Here is some garlic that resprouted Should I replant

[greenthumbomaha]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the encouragement, but also it's prep for what might not be so great too. I've since read some positive reviews and a few not so much about planting garlic without cloves, especially after soaking. The lack of curing will be the fear factor here.

Today I prepared up an in ground garlic bed in virgin soil by cutting holes in existing Pro5 fabric, at the country location where I had the animal digging up my plants fiasco this spring.
Instead of using the smelly organic 10-10-10 I mixed a teaspoon of bagged worm castings in each hole. After the predicted storms tomorrow I'll poke the cloves in. I hope this will be enough nutrient to get them going. I'll mulch with bagged pine bark and hope it doesn't float away.
From what I read animals don't like garlic sprinkled around the garden.

- Lisa

[greenthumbomaha]

Originally Posted by brownrexx

I don't know if you normally mulch your garlic but I usually apply a thick layer of straw once it gets really cold and the leaves die. This keeps the soil from going through a lot of freeze/thaw cycles and moving the bulbs up and down in the soil. I pull it back in the spring when I see leaves poking through.

Good luck. They look like nice cloves.

I used the thick straw last year too. To keep it in place I layered my folding tomato cages on top of the raised bed. This served another purpose of keeping any deer or other 4 legged creatures from taking a shortcut thru the bed.

I left my straw on and it was a weedy mess by spring. I'll follow your example of removing the straw and maybe use corn glutten meal for the seed seeds.

- Lisa

[greenthumbomaha]

I'm a concerned about my garlic planting and would like some opinions to tide me through thinking about this over the winter.

I planted in late October which is well within the time frame for my zone. I've had friend that had a garlic farm back in the day and planted in December the day before it snowed and still had a good harvest.

The problem it it has been warm and DRY, very dry, record dry, DRY. I watered it at planting and there hasn't been any rain since then.I waited about two weeks before covering with straw to keep the soil warming. so it was DRY. I did one additional hand watering with buckets.The hoses were removed and the system drained so too late to turn back time and keep watering things available. And its been sunny, warmer than normal, and windy. A newspaper article was suggesting prioritizing watering the garden by hand this weekend... it is that dry. I have't seen any sign of above ground growth. Very unsettling. Anyone have a dry period after planting?

- Lisa

[bower]

Hi Lisa,

We had a very dry fall this year as well, and warmer than normal, but we did have a few showers and I just assume that's enough. Not as dry as you, no doubt, and I don't have previous experience to say how it would affect the whole season's growth. My bigger worry is, how did the dryness affect frost penetration on a few extreme cold nights. I didn't plant until end of October, and I did pile on all the mulch I could get, but I didn't water in although the ground was pretty dry. Oh, and we never get any top growth before winter here. It doesn't seem to be a problem, and most people are trying to prevent top growth in the fall from what I have read.

I know our climates are too different for those comments to be really helpful, but maybe someone else will see your question when I bump it up.

[brownrexx]

You don't need to see signs of above ground growth. The reason that we plant garlic in the fall is so that they can establish their root system before the ground freezes and then they are ready to take off growing in the spring as soon as the ground warms up.

I only saw very slight nubs showing above ground this year, no leaves. You will still get a crop.

[greenthumbomaha]

Thank you for a little peace of mind for the next few months, bower and brownrexx. I think it was two years ago that I was agonizing over having too much top growth in the fall.

It hasn't rained here since Oct 6. Along with this comes sunny days, temps 20 degrees above normal and lots of wind. The in ground rows I am growing in are clay but lightly tilled first year beds, two of the sandy 18 inch raised beds that I weeded the heck out of from last year and two smaller new to me heavily amended four inch tall raised beds. So there was no significant moisture source from below in the sandy areas.

One bed was primarily late-harvested bulbs dug and immediately replanted. Half the other 80 cloves were saved but small-medium, cloves from 18 bulbs locally grown purchased online small-medium and a 2 pounds of good sized Keene seed stock. I was hoping for future seed stock but prepared for a culinary harvest as well. Love garlic so fingers crossed.

- Lisa

[bower]

That seems like a really long spell without rain. Everyone is getting something wierd and different weather-wise this year it seems. It's never dry here but, we broke the records in October.

When it comes to garlic, I guess I do most of my worrying before it goes in the ground. Then I shrug it off for the winter - cause what's done is done, and now it's come what may. Then I start to worry again in spring until the shoots are up, and again after the scapes are done, about when to take it out of the ground. At harvest inspect for damages, assess any troubles I can worry about, and the whole cycle of worry about planting starts again. I suppose eventually I may worry less.
Ultimately I think garlic is more at risk if there's too much moisture than it is from too little. But that perspective may be colored by our tendency to be wet!

[greenthumbomaha]

Nothing came up in the area that was replanted. Despite the other garlic going into winter looking very robust, the garlic cloves that had been replanted without a curing period did not pull thru the winter.


- Lisa