Same, and I got stress reduction watching ancient rusted tools brought back to life. Random appearance on yt. Amazing to watch an expert at their craft.
This is absolutely the BEST gardening channel.....you can not get any more expert information than right here. This is my one stop gardening youtube channel!
I'd been trying to get useful vegetable growing information from other well known gardeners and never felt any the wiser, or confident But I've realised they are not vegetable growing specialists whereas Charles is. After reading his books and watching this channel, I am now fully adopting his methodology and advice and now feel really confident of some good results next year.
Hello from Sweden, Charles. I recently found out that all you need to do to inhibit rust on garlic, celery, etc., is to neighbor them with broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc. And the garlic returns the favor by inhibiting fungus. I'm truly enjoying your show, as you give wonderful advice and tips for a slightly colder climate. I live in zone 6, but it's not much adjustment. Keep up the amazing work!
This is first time growing garlic and that's what my research and from talking to some chaps at the allotments have said they work beautifully together
I've watched this so many times. The way you flow through and explain each type is effortless, and done in basically one take. What an inspiration. Very thoughtful presentation.
I just realised Mr Dowding reminds me of how my grandfather used to talk and explain everything about his plants as I helped him in the garden... thank you for the memories.
Indeed, my favourite gardening channel. Do you know I bring along my garden note book to watch Charles and making sure I take note like a university student. Thank you Charles. I was not very fortunate in my younger days; no land or garden to plant anything. But, now I live in the Down Under and having the privilege to own a tiny home with some front yard. So, what do you do? Grow, grow, grow! Thanks amillion
Charles, The bulbils can be used to grow new Elephant Garlic. But its a two year period, In the first year if you plant them in October the first growing year they will grow into what's known as a flat. Then the second year so leave them over winter like you did with these and you will get full bulbs from them, Its a two year process but if you have spare ground to put them in its a way to increase your stocks while not taking all your eating cloves. Tony
The way I look at it i you get free plants for not much effort and you get to keep the extra cloves to eat. You will still need to plant cloves as well though
Thanks for that Tony. I mainly grow elephant for my son, who loves them, but I am annoyed by the price of the seed cloves. Sadly the bulbils from this year's crop have mysteriously disappeared, so I'm going to have to go through the entire agony again! C'est la vie, as we say in Port Talbot.
Charles I just want to tell you how much I love watching your videos and how much you’ve done for me. Your channel and videos are a big influence on the types of things I do on my channel. Just wanted you to know how much I appreciate what you do, the quality of your videos, and how you inspire me to grow my channel my channel further. Keep up the great work sir!
I am glad to have found this amazing channel. For those of us who don’t have that much strength to dig and dig, you give so much hope for gardening using easy and effective methods. Can’t thank enough. I already made a no dig bed and planted cilantro, spinach and a few pepper plants.
Have to find a way of keeping the little mammals out of the bed. Someone ate 4 of the. Chili plants!! Can’t be a rabbit as the net is too small, Any thoughts?
Thank you Charles. I do thoroughly enjoy your channel. I grow hard neck garlic here in Tennessee in the USA. Garlic grows like weeds here on our mini-farm. I can dig out a large crop in the fall, and by spring, I have an over abundance of garlic starts popping out of the ground from the roots left behind. I dig out the small starts, transplant them into tiny pots, and then transplant them into one of the six, garden plots in our 1/4 acre garden in the Spring. Garlic is not only very healthy, but as you know, a very sustainable and enjoyable crop to grow. Thank you again for your videos.
I love your shows. They are so full of info. So much so, that you are my ‘go to’ reference site. I began following your no dig methods about 5 years ago and now I have a small bit of land to use this year, I’m able to do it for myself. The first time I was able to get hold of some lovely old muck (about 4 years old) I tried mulching with it and I have never had such wonderful results. My parsnips were huge and very tasty .. not woody at all and everything else, was also the best ever. Thank you so much for your videos and all the experimentation and record keeping. Love it all.
I made a planting aid for softneck garlic, consisting of a piece of plywood 30"x37", with holes cut out in a hexagonal packing pattern .. this lets me dibble in 27 plants within that space, each one spaced 4" apart. I made my dibber out of a 1 1/4" dowel, and, being rather lazy, I did not cut it off .. this was quite fortunate, as I discovered that it is far easier to do the work standing.
