Kitchen Garden Forum

I was bemoaning my negligible garlic crop this year to a friend who recommended storing garlic bulbs in a fridge for a month before planting them out in October or November. I understand garlic needs a spell of cold temperature in winter to help the bulbs to form later.

Does anybody else do this or so you just rely on a normal cold winter to do the trick? I think last winter was probably exceptionally mild but maybe global warming may see warmer winters occurring more regularly. This year was my first serious attempt at growing it, and it was a disaster.

It is advice I've heard before and it does seem to make sense, but I've not tried it personally.

I do note that garlic my wife keeps in the fridge sprouts quite readily in there.

Primrose wrote: I understand garlic needs a spell of cold temperature in winter to help the bulbs to .

Maybe different garlic types need different conditions, don't most of us buy garlic suited to our climate. I've grown garlic for two years now , our coast conditions whilst having a more desicating effect on plants because of the wind, is warmer than inland. I had good garlic for two seasons though I lost some to rot last year.

I never keep garlic in the fridge, my garlic is stored in an earthenware pot with holes in the lid. All the other garlic is left in the shed in baskets or left hanging.

Maybe I read somewhere not to keep garlic in the fridge because the cold temperature promotes growth, I can't remember.

Peter - counter intuitive I know put tell your wife garlic keeps best warm, we hang ours by the Aga and still using last year's.
I've heard the cold weather to make it divide theory about garlic many times, how frosty does it get where they grow the most? For example, "Gilroy, California USA refers to themselves as the 'Garlic Capitol of the World' because they produce a great deal of garlic" - south of San Jose.

The same thought had occurred to me. Here are the weather averages for Gilroy.

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimat ... h/USCA0420

Geoff, I have frequently, but it's ntue modt convenient place nin our fairly small kitchen and she doesn't tend to heed advice.

So what is going on with garlic, it was my friend who bought me the garlic pot and told me not to keep it in the fridge and yes it used to sprout but since I kept my bulbs away from the fridge I managed to keep cloves from sprouting.

So what is the answer to the question Primrose posted ?

Primrose.
If I got it right then it was from either book reading or reading this forum, you can put your winter-growing garlic in the ground too late so maybe too-early is also a problem. There have been previous discussions on this matter which prompted me, if I remember you need to get it in the ground before it gets too cold so the cloves have had time to grow some root which sort-of dispels the idea that the cloves need to go in the fridge.

As if I'm not confused enough at least I get relaxed about being confused.

I posted the mention of Gilroy because that's what Google tells you when you search for where the most garlic is grown. I've failed to track down where most of it is grown in Europe but as most of it is eaten around the Mediterranean I assume that is where it is grown, again with little chance of frost. I conclude the cold spell is a myth.

I am very inclined to agree with you, Geoff.

There are some very warm places in the top 10

I suspect that Primrose's initial posting could very well be correct.
Certainly if you refrigerate garlic it will certainly start to sprout.
Now I agree with Geoff that storing garlic for culinary purposes should be at room temperature and it doesn't sprout to the same frequency but it certainly gets the green shoot within the cloves towards the end of the season.
Now Primrose is not trying to keep the garlic for culinary purposes she is trying to initiate growth and whereas garlic sown in our rather wet conditions sometimes does have a tendency to struggle and may rot if growth initiation has not taken place quite quickly. I suspect that if initial growth has taken place in the refrigerator when planted out the roots may well appear sooner which could be a great advantage.
I have witnessed a French grower shovelling 18" of snow off the ground, plant his garlic, and shovel the snow back so as to plant his garlic after christmas and before the new year at the right time!
JB.
Edit.
What I forgot to say was that the garlic planted under the snow was was 2" high when the snow diappeared about siw weeks later.
JB.

Reading up on the countries where garlic is produced, it seems that it is the length of time that the garlic is growing that determines when it starts to divide, and that it stops growing when the weather gets hotter.

I bought some nice flavoured Chinese garlics that were one whole bulb not divided and I just cut pieces off of the size I wanted and wrapped it in cling film until I next needed some. So you can still use it.

Also if you re-plant some they will divide next year.

Hi PP,
Single bulb galic is apparently known as "Solo Garlic" and images show it looking very similar to a normal garlic.
What occurs to me is that it seems perfect for roasting. Have you tried roasting it whole? I salivate as I write!
JB.

JB. I can confirm that they are delicious for roasting whatever their shape or size. Some of my small undivided ones were used up in this way with springs of rosemary under a lamb joint, and the ensuing juices were to die for! We may be getting older and creakier In this house but old habits die hard and we still fight for the privilege of mopping up the last vestiges of pan juices with a chunk of bread!