Garlic planting

I always liked Geoffrey Smith as well, but I have heard it said that the imported stuff from the likes of Spain etc. is not likely to be winter hardy over here.
True or not I dont know.

Not being that well up on Garlic I'm just wondering what the advantages are of the Autumn planted varieties?

My Spring sown ones were no problem what so ever, easier than onions in fact.

Are the Autumn ones better flavoured or some thing?

I'm afraid at the moment, garlic is garlic to me.:D

 

Hardneck vs Softneck

I've just been reading up on these and apparently softnecks are easier to grow and store better, so why grow Hardnecks?

Steve...

 

Hardnecks grow consistently better for me (my sotneck garlic crop this year was an almost complete failure)and store longer than the 4 -5 months some sources state. Saying hardneck store better than softnecks is a bit of a generalisation, what matters is whether the variety is short or long dormancy.

 

I normally plant both, and also plant in both autumn and spring, but I'm not bothering with softnecks this autumn after they failed this year, although I will buy/plant some softnecks in early spring next year and start rebuilding my stock of them.

My hardnecks arrived in the post today and I counted 211 cloves on them for my £35.

 

Which varieties did you get?


(and I do rather like my garlic - I'll probably also be getting some Cristo for spring planting that I'll then save cloves from and use for both autumn & spring planting).

 

Just wanted to draw attention for those who missed it to HarryS useful link to harvesting and curing. Quite complicated and I wonder if many follow these rules? There seems to be some divergence on how deep to plant. Some say with tip jjust showing. Really Garlicky says two inches down.

 

My 211 cloves of Music have been planted together with 20 saved cloves & 17 bulbils of Elephant Garlic in raised beds (to lift them above my wet clay soil overwinter) full of soil from potato bags, well rotten horse poo, some topsoil where alliums haven't been grown for at least 15 years, some sharp sand bought as damaged bags for 50p each + some chicken manure pellets & blood, fish & bone.

But that didn't quite fill up my new beds so I've bought a £2.99 (before using my 10% off seeds & plants garden centre discount card) pack of Taylors 3 bulbs of Christo garlic containing 55 cloves. I do like my garlic.

 

Now don't shoot me down on this - but i read a tip in the gardening section of the Sunday Mirror magazine this week . It said dip you clove in Vodka before planting to prevent infection I have already planted my garlic , but is there any substance in this tip, as i do have other uses for Vodka !

 

Vodka seems a bit of a waste, meths would be cheaper

 

But I top my Vodka up with the meths !