The little balls left under the elephant garlic are seeds. I collect them and plant them on a separate row from my garlic cloves in October. When your cloves are ready to harvest, harvest your seed garlic. It will be one solid ping pong size garlic. The next October, plant the solid ping pong garlic, and you will get a whole clove. Mom and dad told me it was a way to keep that line of garlic pure and extra large. If you only plant cloves from the same garlic, they will year after year, your garlic cloves will get smaller and smaller over time.
Garlic is A-sexual. So if you plant the bulbils year after year it's just a clone of the previous year. If you let it the garlic flower, pull off bulbils on top. Let the flowers get pollinated and true seed will form the size of let's say carrot seed. Use that seed. In 2 years you will have your own garlic variety to your own soil.
tribulation138 I have never seen bulbils before this video. So if I grew garlic and let them flower, bulbils will grow from the top where it flowered? Or did you mean from the ground? I like the concept of developing your own line.
Garlic is an easy, great vegetable to grow. Animals leave it alone. You can eat the flower,(scapes), use the seed-pod for cooking. Grows tall so out-competes weeds.Keeps well. Very much "plant and forget"
And it’s a set it and forget it crop. You just plant garlic in the fall and harvest the garlic in mid-summer. The less you do the better the garlic crop.
OH I'm so pleased to see a video on garlic. Just this last week I'd been rummaging through your forum to get an idea what/when/how you grow your garlic. So satisfying to watch! Thank you so much for making this video!
Wow those elephant garlic are massive! I live in Canada, but my family are originally from Italy. My aunt brought garlic back from Italy in 1973, and we are still planting the same garlic yearly!
@@healthyrootsstrongwings538 I was always taught by my aunt, that you sacrifice the largest cloves for planting. She says that they are about the same as she remembers...So they didnt increase in size, but more importantly, they didnt decrease in size in over 40 years. So i think thats pretty good!
I spent some time on an organics farm where we grew garlic. It was a real education. I really appreciate the information you have shared here also. One of the things I have recently learnt about the health of plants is that they love epsom salts but most of all they become stronger and more plight resistant, like to rust, by spraying or watering the plants with boron. If sprayed when they are younger and developing they become strong and able to fend off rust like ailments. You can also spray them with boron when you see rust forming.
Thanks Sheila for sharing this helpful comment, I feel inclined to try it. I imagine the dose needs to be small as boron is just a trace element, and generally I avoid such amendments. Garlic rust however is becoming endemic, all around here.
I came back to find this episode, Charles, because my garlics had all produced the little flower bud. I remembered that it was best to snip them out, but had forgotten that I could eat them (scapes), so I popped back to the compost where i had put them and retrieved them for lunch! The plants are also growing new leaf clusters where the flower-stems started to bolt. I think this is due to our warm dry spring and the frosty nights we've had this last week. Poor things don't know whether they are coming or going. But the bulbs are filling out just fine.
I have been growing Elephant garlic for many, many years. I started with only 3 cloves. Planted, harvested and replanted. I find that they are very prolific. The little bulblets that stay in the ground will produce small bulbs. the first year. If left in the ground they will produce larger bulbs the second year. It seems that there are always small plants each year that come up. I plant the large cloves for bigger bulbs. I use the same area for planting every year since I know there will be self seeding. I like Elephant garlic but I prefer the traditional kind. I use both. This year I dried the Elephant garlic and ground it into powder for seasoning. Best to keep it in the freezer after grinding to prevent caking or find an alternate method. I found out the hard way. Love,Love your videos!
Congratulations. The first person i've ever heard who also plants their garlic at end of September/early October! :). Every book i read and people i speak to always say to plant in the spring, not realising the extra growth they get before the new year comes in. Luckily i was originally directed by my mother to plant at the end of September and get much better garlic as a result! Subbed!!
It's facinating to watch a video when you think you know everything and yet still learn something. I've been growing garlic for years and yet your tip to strip off the outer layer there and then, once you harvest, is a great idea. I'd always just hung them up, washing line fashion, with everything on and the process to prep back to that nice white bulb is a laborious one once cured. Nice time saver, thanks. Such a shame that you can't make any money from growing garlic but at least you have lovely product in your own kitchen. I do actually pickle most of my garlic, if you're interested i can point you in the direction of an excellent recipe :).
In Australia, cold or temperate areas, we always plant in autumn. I think it may depend on how cool your spring is, here it wouldn’t give enough time to grow before summer hits! They will grow thru snow as long as well mulched!
