Edith on Garlic

by Edith Isidoro-Mills -- Many gardeners in Churchill County at this time of year are about to give up on their vegetable gardens and wouldn’t think of doing any planting now.  However, if garlic is a vegetable you want in next year’s garden now is a good time to plant it. In October, the soil is still warm enough work in and the temperatures are cool enough to keep soil moist longer.  This is ideal for root growth and allows the clove to establish before the cold weather starts. The best soil for garlic is a sandy loam with a fair amount of organic matter incorporated. Garlic is planted like bulbs except that the heads are divided into individual cloves.  The largest and thickest cloves make the best planting material. It’s best to plant garlic cloves purchased from a farm or nursery.  I know people who have successfully planted garlic purchased at a grocery store but they may have been very lucky since grocery store garlic is treated with a natural hormone inhibits sprouting.   This inhibitor not only keeps shoots from appearing but also roots. If you have planted garlic in past years it is best to find another location in your yard to plant each year.  Garlic is susceptible to white rot and several other diseases if it is planted in the same place every year. Cloves should be planted to a depth equivalent to their length and spaced 5 to 6 inches apart. Churchill County our soils tend to freeze and thaw all winter depending on severity and duration of our cold spells.  This freezing and thawing can lead to soil heaving causing garlic and other bulbs to emerge with out leaves.  One way to solve this problem is to cover the area with a thick mulch of straw.  Mulch insulates the soil and reduces extreme temperature variations that lead to heaving.  It will also help hold moisture in the soil over the winter. Gophers love garlic so some protective measures may be necessary such as scooping the soil out and placing a gopher proof screen in the ground.  Whatever, method used to keep gophers away from the garlic must allow for good drainage in the soil or the garlic will die. By late winter when the crocuses sprout, so will the garlic.  To get the biggest garlic not only should you plant the largest cloves but also the scape or flowering stalk should be removed so the plant can put most of its energy into producing the cloves. By July of the next growing season the garlic should be ready for harvesting.       Never miss a meeting or community event – keep an eye on the community calendar at https://www.thefallonpost.org/events/ If you like what we’re doing, please support our effort to provide local, independent news and contribute to The Fallon Post, your online news source for all things Fallon.