Garlic is stupid easy to grow. It doesn’t require much space or particularly high fertility and watering is easy to manage since the roots are relatively deep and it benefits from mulch.
The best part is you can get MANY really cool varieties, whereas it’s pretty much only one softneck variety in the store.
The main points are to plant early enough so it gets enough cool days (40 days below 40F is the rule of thumb but that’s probably too conservative), to weed enough to reduce competition, and to water appropriately.
Does it have to get that cold overnight, or during the day?
The way I interpret it is if you have around 40 days with temperatures of 40F or below you are good. I’ve also heard up to 50F is ok. And really that’s only in the first couple of months so they can bulb up. Also, they will stop growing once soil temps at around 1" reach about 80-90F depending on variety. I mulch with cut grass to keep the soil cooler.
I have certainly read people being very particular about it and even recommending refrigerating the bulbs before planting, but I’ve never worried about it too much and have always had good results, even planting quite late for my area. As is often the case advise is either very generalized or very specific to a variety and set of conditions. Give it a shot!
Garlic is stupid easy to grow. It doesn’t require much space or particularly high fertility and watering is easy to manage since the roots are relatively deep and it benefits from mulch. The best part is you can get MANY really cool varieties, whereas it’s pretty much only one softneck variety in the store.
The main points are to plant early enough so it gets enough cool days (40 days below 40F is the rule of thumb but that’s probably too conservative), to weed enough to reduce competition, and to water appropriately.
Does it have to get that cold overnight, or during the day? Cause that means I can’t plant the stuff in IB, and I want more varieties of garlic.
The way I interpret it is if you have around 40 days with temperatures of 40F or below you are good. I’ve also heard up to 50F is ok. And really that’s only in the first couple of months so they can bulb up. Also, they will stop growing once soil temps at around 1" reach about 80-90F depending on variety. I mulch with cut grass to keep the soil cooler.
I have certainly read people being very particular about it and even recommending refrigerating the bulbs before planting, but I’ve never worried about it too much and have always had good results, even planting quite late for my area. As is often the case advise is either very generalized or very specific to a variety and set of conditions. Give it a shot!