Hi All,

Now this is all over the web, but I'd rather hear it
from someone I trust.

I got my garlic in the mail yesterday.

https://www.burpee.com/garlic-spanish-roja-prod001489.html

I have usually waited till after the first front to plant.

What actually is the right time?

-T

My Argentine garlic all died on me.

T wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Now this is all over the web, but I'd rather hear it
> from someone I trust.
>
> I got my garlic in the mail yesterday.
>
> https://www.burpee.com/garlic-spanish-roja-prod001489.html
>
> I have usually waited till after the first front to plant.
>
> What actually is the right time?
>
> -T
>
> My Argentine garlic all died on me.

anytime after mid-summer works for me here, but i have planted
as late as the day before the ground freezes and it still comes
up in the spring.

songbird

On 9/30/21 4:21 PM, songbird wrote:
> T wrote:
>> Hi All,
>>
>> Now this is all over the web, but I'd rather hear it
>> from someone I trust.
>>
>> I got my garlic in the mail yesterday.
>>
>> https://www.burpee.com/garlic-spanish-roja-prod001489.html
>>
>> I have usually waited till after the first front to plant.
>>
>> What actually is the right time?
>>
>> -T
>>
>> My Argentine garlic all died on me.
>
> anytime after mid-summer works for me here, but i have planted
> as late as the day before the ground freezes and it still comes
> up in the spring.
>
>
> songbird
>

Thank you!

When do I fertilize?

T wrote:
> On 9/30/21 4:21 PM, songbird wrote:
>> T wrote:
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> Now this is all over the web, but I'd rather hear it
>>> from someone I trust.
>>>
>>> I got my garlic in the mail yesterday.
>>>
>>> https://www.burpee.com/garlic-spanish-roja-prod001489.html
>>>
>>> I have usually waited till after the first front to plant.
>>>
>>> What actually is the right time?
>>>
>>> -T
>>>
>>> My Argentine garlic all died on me.
>>
>> anytime after mid-summer works for me here, but i have planted
>> as late as the day before the ground freezes and it still comes
>> up in the spring.
>>
>>
>> songbird
>>
>
> Thank you!
>
> When do I fertilize?

when a plant is actively growing if you're using chemferts or
heavier amendments that may leach away. if you're developing
good soil over time then always is the answer i think of because
your fertility is also a large part of your soil community. so
any organic amendments that work and add to the soil nutrients
in time.

i never fertilize my garlic specifically because the worms
and worm compost will stick around for several years and my
garlic seems to do ok with that kind of treatment. so i may
plant into the 2nd or even the 3rd year after amending. it
also really depends upon how good your soil is to begin with.

songbird

On 9/30/21 17:51, T wrote:
> When do I fertilize?
Burpee's customer service said just as sprouts
start to come up in the spring
And to cut off the scapes the moment they occure

On 10/16/2021 3:37 AM, T wrote:
> On 9/30/21 17:51, T wrote:
>> When do I fertilize?
>
> Burpee's customer service said just as sprouts
> start to come up in the spring
>
> And to cut off the scapes the moment they occure
Okay. We plant rocambole or Stiff Neck garlic which will produce scapes. The
varieties are German Red and Russian Red.

I'm in Maine and I've planted as late as the end of November and had to dig
down through 3" of frost in the ground, so essentially planted in frozen
mud. The garlic came up fine.

We try to plant by the 3rd week of November, but before snow. And then we
cover it with about 6" of straw which stays until the greens begin emerging
through the straw and remove about 4" or so, the rest will mulch the garlic.
The straw isn't to keep the garlic from freezing, but to prevent them from
un-thawing and freezing again in the springtime.

As for scapes, if removed you get better size bulbs, but you can leave them
on and get smaller bulbs and what they call bulbils which can be planted,
but they say that can take 3 or 4 years to produce bulbs of any size.

We remove our scapes when they have circled around about 270° or 3/4 of a
turn. I cut the scape stalk at the point just above the leaves below them.
The flower tip seems too tough for eating, but can flavor something if you
choose. The scapes, run through a food processor with additions of olive
oil, Parmesan cheese, salt & a touch of lemon juice to keep its color. Then
freeze the pesto in 1/2 cup jars until you want some of the best pesto you
are ever going to eat, be it with pasta and such or just on crackers.
Usually no nuts, but we like some pecans if we add any.

We're setting 11/11 as garlic planting day on a 6" grid. Harvest around the
end of July or when the first 3 bottom leaves brown and die. Good luck!

