with Lucy Chamberlain, AG’s fruit and veg expert Early garlic variety ‘Purple Wight’, with its distinctive purple-streaked bulbs, is best used fresh
Garlic thrives in an open, sunny site – the plump cloves can be planted out now
Main: Alamy
You can plant smaller garlic cloves in pots, ideally 1in deep and 4-5in (10-13cm) apart
Focus on... Planting garlic Before you crack out the cloves, let Lucy help you with planting, soil conditions and seasonal considerations to ensure you grow and harvest the finest garlic possible…
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these give the biggest yields (pot smaller ones up as garlic chives), positioning them 3in (8cm) deep and roughly 6in (16cm) apart in grids (wider on lighter soils). Site in full sun, and add plenty of organic matter to the plot, plus a little bonemeal. Garlic doesn’t have an extensive root system yet it needs
HE organised gardener may have started off their garlic in November, but the rest of us can plant now. There are two main types: softnecks (Allium sativum) and hardnecks (A. sativum var. ophioscorodon), so what kind of care do they need?
Plaiting mature bulbs into ropes allows for easy storage
“You should only plant the largest, plump cloves” Alamy
All photography TI Media, unless otherwise credited
Get the best yields Whole bulbs (heads) should be split into individual cloves just before planting (they dry out excessively, otherwise). Don’t bruise them as this can cause rots. Only plant the largest, plump cloves as
steady moisture and appreciates phosphorus (but not excess nitrogen). Acid soils give poor yields, so lime to raise the pH to neutral. Water every week in dry spells (except two weeks prior to harvest) and keep beds well weeded. Harvest once the foliage is halfdead – any later, and the mature cloves keep growing, hindering storage life. What’s the difference? Most hardnecks are autumn-planted – they’re hardier with fewer, bigger cloves. These types will produce flower spikes terminating in bulbils, which impacts upon storage, so remove and eat these for the biggest heads. Softneck garlic is less cold-tolerant so suits spring plantings (it doesn’t flower so stores very well). A recent introduction is A. tuncelianum, Turkish garlic. Unlike A. sativum, this produces viable seed, so we may see seed packets of garlic as this develops. 8 FEBRUARY 2020 AMATEUR GARDENING
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