Totally off topic.
 I just dug up my garlic for this year.  I've been growing and replanting it for about four, maybe five years.  Each year the bulbs get bigger.  This is the hard neck variety.

I ended up with over 50 bulbs from a spot that's not much bigger than 4x4.  These three were the biggest bulbs.  They were grown in a separate bed that was created for asparagus last fall.  They were spaced farther apart than those grown in the dedicated garlic bed, but those from the garlic bed are still larger than you'll find in the grocery store.

So, this is a shout out for the lowly little garlic.  It's easy to grow, kind of plant it and forget it once your bed is prepared.  With the hard necks you get the added byproduct of garlic scapes (the garlic seed head), which is considered a delicacy.  Garlic scapes, olive oil and/or butter blended to a paste makes a delicious spread.  Homemade garlic powder is the best you'll ever have.  If you let the scapes grow you can use the bubils to grow your stock by hundreds and you'll have full sized bulbs from them in a couple years.

If you've never thought about growing it, you might want to give it a try.

**Wish I was harvesting figs, but one day...one day soon I hope**

Looks Great!!!, but that would be enough for me for at least a year...

Very nice.  I remember reading that Nov. is the ideal time to plant garlic in my zone.  It's now on the list for this fall.  

Thanks

Figfanatic57:  That was the plan, to grow enough so that I didn't have to buy any.  I use garlic in almost everything I cook.  I went overboard last year and I still have dried garlic chips.  Even now a year later when I grind it up for garlic powder, the smell is heavenly.  Did I say I like garlic?

Sobelri:  Wellllll, if organically home grown garlic is on your list and can get a couple cutting credits, let's talk ;-)

Looks great.

Do you know what type you have grown?

Late, I'll get back to you.

1600+ plants, 18 types and 1/3 pulled to date.

Mike

Mike:
1600!  You'll never ever have to buy garlic ;-)

I wish I understood back then how important the varietal name was.  I got this from the farmer's market because it was the hard neck type.  I didn't think to ask them exactly which variety it was.  The skin has a little purple on it, not too much.  It's the kind with the fewer larger cloves.  I was trying to find a picture from when I planted them.  Whenever I run across them I'll post pics.   A lot of the cloves are as big as a quarter.

Last year I grew 3x a much in a long bed.  The bed look really pretty when the scapes started grow.  I'd love to see what 1600 look like.  Any pointers for how to grow good garlic?  Bed prep?  Fertilizer at planting time or in the spring?  Best time to cut the scapes?  Most important for me, best way to cure and store?

I did about 250-275 bulbs this year. That takes me through the year, for fresh eating, canning in recipes, and this year, I'll dry some. I did Xian, Lorz Italian, German Extra Hardy, Romanian Red, Inchelium Red, and Turkish. I rotate, mulch, and compost every year, but many years the bulbs are variable sizes. I replant a certain % of the largest bulbs. In the garden, garlic, tomatoes, and chile peppers are a must-have every year. Everything else is a bonus.

Arne:  That's a lot of variety.  Have you noticed a big difference in the taste?

Yes - taste and storability.

Xian is an early harvest, though only a few weeks before the mid/late season bulbs (in my garden). I like Xian because it has what people may call a "true" garlic flavor - it's just right, not overpowering, not too hot, a pleasant lingering aftertaste - and you're supposed to harvest mid-May to mid-June. But it only last 3/4/5 months in storage.

IR is the same thing - a nice, pleasant flavor, not overpowering.

The GEH and RR I've been replanting for about 7 or 8 years. Those bulbs are consistently large, with good flavor, and they store really well (9+ months).

Turkish has some zing, which I like, but my bulbs haven't been growing too large. I need to replant the largest - it's only my 2nd year growing this varietal. But nice, big cloves.

Lorz have put out big bulbs, with good flavor - more on the heat/spicy side.

Oops - I forgot I planted Killarney Red. My first year on that one, but I read it's a good varietal to dehydrate. I haven't harvested yet, but the bulbs look like they'll be big.

I've tried about 2 dozen different varietals. I would love to plant German Red again (not sure why it fell off my radar) - nice and hot.

Good information.  Thank you.  I'll be on the look-out at the farmer's market for the GEH and the RR.  It would be nice to keep some the cloves fresh as opposed as to dehydrated.

Basic instructions;

I am in 6b and plant between October 8 and October 15 depending on the weather.

If I was South of PA I would wait another week or two. The goal here is to establish a root system before frost, but not too big of a plant that could die in the winter, less than 8"

I plant using a 1 1/2" paddle bit to make holes and plant each clove third knuckle deep.

Plants are 6" apart with rows 6 1/2 - 7" apart.

Weeding is important for the bulb size and light for the plant. They do not compete well.

Plants go dormant for the winter and are the first plant to grow in the late winter.

Garlic is a heavy feeder like corn, but I do not fertilize. Where my garden is the garlic will be planted in the Fall. Where I pull the garlic now, I will plant beans or soy beans and the garden will go there next year.

In late Spring after the scapes have formed (Hardneck types), they will need to be cut. when the scape points towards the ground it needs to be cut 1" above the plant.