We have quite a different climate here and hard neck garlic is grown very different. We plant a clove and leave it in the ground for 2-3 years to help it produce a large enough bulb to make them worth planting, one year is not enough. Mulching heavily with chicken coop hay every fall allows them to survive and we end up with strong flavored large cloves that I ferment. I have esophagus issues and find that a fermented garlic does not cause any discomfort. Was thinking of growing elephant garlic but I think it is too much like leek and would prefer a true garlic, that becomes milder with fermenting. Love your beautiful garden, you have quite a connection to paradise, lovely!
I've been told that the little bulbs that grow on the side are called Corms, and if you leave them in ground then develop in he next year and become a garlic single, and then in the following season then split into proper cloves. I was given some last autumn and planted them to see what will happen :)
This year, instead of spending £2.50 for a bulb of seed garlic, I've just bought supermarket ones for 39p each and planted those. They're doing well so far.
I've always used super market garlic occasionally organic! Supermarket garlic. So far it has done well. Had a nice crop last year and saved some to replant this year
First time growing garlic. We bought them as tiny plants in spring. Think we should look to be harvesting them. Thanks for info on harvest and storing garlic. We have been very disappointed with shop bought stuff. It doesn’t last long at all. Thanks for sharing.
I totally like your way, because you come across very friendly and I like listening to your voice.I don't know how to properly say it. The German words are "bescheidene und angenehme Art".
1.5 years ago today I started your no dig project in my garden and I’m pleasantly impressed by the progress. as you say fewer weeds in the beds, I went down to the garden and expected to spend more more than an hour on weeding and I only spent 30 minutes on the beds im now asking myself why didn’t do this before why dig its so much easier than digging up the soil… thank you for your advice on the garden
Just found your channel , I just planted my garlic sept 20th , I was always told by gardeners to plant by sept 25th to give garlic time to grow roots before the ground freezes ! I usually grow 1,000 bulbs a year it does very well !
Wow beautiful I just use plain store organic plant fruit and veggie fertilizer soil Hope that works, so confused on when to plant all these in so. Cal, please if someone can answer I’m going to plant a garlic clove in my little experimental new garden wondering if I have to grow the roots first indoors first Please new here, God Bless
Wow when do they Harvest? Also anyone know how to plant Radishes I love them, but do you plant the radish now & whole in the ground and does it grow single or in bunches? I eat their greens too. Thanks so much 🙏 Please does anyone know?
I am happy that the garlic I planted a month ago is now growing well and putting down roots. I am wondering that the warm weather has confused them and there is more growth than there should be by this time of the year.
Garlic are very hardy. Soon it will turn cooler and new growth will slow down and I'm sure they will be fine. You may see some yellowing at the tips of leaves and this is quite normal in winter.
Have just discovered your channel and have been binge watching your videos! Up in Canada here, November and winter is already, overwhelmingly so, set in (-18 last night). But to keep my spirits up I've been starting to plan my garden. First year I grew lettuces and carrots and radishes mainly, last year I had a baby and so gardening took a back seat, although I did expand and grow herbs. Next year I'm hoping to really kick up in grand style! Getting so inspired by your videos! You make it all seem possible and highly enjoyable! 💕😊
Excellent video! I grow the hardneck variety. I usually dig a trench and add worm castings and plant. Add more compost on top, no fertilizers ever, I do mulch with shredded leaves to protect in our harsh winters. I do get great looking garlic,, but you've convinced me here to use a dibber. Seems easier and less disturbance to the soil life .
I live in Israel. For now I can only do container gardening. We mostly have garlic from China, which I somehow don't like. Last year I found fresh garlic in the supermarket so I snatched a few for eating but also for planting. I put a head of big cloves in the fridge and planted in November. Our winters are, of course, much less cold and wet than the UK, but this year it was totally springy, as temps were around 20C most of the time! I planted 6 big cloves, all of which sprang up in 3 days in November. In the last few days I noticed one of the necks was bending at the base. So I decided to give in to temptation and dug it up. My first garlic ever! A whole head! small, but the cloves seem pretty big, which I love. I'm so happy. I'll leave the rest to grow some more, of course. Thanks for the info, it's so helpful.
This is really nice to hear Rose, what a lovely result! That is very very early for a head of garlic and generally I reckon your harvest time will be maybe early May. You can have a little rummage in the soil around the bulbs to see how much they are swelling
the hard stem is common veg in China and very popular. One of my favourite but hard to find in the UK (super expensive in Chinese supermarket too)! finally see how they grow!
