Garlic Outdoors Thru Winter

[hippie_lettuce]

I've just ordered some organic garlic bulbs to grow through this winter. We experience some hard winters with snow, but I don't have raised beds. Our garden is mulched with about two or three inches of leaves, but I wanted to know if I could plant the garlic in Rubbermaid tubs and leave them on the porch? It has already frosted here a few times.

Sometimes it will go down to 0 degrees here. I know I will have to mulch them, but I'm worried that it will still be too cold for them. Advice, please?

 

[hippie_lettuce]

All right, I guess I found an answer to my question. It may be right, but I'll wait and see.

I'll plant the cloves in a deep container with a light mulch and leave it indoors. It's pretty cool indoors and will imitate early fall. Then once I start seeing green I'll place the container outside during the day or in a place that stays cool. I can't leave the container outside overnight because the bulbs - since they are above ground - can't sustain long hard freezes, which we get around here. (argh!)

Doing so will give them their chill period. Then all's I have to do is wait until spring and I can leave them outdoors, even overnight (once the night temps stay around 35 + deg).

I am doing this because I'm a procrastinator but I loves my garlic. I don't want to wait until next fall. If you live in a zone that experiences hard winters then this might work for you, if, like me, you didn't get the cloves into the ground in an early fashion. Also, to add, I bought hardneck varieties because they are supposed to withstand cold winters.

 

[Easygrowing]

hm hm hm ? what you saying there Hippie ? hm ! hard one,4 me 2 understand...BUT
i have just seen in a gardenprg,about garlic-it,is the cold time for put those onions into the ground-and then spring comes-they comes up......just split those onions and put every single beans into the soil-has 2 read it through 7-9 times-and im in i guess-what you saying : ) procrastinator new word..will you grow them indoor or hmm weird.what cant you be ! Google says same word-even if take pro out-same..what is what..
Nope it,s good enough ! You can be that-wiki says so much about be that-also Freud and a olafson-had wroted much about those-Perfertionisme-interest readingstuff-thanks Hl ...procrasting-wiki : )

 

[rangergord]

Hey Hippielettuce,

I am a garlic fan too. I have been growing it in the harshest climate you can imagine for years. Growing in zone 2 just a step away from the arctic. I have 24 varieties of heritage garlic, most of them hardnecks, a couple softnecks. Porcelains, Rocamboles, and Purple Stripes. Hot and mild I have it all. I think that if you can dig your soil you should plant that garlic outside in the ground. Raised beds or not. It will do much better out there than indoors. It will start to grow indoors even at very cool temps and then it will need lots of light to grow properly (HPS or MH) It is very hardy and will will survive in containers outdoors IF you bury the container in soil up the the rim. If you want to try growing garlic indoors during the winter my advice would be to save some small cloves next fall or even better some bulbils. Its your garlic do as you wish but I think your results could be disappointing overall indoors.

 

[ninfan77]

I'm in a cold zone, colder than Zone 5....

Garlic does JUST fine outdoors in the winter. Plant it just below the surface (pointy side up, basal root down) and mulch heavily. 2-3 inches of leaves might not be your best bet as they mat down a lot over winter and could inhibit the top growth in spring.

Id go with 6-10 inches of straw or hay. I plant around 40lbs a year (harvesting around 250lbs).

 

[hippie_lettuce]

So if I cover it with straw or hay and put several cloves in a five gallon bucket or some other container, it will do fine? I'm worried that they won't be insulated around the sides enough. I know I'm so late in planting but I just kept putting off ordering the bulbs.

Usually around here the first snow comes around the end of Nov. I don't think they'd have enough time to develop roots unless I keep them indoors until they develop roots, then leave em outside. What do you think? Just plant them outdoors in the containers and leave them there even though the snow's coming really soon?

Thanks!!

 

[BOMBAYCAT]

I grow garlic here which can have very cold winters. I start next years crop outdoors in the garden about Sept 1 and it actually grows some in the snow. I usually throw a few inches of leaves over the garden which blow away in the winter. It is so funny to see those little green shoots in the snow. Anyway they get a good start in the fall and grow lots in the spring. Towards the end of July I dig the bulbs up as the plants wilt over.

 

[rangergord]

Bury the container up to the rim in soil if you want to protect it from freezing. Even better do not use a container. Mulch is also a good idea. It is not too late as long as the ground is not frozen right now. Just get it done and you can relax till spring. Honest.

 

[SeaMaiden]

Thanks for reminding me that I need to plant my garlic! I think I've waited a bit long, but what am I gonna do?

 

[hippie_lettuce]

Thanks, everyone. I will get the garlic into the ground as soon as I get my hands on 'em. I'll get some hay, pull back some of the leaves and mulch them with hay. I'll let you know what happens.

 

[bonecarver_OG]

planted my garlics about 1 month or more back, they are all sprouting shoots of up to 50cm allready. they really like the mild spanish winters

 

[SeaMaiden]

I planted mine yesterday in the SmartPots. Spanish garlic I think, but the first year I grew them was last year and I wasn't able to water it, so I got all these single bulblets. I replanted those this year, and now I can get down to the garden to water if there isn't sufficient rain this winter.

I. Love. Garlic. You ever cut it into chunks and toss it into a bit of hot fat, let it fry til crispy then just eat it? Sticks to my teeth that way, but it's so good.