any garlic experts here?

[tjg911]

I planted garlic last fall and once the ground froze I mulched it with 6" of shredded leaves. I know the garlic will grow up thru the mulch but is it going to retain too much moisture and cause rotting or disease?
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I grew garlic just 2 seasons about 10 years ago. Not sure if I mulched in the 1st season and results were ok. The 2nd season I did mulch but not sure if it was grass clippings or leaves. I left the mulch in place to retain moisture and suppress weeds. I don't remember but it may have been rainy a lot, the point is by june the plants were not looking healthy, leaves were not a healthy blue green but were a little yellowish and paler than normal, perhaps they had spots, not sure. I think the mulch held too much moisture around the plants and they developed a problem. Yields were poor and I gave up on garlic.
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This past fall I planted a 4' X 12' bed 6" on center so I don't think it will be easy to remove it later in say june but I could. Worse yet would be to remove it from the base of the plant leaving the mulch in place to retain moisture and suppress weeds. That would be a royal pain!
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I would never mulch onions, tho they are alliums too, and I have good results growing onions always but most of the onion is above the soil unlike garlic which is completely below the soil.
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I have read to leave the mulch in place - what do you do if you mulch the bed????
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Tom

[Soilsniffer]

I don't leave the mulch on. You put a lot of mulch on in late fall to insulate the ground over the winter. Come early March, you want to remove the mulch to let the sun hit the soil and garlic.

Some mulch is recommended for weed control, but six inches of leaves sounds like a LOT for the garlic to have to squeeze up thru.

J

[caascher2]

I am leaving the straw I used this winter to cover the garlic and my plants are doing great.
Carol

[johno]

6" of shredded leaves is a lot for even garlic to push through.

I use old straw from the chicken barn, at about 3" to 4" thick. This seems about right, they always come up through it, and the moisture level isn't too high. There are a few weedy grasses that pop up, but not too many to pull in a short amount of time...

I fertilize the beds with feather meal before planting, and this has produced my best garlic ever.

[caascher2]

Johno...what is feather meal? I assume ground up feathers. Where do you get that from? If I can find it I will have to put it on my bed this fall.
Carol

[rxkeith]

tom

i don't think the mulch will be much of a factor in causing disease with the garlic. i would be more concerned about the underlying soil. everything i have read says garlic needs well drained soil. if your soil retains moisture already, i might want to pull the mulch away from the garlic until the soil drys some. otherwise i would leave the mulch in place if the shoots poke up fine. i have mulched with unshredded leaves several years now. i have had to pull the leaves directly on top of the garlic off because they form a mat. the rest of the leaves stay right where they are at. i had pretty light soil at the house in town. i haven't seen any ill affects in my patch.

keith in calumet

[flowerpower]

Six inches is alot for the garlic to push up through. I mulch with soiled goat hay in the fall. About 3-4 inches. I don't remove the mulch in the spring. My garlic does great.

[tjg911]

OH! THAT OTHER GARLIC PLANTING 10 YEARS AGO WAS A DIFFERENT GARDEN! SORRY


I'm surprised people think that 6" of shredded leaves is a lot for garlic to grow thru. I have a grass that grows thru the asphalted part of the driveway (2 1/4 or 2 1/2 inches of asphalt)! Not thru a crack in the asphalt, it just appears thru the asphalt. I know I'm now talking about grass busting thru asphalt but how much easier should it be for garlic to push thru shredded leaves?
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I think shredded leaves can pack down especially when wet but they are just leaves so I never thought about the garlic's ability to push thru them. My concern was the moisture retention creating fungal or mildew problems. As stated my plants in year 2 did have foilage abnormalities. My soil is sandy loam and drains very well. I never have standing water in the garden (ever) and in the heat of july I wish it retained moisture better (I have added a lot of compost and other organic material) but it is sandy.
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More people think the leaves present a problem re the plants pushing thru the mulch and only keith thinks the moisture the leaves retain presents no problem based upon my soil's ability to drain. I'm still unsure how to handle this!
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tom

[Miss_Mudcat]

Tig,
I use shredded leaf mulch for my garlic and I put it on thick. Other than the chickens getting into it occassionally, scratching it out, I leave the mulch. I have HEAVY clay soil that retains lots of moisture. The garlic has already pushed up through the mulch and is about 6" tall... no problems. I think if there were going to be a problem, it would have happened overwinter... cold and wet = rot.

Good luck with your garlic!

Lisa

[Soilsniffer]

Originally Posted by tjg911

OH! THAT OTHER GARLIC PLANTING 10 YEARS AGO WAS A DIFFERENT GARDEN! SORRY

What, you want to argue now? You asked what we did if we mulched the bed. You didn't like the replies, I take it.

I have a grass that grows thru the asphalted part of the driveway (2 1/4 or 2 1/2 inches of asphalt)! Not thru a crack in the asphalt, it just appears thru the asphalt.

There's a crack there, you don't see it. Water seeps down the crack to the soil, grass germinates and pushes itself up the crack.

J

[Worth1]

Where’s Earl at, he is the only expert I know of on garlic.
Tom did ask for experts.

Tom,
If any mulch is left on the garlic and it rains a lot it will be harmful to the garlic.
It does need to dry out a little.
I don’t know how much garlic can grow through; I’m no expert on garlic.
Now the garlic growing out of my ears that’s a different story I only mulch it when I am in Alaska.HE HE HE HE !!

Worth

[blatanna]

I plant out garlic every autumn and dig it up in June. I never mulch it at all in case of rot. I have always had a good crop.

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by Soilsniffer

What, you want to argue now? You asked what we did if we mulched the bed. You didn't like the replies, I take it.
J

hum, i was not aware that I was arguing, perhaps you are?


if you meant that in a non offensive way perhaps a smiley face might better convey your point, obviously i don't know how you meant it and it sounds less than friendly.


i asked questions and then sited some examples of why i had concerns.

tom

[caascher2]

Starting to look like another forum I know of!!
Carol

[velikipop]

I put straw, leaves and composted manure on all my garlic beds, about 4 inches thick. I leave it on the beds until harvest time in July without any problems. The only concern I might have with six inches of leaves is excessive moisture and that the leaves would stick together and become heavy. The mulch will retain moisture, so no need to water, and prevent weeds from becoming a problem.

In the fall of 2005 I put a little too much straw on the beds and it took a while for some of the smaller varieties to emerge. So what I do now is check the beds and remove the excess where needed. If you can get some Russian Red or Yugoslavian garlic they will grow under almost any condition.

I'll post some pics of my current patch in the next few days.