Charles, I watched this video last fall. Purchased some nice garlic from a reputable grower and planted it just as you instructed (I top- dressed with worm castings) it is 13 May 2021 and this is my best result ever. I told my daughter we will never need to purchase garlic again! Scapes soon and garlic too. Thank you Charles.
a very informative, well presented vid. i love your style of presentation. it is well mannered, patient and very soothing unlike some youtube presenters who yell and gesticulate like they are engaged in a sword fight.
@@mm-nk3qe I was actually referring to how he mentions that some garlic gets purple in the sun -- a lot of plants have these purple pigments called anthocyanins which get up regulated in response to light. I'm not familar with the pathogenesis of garlic rust specifically but I can say that most plant leaves also contain orange pigments called carotenoids, which become more visible if chlorophyll production shuts down, and that can happen in response to pathogens. However the fungus itself might actually have an orange pigment? I wish I knew.
@@mm-nk3qe I actually tried to search what pigment causes the orange color but I couldn't find anything. They did say on all the pages that I looked at though that the orange was actually the fruiting bodies of the fungus, so I do think that it's probably from the fungus making the pigment and not the plant in this case.
It has always rotted here (Abdn) or cloves don't form despite sufficient frost. I even tried sowing in ridges to help drainage and early sowing in August to get enough growth before the frosts. Heavy loam. There's a garlic farm in Nairn even more north than here but they might have alluvial soil. or be using polytunnels.
We have always left our elephant garlic in the ground and it always comes up every year ! A PERENNIAL . They spread down the hill by them selves and multiply ! Also green onions PERENNIAL
EMOSES NEPHO I also grow bunching onions. Plant once harvest as needed. Onions forever. Mine are huge stems. 3 seedlings became 15 red base ones and 6 white ones turned into about 30. They are about to bloom. I’ll save seed, but the6 divide into seed head and new onion, so no problem.
Brilliant as usual. The Bulgarians have introduced us to a new use for garlic.They pick them young and immature when they are like spring onions and have them whole with Salad, meats, or both. Can be very hot, but very tasty and not for someone who doesn't like smelling of garlic! They also pickle the mature garlic, again whole in their skins.To eat them you just peel the skins to get to the fruit, again very tasty. I'm sure there are many countries that do the same and more, but I for one being from the UK had never experienced it before. Growing the garlic undercover, is this solely to help with the rust or do they mature earlier than outdoor grown?
Rust is almost inevitable in the UK. I grew it on a totally virgin site with virgin soil with no other veg in site and still got it mid May. Started spraying with dithane as soon as I seen it and it is still slowly spreading although probably at a slower rate. Heart breaking after spending so much time and space over them. Plus my softnecks all bolted and made scapes.
Please allow me to say that the colour of the outer skin of dry garlic depends on the species. In Italy white skin garlic and pink garlic are considered as features of two different species. I would like to add another point here. From my gardening experience and cooking adventures, soft neck garlic may be made stronger in flavour by controlled watering. Controlled watering would reduce the size of the clove but increases the flavour. Peeling small cloves can be time consuming in the kitchen, but luckily some dishes would accept garlic with peel. In some countries the roots are not removed to indicate that it is a national product. Most garlic is imported from non-EU countries because of cheap labour, but it must have the root area free of roots. There is no guarantee that non-EU garlic has been treated with EU approved chemicals during its culture.
Victor this is all most helpful, thankyou. I find a good way to speed up peeling of skin is to put cloves in a saucepan with the lid on and shake them, it loosens the skin.
I grew garlic outdoors from supermarket garlic... Looked at the veriety on the label before I bought them and they did really well... It took about 1 year to form a bulb though but they look really nice... I planted them in areas of the garden I don't use due to being a poor location for veg (near the hedge rows).
Luckily I have not had any rust problem. We like to eat them green, as well as dried, so tasty including leaves. Tried elephant garlic, although huge was so weak flavoured that we had to use same number of cloves as standard garlic, will not bother with it again. Usuall source new planting cloves from the veg counter, lower cost than most garden centres
I have grown hard neck garlics for two seasons now. The first year I took cloves from the store and harvested them last autumn. Then I replanted the new cloves and during this very dry summer they never finished but dried up somewhere around July even though they grew by a river. I have observed that if the plants do not get succesfull pollination of the flowers, small elongated garlic cloves grow where seeds should have matured. I have planted some of these with success but they form almost grasslike stems. Your elephant garlics seems to do the same thing but on the roots, just like potatoes.