On 11/3/21 09:25, Wilson wrote:
> On 10/16/2021 3:37 AM, T wrote:
>> On 9/30/21 17:51, T wrote:
>>> When do I fertilize?
>>
>> Burpee's customer service said just as sprouts
>> start to come up in the spring
>>
>> And to cut off the scapes the moment they occure
> Okay. We plant rocambole or Stiff Neck garlic which will produce scapes.
> The varieties are German Red and Russian Red.
>
> I'm in Maine and I've planted as late as the end of November and had to
> dig down through 3" of frost in the ground, so essentially planted in
> frozen mud. The garlic came up fine.
>
> We try to plant by the 3rd week of November, but before snow. And then
> we cover it with about 6" of straw which stays until the greens begin
> emerging through the straw and remove about 4" or so, the rest will
> mulch the garlic. The straw isn't to keep the garlic from freezing, but
> to prevent them from un-thawing and freezing again in the springtime.
>
> As for scapes, if removed you get better size bulbs, but you can leave
> them on and get smaller bulbs and what they call bulbils which can be
> planted, but they say that can take 3 or 4 years to produce bulbs of any
> size.
>
> We remove our scapes when they have circled around about 270° or 3/4 of
> a turn. I cut the scape stalk at the point just above the leaves below
> them. The flower tip seems too tough for eating, but can flavor
> something if you choose. The scapes, run through a food processor with
> additions of olive oil, Parmesan cheese, salt & a touch of lemon juice
> to keep its color. Then freeze the pesto in 1/2 cup jars until you want
> some of the best pesto you are ever going to eat, be it with pasta and
> such or just on crackers. Usually no nuts, but we like some pecans if we
> add any.
>
> We're setting 11/11 as garlic planting day on a 6" grid. Harvest around
> the end of July or when the first 3 bottom leaves brown and die. Good luck!
Hi Wilson,
Thank you!
I put mine in the ground after the first freeze
in October and toothpicked it to keep the
neighborhood cats from crapping in the bed.
Maybe I will actually get some garlic this year.
Who'd you buy your German Red and Russian Red from?
In the spring, we have wild temperature swings.
Most varieties of garlic I have tried bolt on
me in May because of it.
Is your soil acidic or acid?
-T

On 11/5/2021 6:55 PM, T wrote:
> On 11/3/21 09:25, Wilson wrote:
>> On 10/16/2021 3:37 AM, T wrote:
>>> On 9/30/21 17:51, T wrote:
>>>> When do I fertilize?
>>>
>>> Burpee's customer service said just as sprouts
>>> start to come up in the spring
>>>
>>> And to cut off the scapes the moment they occure
>> Okay. We plant rocambole or Stiff Neck garlic which will produce scapes.
>> The varieties are German Red and Russian Red.
>>
>> I'm in Maine and I've planted as late as the end of November and had to
>> dig down through 3" of frost in the ground, so essentially planted in
>> frozen mud. The garlic came up fine.
>>
>> We try to plant by the 3rd week of November, but before snow. And then we
>> cover it with about 6" of straw which stays until the greens begin
>> emerging through the straw and remove about 4" or so, the rest will mulch
>> the garlic. The straw isn't to keep the garlic from freezing, but to
>> prevent them from un-thawing and freezing again in the springtime.
>>
>> As for scapes, if removed you get better size bulbs, but you can leave
>> them on and get smaller bulbs and what they call bulbils which can be
>> planted, but they say that can take 3 or 4 years to produce bulbs of any
>> size.
>>
>> We remove our scapes when they have circled around about 270° or 3/4 of a
>> turn. I cut the scape stalk at the point just above the leaves below them.
>> The flower tip seems too tough for eating, but can flavor something if you
>> choose. The scapes, run through a food processor with additions of olive
>> oil, Parmesan cheese, salt & a touch of lemon juice to keep its color.
>> Then freeze the pesto in 1/2 cup jars until you want some of the best
>> pesto you are ever going to eat, be it with pasta and such or just on
>> crackers. Usually no nuts, but we like some pecans if we add any.
>>
>> We're setting 11/11 as garlic planting day on a 6" grid. Harvest around
>> the end of July or when the first 3 bottom leaves brown and die. Good luck!
>
> Hi Wilson,
>
> Thank you!
>
> I put mine in the ground after the first freeze
> in October and toothpicked it to keep the
> neighborhood cats from crapping in the bed.
>
> Maybe I will actually get some garlic this year.
>
> Who'd you buy your German Red and Russian Red from?
>
> In the spring, we have wild temperature swings.
> Most varieties of garlic I have tried bolt on
> me in May because of it.
>
> Is your soil acidic or acid?
>
> -T
>
My garlic patch tested 7.1 pH back in 10/2015. The test said I was at or
above optimum and recommended I do nothing to adjust it. 'Toothpicking?'
Never heard of that, but have few cats in the hood. But now the wife says
she's heard of folks using plastic forks. That sounds like a tedious operation.

We bought the garlic at a local garlic festival in 2014 in Southwest Harbor,
Maine - Pirates Cove Campground. Nothing was certified, but they are both
definitely hard-necks and had reddish striping on the bulbs. That first fall
was maybe our best year.

The straw mulch is to keep the garlic from starting too early. It keeps the
beds frozen until the last frost has gone by. I have a small wooden fence
about 16" high that goes around our 3' x 10' with a 2" x 8" frame sitting on
gravel. Soil is clay-ish, so holds moisture pretty well.

Actually, plan to plant tomorrow as it was 28.4°F this morning and the
ground will be frozen soon. Good luck!