Garlic experiment

[stuParticipant]

Last autumn I grew Provence Wight garlic from the garlic farm mostly in a raised bed and I put a few in the green house in fresh garden compost. The raised bed garlic was disappointing in size and the rust hit them, I feed them in Feb as recommended with sulphate of potash. They have now gone moldy in storage. However the greenhouse garlic in comparison was double the size and has stored very well I have just used this as this years seed. I will be again planting into the greenhouse with only a few outside. Has anyone else tried this or had similar results this year.
I also grew Solent Wight outside but it cropped very small

[charlesModerator]

Same here Stu, every year in interplant garlic between winter salads in greenhouse & tunnel, its usually twice the size at harvest, with no rust.
Garlic rust is becoming a bigger problem I think and I don’t know a remedy.

[RhysParticipant]

Strangely, I had an epic Elephant Garlic harvest of 12 huge bulbs in the garden, but the size of the Solent Wight and Early Purple Wight (both from TGF) were average. Rust this year in NW London was much less bad than the previous year, possibly we had proper frosts in the winter and then we had a very dry period mid-March-mid June (I harvested in the last week of June).

I”m wondering about feeding garlics comfrey tea in future rather than sulphate of potash (like you, I’ve followed TGF’s instructions the three years I’ve grown their bulbs) – I”ve read that onions rather like it during swelling phase so I kind of suspect that garlic will be the same…..I’ve used 50ml of concentrate in a 2 gallon watering can for runner beans and the effect has been excellent this September, so I’m thinking of giving it a go on the garlic in 2016….

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