Growing Garlic

Garlic plants grow up to 2ft tall with a spread of 6ins each clove planted produces a bulb of Garlic, there are pink and white skinned forms, and may be stored for year round supply. Garlic tolerates a wide range of temperatures but needs a period of�0-10c in winter.

Garlic grows best in an open sunny position on light soil which does not have to be fertile, so don't grow it on freshly manured ground. Good drainage is vital, Garlic needs very low levels of Nitrogen.

Split into individual cloves at least � in diameter, always use healthy stock. To grow large bulbs Garlic needs a long growing season, so if possible plant out in�Autumn,�on�very cold area's and on very heavy soil, alternatively plant into modules and place in sheltered position to provide them with the necessary cold period, plant them in spring when they have sprouted.

Little attention is needed during growth other then keeping the beds free of weeds.

Garlic needs between�16 and 36 weeks to mature, depending on variety and when it has been planted. Uproot the plants as soon as the leaves have started to fade so the bulbs do not re-sprout. Dry them thoroughly, handling the bulbs carefully,�then hang in them in plats platting the dried foliage, or store in trays in dry conditions.

— enchantedsilverbroom

I don't know if this info on garlic is helpful or not, but my Mom used it and my Grandma did too.

Both planted garlic around their roses and never had bugs or disease attack the roses. And the bushes bloomed like crazy.

Is there any truth the notion of planting garlic on the shortest day of the year (o/a Dec 21) and harvesting it on the longest day of the year(o/a June 21). I tried this once and planted garlic the usual way, and the garlic planted on Dec 21 seemed to store better in the long run and had a much better flavor.

I'm not sure about the winter solstice Enchantedsilverbroom, but, your so right about the garlic being a natural pest repellent for aphids, slugs and other items, another good plant for this is also Geraniums.

I had part of a bulb of garlic that sprouted recently. The green parts tasted so much stronger that I decided not to eat the rest of it. Not one to throw out a perfectly good vegetable experiment, I decided to grow garlic the clueless way -- by putting it in some dirt and watching what happened. I grabbed a few small containers, put some gravel in the bottom, added dirt, added garlic, added more dirt, watered, and began waiting. Within two weeks, they had grown about 10 inches tall! It was amazing! Every evening they were actually an inch or two taller than they had been that morning! So now they're just living in the kitchen being all happy and garlicky. After the coldest part of the winter is over, I'm going to put them outside for a while and bring them back in. Apparently, the shift from "winter" to "spring" is what triggers them to produce a bulb. Hopefully I can befuddle and confuse my garlic enough to have fresh garlic in the middle of winter. They're pretty amazing plants so far.