I am not sure what you mean by the seeds maturing? You are talking about the little bulbils on the cloves and not the flower? In any case you will get grass like stems for the first year but you will be rewarded the following year with proper sized bulbs.
I did not find the English word for the part of the plant where the flowers would have turned into seeds (the small black ones after successful pollination) so I described it as best as I could. There are as far as I can count four ways into new garlic bulbs. One from cloves in the ground, two from pollinated flowers, three from missed pollinated flowers with one year delay and in the case of elephant garlic from root growth also with a year delay. Cloning and sexual reproduction en masse.
@@aopstoar4842 Greetings from South Africa! You are quite correct, some alliums produce small aerial bulbils on the flower head instead of making seeds or forming underground bulbils off the main bulb. I was always under the impression that the only edible alliums which reproduced in this way were the Egyptian Walking Onions. However, this year I bought a small bag of shallot bulbs from a grocery store and planted them. Of the 15 bulbs planted, 14 made seeds... and ONE made bulbils. Evidently they were not real shallots, but onions that looked like shallots! Regarding the bulbils, however, at the time I believed that the purchased "shallot" must have been crossed with a walking onion somewhere in its past. Now I am fascinated by your theory that the aerial bulbil production might be the result of a lack of pollination? I do have 3 beehives on the property so pollination is rarely a problem, but interestingly the one plant that formed bulbils instead of seeds was the one hidden away under a rambling tomato. Do you have any evidence to suggest pollination (or lack thereof) plays a part in the formation of aerial bulbils instead of seeds on the flower head?
Never would have thought that watching garlic being harvested & planted reduces stress
its his voice right? soothing while he explained what he was doing.
I’m looking for a live more connect with nature... that’s the real life, the real world and the reason it’s so relaxing... at least, I believe so...
👍👍👍 SO true
@@kristineschilling6917 I could listen to Charles read the dictionary.
Same, and I got stress reduction watching ancient rusted tools brought back to life. Random appearance on yt. Amazing to watch an expert at their craft.
This is absolutely the BEST gardening channel.....you can not get any more expert information than right here. This is my one stop gardening youtube channel!
Many thanks MVIsland
I agree. If Im trying to research or obtain a quick answer, I go here first.
Yep. Search for garlic rust in google and none of this practical advice is there. Great video
YES. ONE VIDEO AND YOU WANT MORE.
I'd been trying to get useful vegetable growing information from other well known gardeners and never felt any the wiser, or confident But I've realised they are not vegetable growing specialists whereas Charles is. After reading his books and watching this channel, I am now fully adopting his methodology and advice and now feel really confident of some good results next year.
Hello from Sweden, Charles. I recently found out that all you need to do to inhibit rust on garlic, celery, etc., is to neighbor them with broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, etc. And the garlic returns the favor by inhibiting fungus. I'm truly enjoying your show, as you give wonderful advice and tips for a slightly colder climate. I live in zone 6, but it's not much adjustment. Keep up the amazing work!
Hi Natalie and thanks, intriguing combinations there, nice you are making the climate adjustments
This is first time growing garlic and that's what my research and from talking to some chaps at the allotments have said they work beautifully together
I love the way he narrates and explains with a smile... EVERYTIME.
I've watched this so many times. The way you flow through and explain each type is effortless, and done in basically one take. What an inspiration. Very thoughtful presentation.
Thanks so much, happy to help!
I just realised Mr Dowding reminds me of how my grandfather used to talk and explain everything about his plants as I helped him in the garden... thank you for the memories.
How sweet. For someone like me, he's my pretend grandfather, the one I never had. 🌷
Our favorite gardening channel on youtube!
Indeed, my favourite gardening channel. Do you know I bring along my garden note book to watch Charles and making sure I take note like a university student. Thank you Charles. I was not very fortunate in my younger days; no land or garden to plant anything. But, now I live in the Down Under and having the privilege to own a tiny home with some front yard. So, what do you do? Grow, grow, grow! Thanks amillion
Out in the Country mine too definately! Check out Elliot Coleman between the two you're set!
@@kellysoo it's a tiny palace.
