I got it in yesterday, one row with ~300 cloves, another row with ~200 bulbils. We'll see how they compare. I simply broadforked four lanes of holes, so spacing is 4" tine spacing in the row and then 10" between rows. Drip will be set between rows 1-2 and 3-4. Cloves went in fairly easily, I pushed them root inboard and laying on their back instead of root down. The ground was wet and not that cold. Bulbils I just dropped in the tine hole, same spacing. Some concern that some bulbils fell too deep - perhaps I should have forked at half depth. Oh well. Both rows were covered with leaves to finish.

Took about 3 hours and the only problem was the rain kept coming and going. Last night I started a sore throat, may or may not be related to 3 hrs cold/wet. It was only the top of my head that was wet.

I am looking forward to the comparison between good cloves and bulbils. For each bulb opened I may only get 3 or 4 cloves on average. The others are now loose for eating, but, they don't last as long that way. If I could get decent bulbs here from December planted bulbils, that would be awesome. I don't like the method for growing them in stages and requiring storage/replant.

what size bulbils did you plant?

i have one type of garlic that produces large pea or marble sized bulbils.
they produce either large rounds or small bulbs. i can tell what they will be
by the top growth. the bulbs will produce a scape. the rounds will have shorter
top growth. you have to pull the rounds before the leaves die or you will miss them.
large bulbils i will space about 4 inches apart. the smaller ones i lightly sprinkle in
the row. depth about the same as bulbs. what comes up, comes up.
i have mulched with leaves before. its better to shred them first before mulching
other wise garlic shoots start growing along the ground instead of up if you don't
pull the leaves back in time. shredded leaves stay in place better.
amp up your vitamin c for a few days. try to plant in november.


keith

Keith you are a sharp operator. Good point about the leaves, they are not shredded yet, didn't have time. They were leave vacced and piled on an empty plot. When I get to shred over there I planned to run those right through and back onto the rows. If not I usually rake back around Mar 1st.

November would work, though December is fine for clove planting. November is too busy though. Most bulbils were under dime size. Cold Eeze is my go to for this situation. Lot of people sick at work last week/this week.

@rxkeith sent me a bunch of bubils of various sizes last year. I had some disease in my soil so I did a series of bleach treatments and then had to ammend my soil and re-introduce mycos and bacteria. Once I finished that, I planted these tiny bubils in February. Most of them produced scapes which I picked off. When I went to lift my garlic, I did not find a single round. All of the little bubils produced beautiful and some of them, very large heads of garlic.

I will say that I was amazed at the size of the roots that the garlic made. Some of the roots were 2-2.5' long. Is this normal or was this due to my soft soil or the mycos?

@MissS I've seen garlic make some pretty large root balls. I don't use mycos on my garlic (probably should) but I do plant with some chicken poo and work the soil so it's a bit softer. While my root balls haven't been super long, they've been pretty dense. I count it as normal.

This garlic can be smelled from a long way away. Getting tall.

2025 Northern Hemisphere Garlic Ranchers...Start Yer Engines...the Season has Begun!...two (2) days later than last year, and two (2) weeks ahead of the rolling average of ~March 15th: The Gotch

Good to know you're out there searching for a first sprout, @Cornelius_Gotchberg . yayy!!

bower wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2025 6:20 pmGood to know you're out there searching for a first sprout, @Cornelius_Gotchberg . yayy!!

Just like the Sandhill Cranes flying lazy circles high in the sky and caterwauling to beat the band, a sure sign that Spring, if not just right 'round the corner, is in the On Deck Circle.

Still, you's always wonder when (if!) that 1st shoot's going to break surface...now my only concern is the rest of 'em...

The Gotch

The Sandhill Cranes were still here as of a couple days ago.

Shocked to report that my first sprouts are up!!
This is definitely a first, I don't think I've ever seen them up in the month of March. Mid April is more like it.
I hope we don't go to far back into the deep freeze. Mulch will be staying on for a while yet!

Both rows are up but the pics are blurry.

March 22. Main crop.

JRinPA wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 9:29 am Both rows are up but the pics are blurry.

March 22. Main crop.

You's early, middlin', or late? We're late, here.

The Gotch

it is about on time I think. just planted late Dec. I know of an oct planting that is twice as high. so, a week ahead of mine?

In a babied raised bed I recall some peaking through late Feb snow, from early Nov plantings.

got a little too much of that white mulch on top to give a report.


keith

Record high 78°F/25.6°C Friday temperatures kick-started the Garlic crop, which is behind the rolling average to-date, and WAY BEHIND last year's earliness; this good soaking today won't hurt: The Gotch

Here is my garlic as of today, four rows of 90 each, planted November 5th. Varieties left to right are Music, Russian Red (two rows), and Estonian Red, and are 12-15" tall. Grew many varieties over the past 50 years and settled on these. I sell 50-100 bulbs to a friend each year and give away some smaller amounts, but still grow too many. It's so fun and easy it's hard to stop planting, but I did cut down this year to four rows instead of five. It is heavily mulched with grass clippings and chopped leaves which I leave on all season, and fertilized with Harmony at tilling and bloodmeal thereafter.

@TomNJ what a pleasure to see your garlic in the field again! Welcome to TJ.
I often think on your sage advice, grow the greens and then let them bulb.
Still learning something new every year.

bower wrote: ↑Sun Mar 30, 2025 4:07 pm @TomNJ what a pleasure to see your garlic in the field again! Welcome to TJ.
I often think on your sage advice, grow the greens and then let them bulb.
Still learning something new every year.

BTW, note how the garlic leaves are all fanned out in the same direction. This is controlled by the direction the clove is planted, and I arrange them so the leaves fan out into the space between the rows to maximize sun exposure, as opposed to having them fan into and shade adjacent plants.

The harvest is in! All soft necked. My hard necks in general look pretty pitiful, especially Chesnok Red and what does look okay does not look ready for harvest yet.

Everything planted November 20th. Thanks to my low expectations and modest effort for growing garlic, I’m pleased with the end result. Good drying weather ahead for two weeks at least.

A few wrappers have split so they were past due, but most of the heads look fully mature.

Feed store acquired seed, super cheap, no idea what type. There’s also some farmers market acquired garlic my kids picked up on their travels, but no variety names associated with those either.