Earlier will result in a larger bulb with less storage ability. Later will be smaller and store longer.

When they are pulled the plant needs to dry completely before cutting to store. If when you cut the stalk the inside is still green, they need more time.

The largest garlic goes back into the ground.

Do not sore in the fridge or the dark

Out of time, later.

When you get a minute:  Best temperature for storage?  Hot garage or cooler house?

Very nice, Cheryl! I have grown garlic only this year but I did not have anything like yours. I would like to really get more info just havent dedicated the time to research it. Love garlic!

Thanks.  We've got the cold winter, which is what causes the one clove to split and grow into a whole bulb, but I couldn't comment on how it is to grow in Zone 10a other than you can grow the soft neck.  Mike hit the important points.  If you save your bulbs and replant them they should get bigger every year, plus you'll save on repurchasing seed garlic.

I might finally turn this computer off ;-)

The cooler house.

 I would say temps between 60-75 F would be ideal.

The deeper South Softnecks are the better choice. The clove splitting to a bulb from the cold is a process called vernalization.

Creole garlic is another good choice for the deeper South, but harder to find. Creoles are very hard to adapt to the North. Mine, Keeper, took 7 years.

Keeper, Burgundy and Cuban are recommended

Fillaree Farms has a couple and they are great people

Great to see so man garlic enthusiast!

I was told to plant garlic cloves after the 1st hard frost (mid to late Oct.) not sure why but it seems to work. 

Is it a good idea to dry the harvested garlic in the sun for a week or so before storage?

Pino:  I've read to protect newly harvested from the sun, so I keep mine out of the sun.  But if somebody else hasn't worried about it and their garlic was fine they can let you know.

Hi,
That's some quantity !!
I hardly ever use garlic. Perhaps some dried sometimes, but I barely use.
Here in my Zone7, the garlic people plant can rot during the winter, either from cold, or from being wet.
Planting as suggested in a raised bed, might help.

For storage, people would attach them together in a braid and hang the braid to the roof in a protected shelter (in a garage for instance).
They need to stay in the dark and in a environment that is dry.
Once harvested, if you keep them in the light or in the sun, they'll turn green and have a bad taste. That would trigger them growing sooner too, and thus reduce their storage time .

The braid arrangement for hanging them in a dark area for storing sounds great!

I thought it was beneficial to dry them in the sun initially so that any soil molds/bacteria on the garlic skin get killed before storing them away in the dark?

They need ventilation but not sunlight.

My first ever garlic harvest - after gardening for 35 years or so.  A friend sent me some to plant in exchange for fig cuttings.  An Italian heirloom.  In the photo there is a 32 oz drink cup with a fig cutting in it rather than a quarter for size comparison :)

 

Looks nice,

Should have waited a little longer.

Optimal time to pull garlic should be when 50-60% of the plant has died.

Garlic will grow up to 35% larger in the last 1-2 weeks before harvest, and will continue to get larger as it cures.

If you miss a scape you will notice the scape stays green as the plant dries. This is because the seed head is drawing the moisture out of the garlic head, making it smaller.

This is also why timing the cutting of the scapes is also important.

Mike

Ed:  Isn't it fun trying new stuff.  Growing food from food, also fun.  Sweet potatoes from sweet potato slips, a potato from a potato, green onions from green onions.  Ginger and turmeric from the bulbs.  Lemon grass from a stalk of lemon grass.  Avacado and mango plants from seeds.  I started some Goji berry seeds from store bought berries and the five or six plants from seeds (would have been more had I taken better care of them), they're almost the same size as the plants I bought.  They're all still small, but they'll grow.  (And cuttings for garlic bulbs is a good deal).

Mike:  I got the timing right this year with the scapes.  Everything I had read before said that you're supposed to let the scapes make one full curl and then cut them.  I cut them this time just as they started to make the curl.  I figured if it was drawing energy from the bulb, why wait?

Factoid:  When the garlic is nearing maturity, the scape will straighten back up.  (This one I read and I observed).

**Forgive my long-windedness.  I like to talk garden.

Storage capability vs size.

The sooner you cut the scape, the larger the bulb and the less time it will store.

I have hardnecks that are still usable come April.

The reasoning behind cutting when they point down;

Racombole garlic (hardnack) will curl into a circle or two before they straighten out.

Porcelains and Purple Stripes (hardnecks) will not make a full circle. They will point down, then straighten back up.

Softnecks have no scape. You wait for the stalk to fall over.

I have found the "pointing down" time works as a good compromise and with all the different types I grow specifically targeting a row and constantly checking records is too cumbersome.

It is cell growth that causes the scape curl. The cell growth on the opposite side will "catch up" and the scape will straighten out. So with this many types it is also easier to miss weather they are curling or uncurling. Hence, pointing down.

Another quick tip.

If half of one type is ready and the other half is not. Leave the half in the ground until it is ready, and pull the other. This happens often I'm not sure why. Even if it is a couple bulbs, they may be your best planting bulbs.

Mike

So I did good, right?  I cut them when they made a hook.
Maybe this is the Racombole type because last year I did let them make a full circle and I let a few of them straighten back out.