Charles, The bulbils can be used to grow new Elephant Garlic. But its a two year period, In the first year if you plant them in October the first growing year they will grow into what's known as a flat. Then the second year so leave them over winter like you did with these and you will get full bulbs from them, Its a two year process but if you have spare ground to put them in its a way to increase your stocks while not taking all your eating cloves. Tony
Thanks Tony, great advice
I have done that with some Creole garlic. I will have to be patient! lol
The way I look at it i you get free plants for not much effort and you get to keep the extra cloves to eat. You will still need to plant cloves as well though
Thanks for that Tony. I mainly grow elephant for my son, who loves them, but I am annoyed by the price of the seed cloves. Sadly the bulbils from this year's crop have mysteriously disappeared, so I'm going to have to go through the entire agony again! C'est la vie, as we say in Port Talbot.
Hi Steve, Just around the corner from me :) Yes save them mate a great way tp increase stocks at just the cost of time
Rewatching this in 2021, as we creep closer to garlic planting season in Michigan.
It comes up fast!
Charles I just want to tell you how much I love watching your videos and how much you’ve done for me. Your channel and videos are a big influence on the types of things I do on my channel. Just wanted you to know how much I appreciate what you do, the quality of your videos, and how you inspire me to grow my channel my channel further. Keep up the great work sir!
Nice to hear and I wish you well
I am glad to have found this amazing channel. For those of us who don’t have that much strength to dig and dig, you give so much hope for gardening using easy and effective methods. Can’t thank enough. I already made a no dig bed and planted cilantro, spinach and a few pepper plants.
Lovely, thanks
Have to find a way of keeping the little mammals out of the bed. Someone ate 4 of the. Chili plants!! Can’t be a rabbit as the net is too small, Any thoughts?
Love to Charles and his family - how much I've learned - its phenomenal and a gentle revolution.
Warmes regards Jennie
My New favourtie gardening channel, glad I found it. Even though I live in Australia and my garden is miniscule. Inspirational gardening. thankyou !!
Nice comment thanks Ruby, from damp Somerset (we were lucky today with 19mm rain)
Awe! Young scapes sauteed in butter or olive oil are delicious and delightful! 😋
Two years later....timeless! Ty!
Thank you Charles. I do thoroughly enjoy your channel. I grow hard neck garlic here in Tennessee in the USA. Garlic grows like weeds here on our mini-farm. I can dig out a large crop in the fall, and by spring, I have an over abundance of garlic starts popping out of the ground from the roots left behind. I dig out the small starts, transplant them into tiny pots, and then transplant them into one of the six, garden plots in our 1/4 acre garden in the Spring. Garlic is not only very healthy, but as you know, a very sustainable and enjoyable crop to grow. Thank you again for your videos.
Great to hear Diane 😀
Thank you Charles, I've had trouble with mold in the soil and on garlic.
Love the visit to your garden.
I love your shows. They are so full of info. So much so, that you are my ‘go to’ reference site. I began following your no dig methods about 5 years ago and now I have a small bit of land to use this year, I’m able to do it for myself. The first time I was able to get hold of some lovely old muck (about 4 years old) I tried mulching with it and I have never had such wonderful results. My parsnips were huge and very tasty .. not woody at all and everything else, was also the best ever. Thank you so much for your videos and all the experimentation and record keeping. Love it all.
Thanks for your feedback and I love hearing of your wonderful results 💚
He was so excited to talk about the elephant garlic 😆 I love it
Great video have grown garlic for a number of years. Haven't considered grown under cover before have learnt something new. Thank you
Cheers Andrew
I made a planting aid for softneck garlic, consisting of a piece of plywood 30"x37", with holes cut out in a hexagonal packing pattern .. this lets me dibble in 27 plants within that space, each one spaced 4" apart. I made my dibber out of a 1 1/4" dowel, and, being rather lazy, I did not cut it off .. this was quite fortunate, as I discovered that it is far easier to do the work standing.
Funny! Good work too.
The little balls left under the elephant garlic are seeds. I collect them and plant them on a separate row from my garlic cloves in October. When your cloves are ready to harvest, harvest your seed garlic. It will be one solid ping pong size garlic. The next October, plant the solid ping pong garlic, and you will get a whole clove. Mom and dad told me it was a way to keep that line of garlic pure and extra large. If you only plant cloves from the same garlic, they will year after year, your garlic cloves will get smaller and smaller over time.
Rachael this is most helpful, thankyou!
