Kitchen Garden Forum

That sounds interesting Johnboy, I would be worried about them rotting, but the sulphur powder and their own sulphur compounds should protect them, and they are in the allium family too. You might have started a new growing trend.

That sounds an interesting new experiment JB.
Hope all goes well for your hospital stay.

Sounds like half and half room temperature and fridge could expand the experiment.

Hope hospital visit goes well.

That is very interesting JB, and I have no excuse for not being aware of propagation methods that are well established such as this because I have the RHS manual on propagation. I'm finding learning new skills at a time my enthusiasm isn't as enthusiastic as it used to and there is so much to learn.

Most of my learning has been via mistakes, mistakes made either because I took the easy route or ignored looking for advise then sometimes not using that advise.

Garlic has been one of my very few successes, probably because it isn't a difficult plant to propagate, it's taken me four years to grow straight-ish carrots and I can grow carrot without carrot fly damage.

I'm still wrestling with Autumn planted brassicas, 50% have fallen over and even though I'm sure I will have the answer somewhere. I have so far assumed growing my own is as easy as the marketing people would have me believe.

I struggled with keeping myself supplied with rosemary all year round because whilst it grows in pots it is happier in the ground and you have to have the right ground for it.

So, what am I babbling on about, I do now after 4 years have a few things to share like most of us on this forum, based on our experiences, rather than established practice in some cases but it is worth sharing those experiences and so we arrive at putting garlic in the fridge because somewhere along the way we were warned not to put garlic in the fridge because the cold temperature causes sprouting then someone decides this to be a method of propagation because it worked for them.

And so-on.

In my case an annual routine has emerged, my new season garlic has been online for a month. Just after February some cloves start to sprout and they become the next crop though from last years experience I will first grow them under polythene cover.

Ricard with an H wrote:I had often thought about planting garlic cloves in pots to over-winter as a solution to the winter damage they sustain though after two successfull seasons of Spring sown garlic I can se the point for me.

Here is a question, my garlick is always scruffy. Never clean like store-bought garlic, it's no biggy but do any of you get your garlic clean ? Mo was preparing some of my garlic yesterday and commented that whilst my garlic has good sized and healthy cloves she thought I should wash it. (I just smiled and said, "of course dear")

Seem to recall reading about garlic on an American site, that the commercial varieties grown for the the home market are bleached.

Ricard with an H

My late Father always planted Brassicas down to the first leaf, and then really firmed down.

Is it the same with onions then ? I don't grow onions now but they were scruffy. Our Saturday market smallholder has scruffy garlic and scruffy onions so it seems if we buy produce we pay for a process that is a waste of time and money.

Having said that, it is very convenient to be able to buy clean spuds.

Shallot Man wrote:Ricard with an H

My late Father always planted Brassicas down to the first leaf, and then really firmed down.

Sorry, I missed this.

Hell, it looks like I dropped a clanger and just spent an hour traweling through books, studying brassica growing, didn't get an answer and I should be painting.

I have two potted broccoli left to replace failures so I better earth-up the remaining plants. In my first year (three years ago) my cabbages were pulled out of the ground by wind, the following year my cabbages were decimated by small slugs so I grew kale, kale is easy.

Thank you Mr Shallot man.

Hi Richard,
Here we plant brassicas when the root structure is right. Normally you would plant out when you have 4 true leaves ( not counting the cotyledons which are sacrificial)and most of the time when those new to gardening think that the top groth is all important but to me if the plant hasn't got the root structure to support the top growth then your plants will alway flop. With the right root structure the module should look like it is pot bound and should not be very tall. It is a case of small is beautiful. There is always too much pampering of brassicas when they are very hardy and stand a bit of mishandling. Tall top growth always gives the wind the chance to whip the plant out of the ground. Plant small and protect from the wind and I am sure your plants will race away.
JB.

Again and again, thanks.

I'm growing inside Enviromesh to slow the wind and keep the bugs at bay though I seem to have gotten the planting out wrong. They had good roots, I was looking to plant them before they were pot-bound so next year ???

Back to fridge/garlic. Sorry JB. I'm also wondering about the use of a fridge to start cowslips and other similar plants. This far west our winter temperatures are warmer than borders, mid-lands and east yet we have growth of self-seeded cowslips. I have never managed to grow cowslips from seed yet those I bought as plants self-seeded.

GARLIC TYPES.
Do different types require differing conditions ? I'm now scared to water my garlic whilst its growing because I consider where most of the garlic we use is grown (Once again , where did the fridge come in ) and did I ought to grow it mostly under cover and very dry to deal with the threat of white-rot ?

Hi Richard,
To grow Cowslips I have over the years found it best to collect my own seed I have an orchard paddock and it has literally hundreds of them.
If you make an open frame of 2"x1" and level the soil on a bed and lay that open frame on the soil and fill to at least an inch deep with fine grade horticultural grit and level out. Sow your Cowslip seed on the surface of the grit, as liberally as you want, and then gently water the seeds into the grit. If you get some very hot days without there being any rain in the last few day lightly water but apart from that you should be amazed in the spring. When the seedlings have more than two leaves gently tease them out from the grit and pot them up.
I used to grow them on in 1.5" x 1.5" x 2" deep module trays of 126 at a time. You do get the odd failiure but the strike rate would surely be 98%. I used to specialize in the Primula family including Auriculas but that has long time ceased.
By the way if you only need a few Cowslips the frame need not be more than 18"x12" because I would sow probably more than 100 in that area
JB.

That's a very useful tip Johnboy. I've noticed that my candelabra primulas tend to seelf seed best in a bit of gravel near the pond.

You ought to write a book of gardening tips it would be fascinating and extremely useful.

Fantastic, and thank you JB. Just goes to show it is best to share your problems and I'm now wondering if this technique has already been illustrated in my RHS book on propagation. Or is this your own technique JB ? Regardless, thank you very much. I must read that book more often.

I have already committed myself to growing wildflower plants again next year, presumably starting now in the case of some species, 15 years ago I bought a large packet of mixed seed. £230 worth of seed and whilst I have perennial species growing around the property most of those seeds didn't germinate or didn't survive other invasive growth.

Ricard with an H wrote:

Shallot Man wrote:Ricard with an H

My late Father always planted Brassicas down to the first leaf, and then really firmed down.

Should have added, the first true leaves, not the seedling ones. [ I put it down to senile decay ]

Hi Richard and PP,
My sowing regime was not gathered out of a book but pure obsevation when I noticed masses of both Cowslips and Primroses growing in a bed about 5ft above a gravel driveway. The entranceway where the traffic didn't go was a mass of seedling. Always up for an experiment I tried it in the nursery and hey presto masses of primulas of all kinds including Candelabra,Denticulata and Vialli and many other species. Even the Auriculas grew but not quite as well. Most of the Auriculas were asexual propagation because they are a bit iffy from seed.
However this is a far cry from Garlic stored in the fridge prior to planting.
The thought behind my garlic experiment is to have a root structure as well as top growth prior to potting on as I feel this would be an added incentive to the plant to grow better. Only a thought mind. Time will tell.
JB.