Why can't I grow garlic?

[southernmom3]

I have tried several times to grow garlic. I had read that all you have to do is take your garlic clove and plant it, with the tip facing down. This does not work for me! I can't get it to grow. Anyone know what I am doing wrong? Is this not the way to do it?

 

[zigs]

No, pointy bit facing up.

Not that simple though, garlic is bred for particular growing zones, in the UK we use strains that have been bred on the Isle of Wight for our climate.

We plant in October so it makes root growth over winter, then harvest in mid August before the tops die back completely, any longer and we'd be digging the entire plot over to find them.

No good planting supermarket garlic as they've normally been sprayed with growth inhibitors to give a longer shelf life.

 

[headfullofbees]

No good planting supermarket garlic as they've normally been sprayed with growth inhibitors to give a longer shelf life.

And it's crap.

 

[Jewell]

Get some garlic bulbs now (from a garden supply) to plant. It is the season. I am a little worried that you said tip down. Like Zigs said, "pointy bit face up", flat bottom down. If you are not sure lay it flat.

 

[lemonzest]

I've had garlic start to grow in my cupboard, always from the pointy bit. I haven't tried putting it in the ground afterwards, though.

 

[justusforus]

I think all the responders are right. I can't seem to stop it from growing inside. If your not sure which side goes up. let some grow out and you will see. I think though from the description you can figure the right way up and have more luck.

 

[headfullofbees]

May I also suggest to those who live in a warmer climate than the UK, where perhaps frost is a stranger, that you could put your seed hardneck garlic in your fridge for a month to vernalise it?

 

[happyflowerlady]

I have found that when I buy garlic at the store, then the little green tops start growing, so some of what they sell in the stores must not be treated. You just have to get some that will sprout.
I tried planting some this spring, but they didn't come up. I guess it was because I am supposed to plant them now, in the fall. I will have to get more garlic and plant it this fall and see how it does this time. Do we then harvest it in the spring, or wait a whole year and harvest it again next fall and then replant some of the fresh cloves ?

 

[headfullofbees]

Harvest in the summer.

 

[southernmom3]

Well I guess we have figured out why I can't grow garlic! I am planting it wrong and using what I got from the grocery store!

 

[firelily99]

Take a look at a garlic bulb in the grocery store. The flat, fat end is where the roots grow from so that's the part that goes in the ground. The pointy end is up on the clove, the flatter end into the whole. I work on an organic farm and we plant them six inches apart at about a depth of six inches. If you can put a mulch of chopped up leaves on top. They aren't fussy plants at all once you get the basics right. Make sure you are getting the right garlic for the zone you live in or you'll be singing the blues in the summer.

 

[firelily99]

I have tried several times to grow garlic. I had read that all you have to do is take your garlic clove and plant it, with the tip facing down. This does not work for me! I can't get it to grow. Anyone know what I am doing wrong? Is this not the way to do it?

Tips up, plant in the fall six inches apart. Grocery garlic won't work, buy garlic from a garden center.

 

[southernmom3]

Thank you all for the help!
I feel stupid realizing how wrong I was doing it!
I will try again the right way this time!

 

[cmckinney01]

You may have better luck if you buy some organic garlic and plant it. You can probably find organic garlic at a farmers' market or you can order it from one of the seed catalogs.
Garlic which has been organically grown won't contain any chemicals which stop it from growing.

 

[Cjk85]

I find no matter the type Garlic grows here like mad, either in Aquaponics, Hydroponics or in the ground, I pull a clove off a knob plat it pointy end up within a week you have first visable growth (sometimes a couple of days)...

A couple of times I have just planted the whole knob of Garlic in the ground, that has worked quite well too, but produced some very oddly shaped garlic.