Veg Last fall I planted garlic
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inskanoot
Veteran Member
Maybe….
Green garlic is simply immature garlic. It looks like a slightly overgrown scallion or green onion and has a bulb that is usually white with a slight pink tint. It is pulled by growers when thinning crops and is increasingly grown as a crop in its own right.Jan 22, 2023
Green garlic is simply immature garlic. It looks like a slightly overgrown scallion or green onion and has a bulb that is usually white with a slight pink tint. It is pulled by growers when thinning crops and is increasingly grown as a crop in its own right.Jan 22, 2023
What Is Green Garlic? - The Spruce Eats
Are the tops dying down? If not, it may just be immature.
Summerthyme
Summerthyme
Raggedyman
Res ipsa loquitur
THIS
garlic is ALWAYS best planted in the fall. plant it the last week of october on the last quarter moon. mulch it heavily with leaves or straw. it will come up in the spring and easily withstand the frost. I've had garlic 10" tall in 4-6 inches of snow do extremely well.it doesn't like weeds and it doesn't like to be wet - actually prefers to be a bit on the dry side. after it's about 10" tall you can side dress it with triple 10 (10.10.10) fertilizer about every 14 days until it stats to form scapes. when those begin to form, they need to be pulled (or cut off) before they flower or curl. STOP any fertilizing at that time.
here in zone 6 garlic will typically begin to brown up in mid june an start to lay over in late june. its ready to DIG (you do NOT "pull" garlic, you DIG it) when the tops are 60-65% dry and its begun to lay over. DIG IT in the early morning on a dry sunny day and let it lay in the sun all day. lay it out so that the stalks are separated a bit - so it has a chance to dry in the sun. gather it up in the evening and take it inside under roof. it needs to lay out and continue to dry for 7-10 days. lay it out loosely so it has a chance to dry well -your stalks can get moldy if its in a pile. after that it should be braided and hung. the best place to hang garlic is in a cool DRY dark place- like a basement. garlic requires about 6 weeks to cure - you can use it before that but it may not be as aromatic. NEVER keep garlic in a plastic bag or in your refrigerator.
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Raggedyman
Res ipsa loquitur
how do I know when the garlic is ready to be picked ? what will it look like?
The tops will look dry, and they will start to turn brown. Sometimes the top will start to lay down. If it starts to seed, pull that stem out. A lot has to do with the weather. They will start to rot in wet weather faster then dry.
you can't pull it out of the ground (like carrots or scallions) - is there a secret to digging it so the bulb is not hurt?
start digging about 4 or 5 inches from the stem by putting the shovel straight down and loosen the dirt by moving the shovel back and forth. try to by sure to get under the bulb. The roots are not long, once the dirt is loosened you should be about to pull the heads out. If it doesn't come out easily try to loosen the dirt again.
What is the right way to store it for seed ?
peel off a couple layers, until it is clean and looks white, but not so much that you expose the individual cloves. braid it, then hang it in the garage or dry place for about 4 weeks. cut off the roots and about the top 2 inches of the stalk - save the rest of the stalk to braid. Sometimes I just tie about 12 together with twine and hang it up that way. take your biggest bulbs to save for planting the following year. Let them hang until you are ready to plant in the fall.
The tops will look dry, and they will start to turn brown. Sometimes the top will start to lay down. If it starts to seed, pull that stem out. A lot has to do with the weather. They will start to rot in wet weather faster then dry.
you can't pull it out of the ground (like carrots or scallions) - is there a secret to digging it so the bulb is not hurt?
start digging about 4 or 5 inches from the stem by putting the shovel straight down and loosen the dirt by moving the shovel back and forth. try to by sure to get under the bulb. The roots are not long, once the dirt is loosened you should be about to pull the heads out. If it doesn't come out easily try to loosen the dirt again.
What is the right way to store it for seed ?
peel off a couple layers, until it is clean and looks white, but not so much that you expose the individual cloves. braid it, then hang it in the garage or dry place for about 4 weeks. cut off the roots and about the top 2 inches of the stalk - save the rest of the stalk to braid. Sometimes I just tie about 12 together with twine and hang it up that way. take your biggest bulbs to save for planting the following year. Let them hang until you are ready to plant in the fall.
BRAID YOUR GARLIC and HANG IT
How to Braid Garlic
How to Braid Garlic: 14 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow
How to Braid Garlic
How to Braid Garlic: 14 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow
How to Braid Garlic for Winter Storage
Border Collie Dad
Flat Earther
That is soft neck garlic.
I believe it is more prevalent in the south.
Here in the north we have hard neck garlic.
You ain't braiding it.
I planted garlic for the first time, late last October, mostly hard, some soft. I pulled the soft a few days ago; small, but bigger than the cloves I planted...LOL! The hard never made scapes but it's almost ready. I'm in E. Oregon where it's been a wet winter, but now hot & very dry. I spent too much $$$ buying seed garlic as an experiment (MiGardener), but I won't do that again! because I know I'm not getting my money back. But at least I know I can grow some. Live & learn. We looooove garlic, and it's medicinal, so I want to figure it out.
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Raggedyman
Res ipsa loquitur
BCD - with respect . . .
