Garlic

[seedcorn]

What is heaviest producer?

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

it depends on the conditions from year to year. i heard some people had garlic types that normally don't do well do really well this year. types that would usually size up nicely in past years did poorly. Susanville (softneck) sized up nicely for me. Kellarney (rocambole hardneck) i got a lot of tiny bulbs but what i started with last year were small bulbs too. and the Siberians did well and a couple were good sized. softnecks at the festival seemed to be nicely sized vs hardnecks when i saw them.

i did do something i probably shouldn't have, i pull all the garlic at the same time. some take longer than others and i didn't pull some early enough. the weeds did take over in some areas and that might have been a deterrent to some getting bigger.

if you're going to grow garlic get the biggest bulbs you can find. any bulbs over 2" are good. use the larges cloves for planting, smaller for eating. weed often. prep with fertilizer at least month before planting.

 

[timberlane]

I had a fair harvest; pretty good since it was my first attempt. But it isn't very strong tasting. My fingers hardly even smell after dicing some. Could growing conditions be the culprit, or type? It was some grocery store garlic.

You should avoid grocery store garlic. It could be sprayed with preservatives.

 

[journey11]

What is heaviest producer?

Wish I could remember where I read this article...but it said that hardnecks were easier to grow and store and that they produce larger bulbs generally and with fewer but larger, fatter cloves in the bulb. Soft-necks producing many more cloves per bulb and often some very tiny cloves in there (been my experience that they tend to wither and dry out in storage.)

Another aspect is the flavor... Some are milder, some are hotter. I'd been growing Italian softneck garlic all these years and it is indeed hotter. After some looking around, I'm going to try growing Music hardneck garlic this year. It's a porcelain variety (several different types of garlic) and it is supposed to be one of the most dependable and generally very popular garlics and it has a milder flavor.

On a side note...Elephant garlic isn't really a garlic at all! It's more closely related to leeks. It's really popular. My neighbor always grows it and it's very easy and comes back on it's own. I hear it is a good keeper too.

 

[MontyJ]

Shame on you Chickie! You sent me Susanville then had to go out and buy it! Now I feel bad

 

[Ridgerunner]

I got mine in the ground about three weeks ago, Silver Rose and Elephant garlic. Some of it has just started coming up.

 

[MontyJ]

I also planted the silver rose and elephant, Ridge. I expect most of it to be coming up just before the first hard freeze of winter. As soon as it peeks up, I'm mulching it under.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

Shame on you Chickie! You sent me Susanville then had to go out and buy it! Now I feel bad

i realized i only got 1 bulb at the festival when i was working on pulling the cloves apart a couple nights ago. my mom was the one that wanted some more!

 

[MontyJ]

I expect most of it to be coming up just before the first hard freeze of winter.

Well, that didn't go as planned. We've already had a few hard freezes and the garlic isn't up yet. We went from 60+ to hard freeze. I can only hope the garlic survived. I'm going to spot check a few today then mulch it with bedding from the chicken coop. Don't panic, it's mostly bedding with very little chicken manufactured additives

 

[majorcatfish]

99% of the hardneck/ softneck is up as of today there is 3 elephant up..
hopefully being that this is the second generation plus growing in raised beds we will get better harvest plus larger bulbs. only time will tell.....