Garlic question

[Prairie Rose]

Hi all, long time no see! Quick question, still haven't managed to make it to plant my garlic this fall. I have had several frosts, but the ground isn't frozen yet. I should have tomorrow off, still safe to plant it?

 

[flowerbug]

Hi all, long time no see! Quick question, still haven't managed to make it to plant my garlic this fall. I have had several frosts, but the ground isn't frozen yet. I should have tomorrow off, still safe to plant it?

yes. i've planted as late as December the day before the ground froze and it still did ok. i'm sure this does vary by garlic type, but i think you'll be ok. get it done! you are in a little bit warmer area than us so that makes some difference too.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree. I'd plant it.

 

[Zeedman]

Hi all, long time no see! Quick question, still haven't managed to make it to plant my garlic this fall. I have had several frosts, but the ground isn't frozen yet. I should have tomorrow off, still safe to plant it?

If the soil is not frozen, it should be fine. I recommend covering with a thick mulch after planting though, to allow the roots to start growing before the ground freezes,

One year I even drilled through the surface frost in early December & and still got a good crop. But because of the frozen ground, I had to bring bagged topsoil with me to cover the holes... with 250+ cloves, drilling & filling was not an experience I'd like to repeat.

 

[valley ranch]

I've always planted garlic in spring ~ was that going against the grain ```

 

[flowerbug]

I've always planted garlic in spring ~ was that going against the grain ```

no, it can depend upon the climate and varieties enough. up here there are some warm enough days here and there through the late fall and winter and early spring where a plant can gain some energy from the sun. as long as the ground doesn't stay frozen and there is some moisture the plant will be able to grow here or there. this will give it a jump on the spring when the weather finally warms up enough. some year's that translates into several weeks more of growth it would not have had otherwise. the garlic i plant will stay green under snow without problems, which means it can even gain energy in those conditions. as long as it does not hard freeze or get freeze dried without snow cover it will do fine. even if it gets killed all the way back to the ground it will resprout once it gets a chance. it just doesn't ever give up unless it's completely frozen and even then it will survive. which is why i keep growing it. one of the easiest things i grow here.

 

[Zeedman]

I've always planted garlic in spring ~ was that going against the grain ```

If you are re-planting your own stock (and what's the point of growing garlic if you don't) then Fall planting is far more advantageous. The time between Summer harvest & Fall planting is only a few months, so the garlic stock is still vigorous. Spring planting is much more difficult - especially in the Northern latitudes - because to plant in Spring, the garlic must first survive a long Winter storage. I've tried to over-winter garlic indoors here, and very few were still alive 8 months later, when the ground softened & dried enough to plant. The over-winter losses to storage (100% for some varieties) far exceeded even the worst in-ground winter kill.