It takes a couple of years but is much cheaper than buying the full size bulbs, you have to weigh it up to see which is best for you
Garlic is A-sexual. So if you plant the bulbils year after year it's just a clone of the previous year. If you let it the garlic flower, pull off bulbils on top. Let the flowers get pollinated and true seed will form the size of let's say carrot seed. Use that seed. In 2 years you will have your own garlic variety to your own soil.
tribulation138 I have never seen bulbils before this video. So if I grew garlic and let them flower, bulbils will grow from the top where it flowered? Or did you mean from the ground? I like the concept of developing your own line.
@@Adee-at-Rainier yes. The bulbils grow from the top
Garlic is an easy, great vegetable to grow.
Animals leave it alone. You can eat the flower,(scapes), use the seed-pod for cooking. Grows tall so out-competes weeds.Keeps well.
Very much "plant and forget"
And it’s a set it and forget it crop. You just plant garlic in the fall and harvest the garlic in mid-summer. The less you do the better the garlic crop.
Just adore Charles channel !! What an amazing man !! Nothing better than a man who knows how to grow food ❤️
Many thanks
OH I'm so pleased to see a video on garlic. Just this last week I'd been rummaging through your forum to get an idea what/when/how you grow your garlic. So satisfying to watch! Thank you so much for making this video!
Thankyou L
Wow those elephant garlic are massive!
I live in Canada, but my family are originally from Italy. My aunt brought garlic back from Italy in 1973, and we are still planting the same garlic yearly!
That's awesome! Heritage garlic :)
Did you notice by selecting the bigger cloves that they got bigger and stronger ir is it still the same old garlic?
@@healthyrootsstrongwings538
I was always taught by my aunt, that you sacrifice the largest cloves for planting. She says that they are about the same as she remembers...So they didnt increase in size, but more importantly, they didnt decrease in size in over 40 years.
So i think thats pretty good!
This is so good to hear, fine gardening and a lovely result.
Yes it's a shame to plant the real beauties, but so worth it.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig
Thank you sir
Happy gardening!
splash do you plant your garlic in the fall as Charles suggests here? I’m in southern Ontario and looking for advice. Thanks.
I spent some time on an organics farm where we grew garlic. It was a real education. I really appreciate the information you have shared here also. One of the things I have recently learnt about the health of plants is that they love epsom salts but most of all they become stronger and more plight resistant, like to rust, by spraying or watering the plants with boron. If sprayed when they are younger and developing they become strong and able to fend off rust like ailments. You can also spray them with boron when you see rust forming.
Thanks Sheila for sharing this helpful comment, I feel inclined to try it.
I imagine the dose needs to be small as boron is just a trace element, and generally I avoid such amendments. Garlic rust however is becoming endemic, all around here.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Can you please update if you followed this suggestion or any other to solve the rusting issue?
I look forward to my Mr Dowding fix, it feeds my brain and my soul. Thank you, as ever another great video.
Thaankyou
I didn't think that rust affected the growth so very interesting thanks
I came back to find this episode, Charles, because my garlics had all produced the little flower bud. I remembered that it was best to snip them out, but had forgotten that I could eat them (scapes), so I popped back to the compost where i had put them and retrieved them for lunch! The plants are also growing new leaf clusters where the flower-stems started to bolt. I think this is due to our warm dry spring and the frosty nights we've had this last week. Poor things don't know whether they are coming or going. But the bulbs are filling out just fine.
Hello from Wisconsin USA. I've learned so much from you. I love all your books. Thank You.
Hello, and I'm so glad!
I have been growing Elephant garlic for many, many years. I started with only 3 cloves. Planted, harvested and replanted. I find that they are very prolific. The little bulblets that stay in the ground will produce small bulbs. the first year. If left in the ground they will produce larger bulbs the second year. It seems that there are always small plants each year that come up. I plant the large cloves for bigger bulbs. I use the same area for planting every year since I know there will be self seeding. I like Elephant garlic but I prefer the traditional kind. I use both. This year I dried the Elephant garlic and ground it into powder for seasoning. Best to keep it in the freezer after grinding to prevent caking or find an alternate method. I found out the hard way. Love,Love your videos!
Helpful information Carol, thankypu
Congratulations. The first person i've ever heard who also plants their garlic at end of September/early October! :). Every book i read and people i speak to always say to plant in the spring, not realising the extra growth they get before the new year comes in. Luckily i was originally directed by my mother to plant at the end of September and get much better garlic as a result! Subbed!!