I grow ONLY Italian hard neck. its the stuff my grandfather brought here from the mother land in 1906. it lived in OHIO until I brought some of it here from my fathers garden in 2001. I've been growing this stuff since I was a kid. the old man and my grandfather braided it as far back and for as long as I can remember. the picture above is what I braided and saved for seed garlic in 21. its Italian hard neck.
there may well be other types of hard neck that you can't braid - but Italian hard neck ain't one of em.
You might want to plant a bit earlier this year. Also, provide plenty of nutrients, especially nitrogen... garlic and onions are heavy feeders.
The taller/bigger the tops in Spring, the bigger the bulbs will be. Same as for onions. Our garlic is likely to be smaller than we'd like this year, because the blasted chickens ate the greens down to the dirt in early May! They regrew, and are nearly hip high and lush green, so we're hopeful!
Summerthyme
Yes, I knew it was late.
I was lucky to get them in at all...LOL! I did put a ton of stuff into/on the soil. It was a new raised bed. But nothing after I planted; should I have done something in spring? I will save the biggest to plant this fall, and try to be on time. 
That definitely will help! I would topdress with some good quality compost, or (if you're not strictly organic) use a slow release fertilizer like Osmocote as soon as you see growth starting in Spring.Yes, I knew it was late.
Your money wasn't wasted... it gave you known seed stock which was disease free... now you can tweak your technique and use your saved bulbs to hopefully get a better yield next time.
Summerthyme
Babs
Veteran Member
We are in the North, and we grow soft and hard neck garlic. I planted mine in the fall, in about 8 inches of good compost and covered with about 6" of straw. Mine is waist high with very thick stalks, but I haven't seen any scapes yet. I'm thinking that it may not be ready until August this year. We'll see.
Border Collie Dad
Flat Earther
Can't argue with you but all my garlic has stems like pencils and can't be braided.
I think the braids look really nice, though
Raggedyman
Res ipsa loquitur
could also be that Italian hard neck - while a considered a "hard neck" - is not as hard as some of the other hard necks . . . this particular variety is a porcelain with purpleish streaks in it . . . not saying you were wrong in your statement - only that I am braiding what I know to called a hard neck variety.
wondering if you also hang yours?
Border Collie Dad
Flat Earther
I bunch some up, maybe 8-10 in a bunch, tie them together and hang them until they "cure" and then cut the stems off to about 1" then bag them.
This year is the latest they've kept for me before going bad.
FYI, I am growing:
German Extra Hardy
Music
Chesnok Red
Romanian Red
I've grown the German Extra Hardy for around a dozen years since I started growing
Taco Salad
Contributing Member
I grow several different kinds, all hard necks. Some are not as hard as others as Raggedyman said. I till in composted manure and add some rock phosphate now and then. I mulch with a deep layer of shredded leaves to keep the weeds down. This year I planted German White - I plant this every year and it does very well for me, Nonna Rose which is an Italian purple and my favorite, Calabria which keeps very well for me, Marino and Russian Red. I have grown lots of other varieties in the past, but I have cut back on how much I grow because it was too much for two old geezers and I can use the garden space for other vegetables.
When the lower third of the leaves turn brown and die it is time to dig the bulbs. I think it is usually about a month after I cut the scapes. My soil is so rich and loose I can pull the bulbs, but I do assist with a fork. Don't wait too long or the cloves separate and it shortens the time it will keep. Use those first. Better to dig too early than too late.
I bunch them in bunches of 3 or 4 and hang them till it gets cold. I cut the stems and leave the bulbs loose in baskets in the cold cellar for the winter. I am still using last years garlic.
When the lower third of the leaves turn brown and die it is time to dig the bulbs. I think it is usually about a month after I cut the scapes. My soil is so rich and loose I can pull the bulbs, but I do assist with a fork. Don't wait too long or the cloves separate and it shortens the time it will keep. Use those first. Better to dig too early than too late.
I bunch them in bunches of 3 or 4 and hang them till it gets cold. I cut the stems and leave the bulbs loose in baskets in the cold cellar for the winter. I am still using last years garlic.
Raggedyman
Res ipsa loquitur
been tending to this garlic stuff a good portion of my existence in one form or another. as you can probably imagine garlic is a fairly precious commodity to a large Italian family. my grandfather and my father kept all of them well supplied. then after they passed the torch I became "keeper of the clove". at one time I would plant as many as 300 - 350 cloves and send it all around the country to those of us that were left. a braid or two to every family that wanted it. as time passed that amount steadily diminished and now I plant 75 - 80 cloves - my two sisters, my son and daughter. the rest we keep and use. I don't know much about a shite ton of things but I know garlic pretty danged well.
as far as cutting back - I too have cut back on a lot of things we used to grow. just got to be too much and most of it we'd give away. we always grew 350-400 lbs of sweet potatoes and about 80-100 lbs of kennebecs . . . don't grow ANY potatoes at all anymore. always had 25 - 30 head of savoy cabbage in the ground every fall - no more. we're down to 8-10 tomato plants half dozen eggplant, half dozen bell peppers and 8-10 feet of cucumbers. a few zucchini and about 30' of Italian beans.
moved all of it up from the pasture down near the creek to up at the house. it gets to be too much for an old hillbilly after a bit
