Making the most of Geographic Limitations Who Says You Can't Grow Garlic in .....? I have had a lot of requests from people who want to grow garlic in The Southeastern and Southwestern parts of the country for something that speaks to their special needs. If you have any questions, please see the FAQ Page or E-Mail me. Growing Garlic in Southerly locations. People who live in warmer climates have become just as excited about garlic as everyone else. And, like everyone else, they want to grow it themselves. The problems is, garlic originally evolved in colder climes and not all varieties take to southern growing conditions. We will explore what kinds do grow well in the southern parts of the country and some of the ways growing may be different down south. We live right in the heart of Texas, 75 miles southeast of Abilene. We usually have warmer, shorter winters than further up north, more limited rainfall and tighter soil as well. As our climate varies from year to year, the characteristics of our garlic vary as well. We will also tell you what varieties have thrived and which did not make the grade. Supposedly, we have cool winters, warm springs and hot, early summers. But sometimes we get long cold winters and sometimes they’re wet. Sometimes they’re dry and with strong winds that don’t let up until July. Sometimes it’s in the 90’s in February, between hard freezes. In the eight years we have been growing garlic, I don’t think any two are very similar. We have ranges of rainfall as well, from 18 to 33 inches yearly, with the average around 24 the last few years. Same thing applies to soil type, we have varying types, but mostly bottomland silt. While we can’t stabilize these variables I can describe what goes on within our extremes and how that seems to affect the growing of garlic. Be ready to see changes in the appearance, size, color and taste of garlic, based on what kind of growing conditions are present during each different crop year. One year we had a dry winter with extreme temperature changes and eight months of high winds that resulted in reversing the normal taste of our garlics. Normally hot varieties were mild and normally mild varieties became very hot and strong. If you get an early heat wave with intense sunlight, it can burn up the leaves and result in early bolting and small bulbs - no leaves, no bulb size. It takes full, healthy foliage to build big bulbs. If you want everything to be predictable and unvarying, grow it in a greenhouse with hydroponics. What kinds of Garlic Grow Well in Warmer Climates? What kinds don’t. Usually, softneck garlics, that is, artichokes and silverskins do better in warmer areas than hardnecks. That is one of the reasons they were selected out from hardnecks by growers over the centuries. Artichokes have large, flattish bulbs compared to silverskins, which have a teardrop shape and are smaller, but store longer. Of softnecks, artichoke garlics seem to do a little better than silverskins. Some artichoke varieties mature very early in the harvest season (as early as May), but most silverskins mature very late in the season (closer to July). Both artichokes and silverskins have sub-groups that are important to southern growers (such as Asiatic and Turban Artichokes and Creole Silverskins) and there is a wide range of flavors involved, from very mild to very strong. As a general rule, hardnecks don’t do as well as softnecks in the south. We have been totally unable to grow Rocamboles and gave up after ten different varieties rotted in the ground in the heat of early spring. We have had mixed results with porcelains, being able to grow them well some years (cooler winter and spring years) and getting wiped out in other years (warmer winter and spring years). Same with most purple stripe garlics, although there are some very notable exceptions (namely, Metechi and Siberian). As far as I can tell, most of these varieties are risky at best in the south, but worth the risk if you get in a good crop of them, once in a while. All that having been said, the varieties that have done the best for us are: Metechi, a purple stripe of the marbled group. Big, strong and robust - the best in our garden, year after year. Harvests in the middle-late part of the harvest season. Siberian, almost exactly like Metechi, except it is the opposite in taste, mild like Simoneti or Burgundy. However, I have read of other growers who describe it as hot and strong. Climate difference? One spring when a plague of grasshoppers ate one whole garden (30 varieties) to the ground, Siberian was the only variety left and it was only slightly damaged. Mine is not to question why, only to observe, slack-jawed. Chinese Purple, an artichoke of the Turban group. Big, very strong, hearty and always grows very well for us. The earliest garlic we harvest. Instantly hot raw taste. Asian Tempest, an artichoke of the Asiatic group. Similar to C. purple, but the heat is delayed for a few seconds. A sort of Chinese time bomb. Burgundy, a beautiful example of a Creole silverskin. Deep purple, uniform cloves, delightfully mid-mild taste in a bulb that grows well and stores long. Very hardy and harvests in mid-late season. Ajo Rojo is another Creole similar to Burgundy except that its color is more red than purple and a little stronger. Creole Red is a medium Creole but has only about five cloves per bulb, but they are larger cloves. Simoneti, a standard Artichoke that is very mild, very white and very large. If you want large, mild garlics, this is one to try. It usually does well, but some years it doesn’t, especially if there is a very early, very hot spring/summer. Inchelium Red, another standard Artichoke, with a tinge of red that produces large bulbs of medium flavor - nice taste, but not overpowering. Mother of Pearl (a silverskin). White bulb wrappers and purplish colored clove covers that are a rich medium flavor. Grows and stores very well most years. Mild French