Kitchen Garden Forum

In previous recent years I have been growing Solent Wight garlic, but was not happy with its keeping properties. So this year I decided to change to Marshall's Longkeeping.

All year they looked pathetic and when I harvested them this week all I got was one round clove per plant, the size of a small silverskin pickling onion!

Any ideas?

The were growing between a row of elephant garlic and my Longor shallots, both of which have done well.

Best wishes,

Mike T

I had this problem the only year I bought proper 'seed'garlic,I was really miffed so next autumn I planted cloves of shop bought eating garlic and not only was it a lot cheaper but I've had great garlic crops ever since.I just pick out 5 or 6 good heads to plant in the autumn.I can only presume that the stock I bought originally was not very good,come to think of it ,it was Marshalls.

Hi Carole,
I would think that where you live the Garlic could well have been grown locally so could well be from they who are famous for their Garlic on the Isle of White.

I'm pretty certain it was from the local grower, Johnboy,but it was not sold for seed but for eating.I can't understand the difference between heads sold for cooking and those sold for growing,except of course,the price! They're sold I believe all over the country so keeping your eyes peeled in the greengrocers could result in cheaper growing garlic.

Hi Carole,
I think the line twixt Seed and Culinary is exceedingly thin.
I have not grown any this year as there is now only me and growing masses would be daft so I buy from a local Commune of Vegans that have an exceptional strain and is of a really good flavour. They have been growing the same selection for more than 30 years and simply select the best cloves for next years crop.

That's the most difficult bit,Johnboy,you look at the very best of the crop and think 'I'm not going to eat those....' I've gradually been improving my autumn sown broad beans by selecting the most prolific plants with the best seed pods but it is so hard not to eat them!

Hi Carole,
Oh so true so true!! I usually used to save the seed cloves as I go. I used to rather than do now.
Select some good whole plants and lay them aside when fully dried out and put them in the coolest place you can find. I used to break them open and take the tiddlers away for consumption and then as I used the rest if I came to a likely candidate put that aside and when you have time add to those in store. If you have enough then assess the whole lot and subtract the smallest until you get fed up with it and that is next years crop. Of course it is better to have too many rather than the other way around. If you want to improve your strain it cannot be done over night and suggest that if you get tight for Garlic buy some in rather than jeopardise your next years sowings.

Hi Mike T
Did you plant your 'Longkeeping' variety of garlic at the same time as your other garlic and shallots - or later? I think garlic needs to be planted in November or early December.
One year when I planted garlic in February I only got a single large clove from each clove planted and I think it was because I planted it too late. The crop I have just harvested is excellent, it was planted in early November.

I saw a Sophie Grigson programme some years ago and she interviewed UK garlic growers. They said that garlic must be planted in late October/November (Dec latest) as it needs the cold of the winter to make it divide. They suggested that if you can't plant out at this time, you put your cloves in individual pots to allow them to form a good root system before planting out in the spring. The pots should be placed in the coldest place available outside.

Certainly a couple of years ago when we had a very mild winter, my garlic all came out as one big bulb and I was told then it was because there'd been insufficient cold to cause division.

Hi Jea and Chantal,
The planting time is really determined by the variety that you are growing. There are varieties that prefer to be planted in March/April.
I certain areas of France they are planted in the spring as well as the autumn.
Hereabouts winter sown cloves to not survive so the rule is not hard and fast and so called winter varieties but planted in spring give very reasonable crops.
I lived in the area local to Albi Tarn France for a year and there both sorts were planted and apart from the varieties it spread the harvest.
I think soil preparation is all important and has a great deal to do with final results.
I feel that what you put in you get back and if the soil is not up to scratch they your harvest will be likewise.

We got a good crop from our French bought garlic which we planted in mid October. Ihave founs sebsequentley that they plant theirs in Mid September and harvest it a bit earlier than we do.

As I am using raised beds I dont have a water logging issue and as they are filled with 100% old manure the fertility isnt a problem so I am going to plant them 50% of my crop in Mid September and 50% in mid october to see if there is any difference in bulb size.

Mmm.... I'd like to think I will be too...and I'm in favour of planting in October if I can, but, to be completely honest, the variety I bought for myself, and subsequently for Lizzie, wasn't a 'named' variety, and my local blokey didn't know what particular variety it was, but October planting has always been pretty sound for me in Gloucestershire.

This Autumn's planting is going to be LOTS more fun, and I'm really looking forward to the results.
Wellie
X

As soon as I received the cloves from Marshall's I put them in a fridge for a week, just to make them think there had been a winter. Then I planted them out. I am now wondering whether to plant the undivided garlic, or to start again.

Its a bit annoying having to buy garlic, as the main reason for growing Longkeeping was so that I would not have to buy any garlic throughout the year!

Best wishes,

Mike T