
: Rodger Whitlock
: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
: [change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
: "invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

In article , Rodger Whitlock
writes
On Wed, 4 Aug 2004 08:08:09 +0100, Seb Flyte wrote:

...I have 16 good heads and 200+ individual cloves. Many of
these are of a good size and can be used. The smallest I will replant
although I see this is not recommended.

You should always put aside the best as your seed stock for the
next season. If you plant the runts, you will be selecting for
runtiness. Remember that even though propagated vegetatively,
there is some variation in the progeny.

Explain! ;-)
I can see that some will have grown bigger than others, and that the big
ones have a better food store for starting off the new plant, and that
therefore planting bigger cloves will give you better plants next year.

But there isn't any genetic variability, surely? So you're not selecting
in that sense if you propagate vegetatively? In other words, even if
chose a runt you could reverse the process with a few seasons good
feeding, or vice versa. Or has Lamarckism come back into favour since I
was last on the fringes of evolutionary study?
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"