and Silverwhite. White bulb wrappers with beautiful rose colored cloves that are a little milder than Locati, but still in the medium range. Chet’s Italian Red and Red Toch are standard Artichokes that are early maturing, mild and usually good producers and fairly hardy. Varieties that have grown well for us some years when we have colder winters and cooler springs, but not in hot or dry years include Purple Stripes such as Chesnok Red and Persian Star as well as Porcelains, such as German Stiffneck (AKA German Hardy and German Extra Hardy and German White), Zemo, Georgian Crystal and Georgian Fire. For a more complete description of these and other varieties, you might check out the Varieties section of our website. Growing Techniques that work for us. Garlic growing is definitely different in the southern states than it is in the northern tier of states. You can plant later and harvest earlier. You can plant right on up until the end of December. There have been times we have planted some varieties in late January or early February and still obtained large, healthy bulbs, but it is usually better to get it in the ground in October or November. Another difference is that garlic emerges in the fall/winter and puts on good foliage up until the coldest part of the winter when it sort of stagnates for a while as if resting before its final surge of growth in the spring. Southern growers can be enjoying wonderful fresh garlic a month or two before it becomes available in the grocery stores. Of course, it does not store as long into the fall and winter as the northern garlic that is harvested a month or two later. I strongly recommend using organic growing methods rather than chemical if you want the best results in terms of taste, nutrition and human and plant health. This means having your soil tested to see what it has and what it lacks and adding the soil amendments needed to bring it into balance. This is best done by a laboratory that specializes in organic growers as they will probably make different recommendations than one accustomed to dealing with chemical growers. Garlic does best in soil with a pH in the range between 6.5 and 7 and with good levels of NPK and, especially, good levels of the micronutrients. In other words, good garden soil. Garlic can only get out of the soil that which is in the soil to begin with. It’s pretty good at getting what it needs out of any soil, but thrives in good soil. We have discovered that garlic grown in good, healthy soil withstands weather extremes that would stunt garlic grown is less good soil. Raised Beds or Not? At times we have gotten better results in flat beds than raised beds, believe it or not. In areas of sparse rainfall, that may not be unusual because the plants roots are closer to the underground water table. Also, if the soil is hard and very dry on the surface, rainwater flows right off the raised beds without soaking in. Mulching with organic material helps to conserve soil moisture and keeps the surface absorbent. Our problem with flat beds came at harvest time. A few inches below the surface, our silty soil becomes very tight and that makes it difficult to pull up the bulbs without damaging them or their roots. We would pull up great clods of tight, packed soil around the root ball and, invariably, tear the roots or bruise the bulb in trying to remove it. After some experimenting, what works for us is six inch high raised beds about 22 inches wide across the top containing four rows of garlic, six inches apart. These raised beds are spaced five feet apart from center to center. We build the beds with a special tool we made to drag behind our tractor. We build the beds one at a time and plant immediately while the soil is still soft. Cloves are set two inches deep, with large varieties being planted at three inches depth. Each bed is planted with varieties that will mature all at the same time. As soon as the bed has been planted, we run a drip irrigation tube (we use t-tape with built-in emitters 12 inches apart) down the middle of the bed and cover the bed with two or three inches of organic mulch (hay, weeds, whatever). Then we build the next bed. When we’re done, we mulch between the beds to conserve moisture and discourage weeds. We went to that system for three reasons. First, to get the roots into looser soil and make harvest easier on people and plants, both. Second, to get the bulb up out of the water zone during May, when we typically get nine inches of rain (almost one-third our annual total) as excess moisture during the drydown period just before harvest can result in fungal and other problems. Lastly, by building the bed from the surrounding topsoil, you increase the feeding zone of the plants roots by thickening the layer of fertile topsoil above the infertile, inert dirt beneath. This additional nutrient-rich layer allows the roots to get more out of the soil and their increased strength allows them to resist pests and weather extremes better. Water also percolates through it better to accumulate on the hard pan, which is now further below. Shall We Mulch (cha cha cha) Even if you live in one of those areas that gets copious rainfall, even a light mulch is usually more beneficial than no mulch, if for no other reason than to keep rainfall from splashing dirt up on the leaves and then having it wash down into their bases and, possibly, contaminate the bulb with some kind of undesirable soil-borne bacteria or fungal spores. If you’re in a dry area, a thick mulch is essential if you want good results. By alternately irrigating or removing mulch, you can control the soil moisture to maximize bulb size and health. Using organic mulch has an additional benefit - you’re fertilizing the soil for next year. We found that when we put several inches of mulch on the entire growing area that our harvest was better all the way around and the soil was less weedy and more fertile and softer for the next