New Garlic Bed

Today I planted out my garlic. I bought three varieties, which had all been certified organic; Red Rocambole, Monaro Purple and Italian White.

Be Careful Which Garlic You Plant!

With garlic, it is important to only plant organic, or Australian Garlic that has not been subjected to fumigation or chemical treatment.

In order to destroy any pests that may be imported all garlic is treated with some fairly harsh chemicals, in particular methyl bromide, which is highly toxic. Garlic is also often bleached to achieve a really white skin. Finally store bought garlic is often treated with a growth inhibitor to stop the garlic sprouting whilst still in the store, to prolong shelf life. This means that it often wont sprout at all, and will have stunted growth.

Garlic Types

Garlic comes in several different types, but there are two prominent types; softnecks and hardnecks. Softneck garlic varieties are a little harder to grow, and can be braided together once harvested. Softneck varieties are reported to store better than hardneck types.

Hardneck garlic is different to softnecks in that they grow a scrape, which is the garlic flower. Garlic scrapes form as a curled long stem, and can be eaten, providing a milder garlic taste than the cloves themselves. Some people say that removing the scrapes as they form will result in larger bulbs, as the garlic devotes it's energy into bulb formation. Others however say that bulbs will be larger if the scrape remains intact. Hardneck varieties enjoy a cooler climate than softnecks.

Of the garlic I have chosen to grow, the Red Rocambole and Monaro Purple are both hardneck varieties, and the Italian White is a softneck type. On planting the bulbs, I noticed that the hardneck varieties had larger but fewer bulbs, whilst the softneck had small but plentiful bulbs.

Planting Garlic

There are two schools of thought on when to plant garlic. Some say to plant close to the Autumn equinox, which falls on March 20, whilst others say to plant closer to the Winter Solstice. Reading other blogs in Australia, in-particular here I have decided to plant earlier, as I predict an unusually cold winter this year.

When planting garlic, separate the bulb into its individual cloves and plant pointy-side up. When planting it is not necessary to remove all the paper-like wrapping around the cloves, but it is important to ensure that some of the base root-plate remains. Don't separate the individual cloves from the bulbs until right before planting, as they store better intact.

Garlic should be planted about 10-20cms apart, and about 3-4cm deep.  I have planted mine a little closer, about 10cm apart, as I ran out of room in my bed! This is likely to result in smaller cloves when I harvest.

Garlic requires at least two months of cool temperature to induce bulb formation.

Harvesting Garlic

Garlic takes many months to form. Initially the bulbs will send up a stalk and develop a root system before cold winter weather sets in. After this, the bulb chills for a minimum of two months and the bulb itself develops after soil begins to heat up after winter.

With the onset of spring the bulbs will send up leaves and hardneck varieties will send up a scrape. Garlic is harvested when the leaves start to die-back with the onset of hotter weather.

This is my first year growing garlic, and I will add updates as I go.