07 August 2008

Hmmm.. to grow garlic

Out of the 7 plants we purchased (half price in March from a garden centre) we got a little stash of bulbs..

Lessons learnt, garlic seems to like it quite dry, so the bulbs planted in a container, which is roughly 12 inches in Diameter, and 12 inches in height (filled with gravel at the bottom and then a layer of compost) did better than those planted in the ground which was probably too wet for them.

Now according to here and advise from Elaine's TBSITW (thank you very much was very helpful), we harvested the garlic way too late as TBSITW states harvest by the longest day (umm we were about a month late) and set them by the shortest day. Our excuse is we had no idea of what we were doing when we purchased them just it was on sale at 75p each for two pots of 3 plants in each pot and seemed like a good idea at the time. Perhaps we should have asked for advice earlier, still not all was lost and we are better prepared for next year.

So the conclusion is that garlic does grow well in a container, wants watering but not too much (or too little) and you should end up with some homegrown garlic to use in the kitchen by the end of it for very little effort really.

2 comments:

Janet said...

Cool - I'll start some pots of garlic. I think even I can manage that.

The W.O.W. factor! said...

You've got my curiosity up now...maybe I'll try some indoors over winter!
Garlic is also great for keeping aphids away from roses...if you don't mind their looks amongst your beds..