crop. Just about any organic material makes good mulch, even weeds. We use bales of hay, weeds - if they don’t have seeds, leaves, grass clippings or whatever else we can get. Weeds with seeds should probably composted instead of being used as mulch. We do not put anything woody in the mulch as that would tend to draw nitrogen out of the soil and away from the garlic. The primary idea is to shade the ground to retain moisture, loosen the soil and to keep the soil temperature low enough to allow the garlic to develop. In the south, the ground is going to heat up soon enough anyway; the idea is to keep it as cool as possible as long as you can so the garlic will bulb up good before warm temperatures cause bolting. If it bolts before the bulb has grown large, you will have small garlic. The secondary purpose of mulch is to break down and help enrich the soil for future years. The soil organisms so essential to good growing will bless you for doing it. It may not make Mother Nature change her weird weather ways, but at least, it prevents her from putting a curse on your garden. Mulching also discourages weeds from sprouting and growing. We have had a lot less problems with weeds since we began mulching. We still have to weed some but not as much as we would have to if we didn’t mulch. Garlic does not do as well if there are weeds in the beds as they do not compete well against weeds. We plant in rotation and after harvest, as I was plowing the one-third of the field where we grew garlic that had been mulched, I noticed there were far fewer weeds in that area than in the other two-thirds where we grew unmulched cover crops. Some Planting and Growing Tips To Improve Your Crop Many commercial seed companies inoculate their seeds with a purplish coating designed to enhance sprouting and root development and also may contain chemical pesticides to discourage weeds or insects. We do something similar to our cloves at planting time. We soak the cloves for 15 to 30 minutes in a solution containing liquid seaweed and some liquid humate if you have it available at the rate of one tablespoon each per gallon of water. If there is any hint of that black, sooty powder that often plagues garlic, we add a tablespoon of baking soda to inhibit fungal growth. It seems to give our garlic a good boost. If you have some garlic that doesn’t look or smell right and you suspect there’s something wrong with it but you insist on planting it anyway, you might try soaking it for 5 minutes or so in rubbing alcohol. Alcohol seems to help overcome a great many problems. For long term soil health, it is best not to plant anything but healthy cloves. About a month or so before planting we fertilize our gardens with old cow and chicken manure as well as compost and add in some humate and molasses. Our soil doesn’t seem to need any more than that. About once a month during the growing season we give the garlic a foliar feeding using the same formula that we use for inoculation, but adding a tablespoon each of fish emulsion and molasses as well. We discontinue watering about two weeks before harvesting to let the soil and the garlic dry down some as late watering can cause bulb wrappers to split as the bulbs swell up too rapidly. Excess water during this time can also lead to fungal and other disease problems. Harvesting Your Precious Jewels Your garlic’s leaves will tell you when it wants to be harvested. They will do this by beginning to turn brown from the bottom of the plant upward. Shut off water to any variety when the bottom one-forth to one-third of the leaves have turned brown and pull the mulch away from the beds to allow the soil to dry out. Notable exceptions to this general rule are the Asian and Turban Artichokes - they need to be harvested as soon as their lower leaves start to turn brown. If it looks like rain, put a tarp over your garlic bed and remove it after the rain. When just over half of its leaves have browned and only the upper leaves are still green, it is time to harvest if the ground is dry enough. You can test for soil moisture content by digging carefully down to the root area and putting your hand in the soil. If your fingers get muddy, it is too wet to harvest. When the middle third of the leaves turn brown it is time to get serious about getting it out of the ground. The top third of a garlic plants leaves ( the newest ones) control the bulbs wrappers. If you wait until all the leaves die, these bulb wrappers will deteriorate and you will be left with bare bulbs that don’t store well and invite contamination and disease. Since each variety matures at a different time, we harvest only those that are ready at any one time. As each bed contains the same variety, we undercut the entire bed in one pass with a tool that attaches to our tractor. It is a wedge-shaped blade that is parallel to the ground and we pull it about a foot beneath the top of the bed. This undercuts the garlic and breaks up the soil so that it is easy to come behind it and pull each bulb gently by hand. The dirt basically just falls away from the roots, if the soil is properly dried. When we had a smaller crop we would use a shovel or garden fork to pry the bulbs from their earthy wombs, but that is not practical for a large commercial crop. Garlic should be taken immediately to a shady place with good air flow to dry down, or cure as it is called. Each bulb should always be handled with gentle, loving care to prevent bruising - don’t throw, bump or drop them, unless you just want to damage them and give disease an opportunity to set in. If you want to learn more about the different kinds of garlic, how to cure, store and use it, we invite you to explore our garlic information center on the Internet at www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com. You can also e-mail me at bob@web-access.net if you have a specific question you want answered.

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