Nice to hear, thanks
It's facinating to watch a video when you think you know everything and yet still learn something. I've been growing garlic for years and yet your tip to strip off the outer layer there and then, once you harvest, is a great idea. I'd always just hung them up, washing line fashion, with everything on and the process to prep back to that nice white bulb is a laborious one once cured. Nice time saver, thanks. Such a shame that you can't make any money from growing garlic but at least you have lovely product in your own kitchen. I do actually pickle most of my garlic, if you're interested i can point you in the direction of an excellent recipe :).
In Australia, cold or temperate areas, we always plant in autumn. I think it may depend on how cool your spring is, here it wouldn’t give enough time to grow before summer hits! They will grow thru snow as long as well mulched!
We have quite a different climate here and hard neck garlic is grown very different. We plant a clove and leave it in the ground for 2-3 years to help it produce a large enough bulb to make them worth planting, one year is not enough. Mulching heavily with chicken coop hay every fall allows them to survive and we end up with strong flavored large cloves that I ferment. I have esophagus issues and find that a fermented garlic does not cause any discomfort. Was thinking of growing elephant garlic but I think it is too much like leek and would prefer a true garlic, that becomes milder with fermenting.
Love your beautiful garden, you have quite a connection to paradise, lovely!
Thankyou, and this is interesting about your methods with garlic.
Yes the elephant garlic is mild-flavoured.
Absolutely love how to grow your own garlic. Love to give a try in my garden.
I've been told that the little bulbs that grow on the side are called Corms, and if you leave them in ground then develop in he next year and become a garlic single, and then in the following season then split into proper cloves.
I was given some last autumn and planted them to see what will happen :)
Thanks Liam, all true as I now know, and we call them bulbils!
This year, instead of spending £2.50 for a bulb of seed garlic, I've just bought supermarket ones for 39p each and planted those. They're doing well so far.
I've always used super market garlic occasionally organic! Supermarket garlic. So far it has done well. Had a nice crop last year and saved some to replant this year
First time growing garlic. We bought them as tiny plants in spring. Think we should look to be harvesting them.
Thanks for info on harvest and storing garlic. We have been very disappointed with shop bought stuff. It doesn’t last long at all.
Thanks for sharing.
Best of luck, yes harvest now and keep it dry
I just keep coming back to this channel for the best gardening info. I hope that one day my garden will be a quarter of yours.
I hope so too!
I totally like your way, because you come across very friendly and I like listening to your voice.I don't know how to properly say it. The German words are "bescheidene und angenehme Art".
Cheers Anton that sounds good!
I am teaching in Weinheim Monday 3rd December if you are near there.
1.5 years ago today I started your no dig project in my garden and I’m pleasantly impressed by the progress. as you say fewer weeds in the beds, I went down to the garden and expected to spend more more than an hour on weeding and I only spent 30 minutes on the beds im now asking myself why didn’t do this before why dig its so much easier than digging up the soil… thank you for your advice on the garden
Thanks for your feedback Philip that's nice to hear! Happy New Year.
Great video, I am glad you posted this as I am planning on planting garlic in my own garden. Thanks so much!!
Mr Charles, you make gardening look so easy!
Thanks Nicole.
It is easier than often made out!
For us in the southern hemisphere it would help if you mention seasons as well as months. Thank you for your wonderful channel.
Noted and you can find a free S Hemi download on my site drive.google.com/file/d/13BMOD2sw2wc5pnqEY3PkJBEkV7U1_evd/view?usp=share_link
...I've even planted ginger root from the supermarket and that's growing too!
Just found your channel , I just planted my garlic sept 20th , I was always told by gardeners to plant by sept 25th to give garlic time to grow roots before the ground freezes ! I usually grow 1,000 bulbs a year it does very well !
Welcome and you are so well organised!
Wow beautiful I just use plain store organic plant fruit and veggie fertilizer soil Hope that works, so confused on when to plant all these in so. Cal, please if someone can answer I’m going to plant a garlic clove in my little experimental new garden wondering if I have to grow the roots first indoors first Please new here, God Bless
@@siry5164 In the UK , you can plant them out now. No need to root them first. Keep well.
Wow when do they Harvest? Also anyone know how to plant Radishes I love them, but do you plant the radish now & whole in the ground and does it grow single or in bunches? I eat their greens too. Thanks so much 🙏 Please does anyone know?
@@siry5164 The garlic will harvest same time in June, just grow bigger. One radish seed for one plant, bunches works, see my How to Grow Radish video
Mulch with fresh grass clipping will remove the rust. Lack of slow release nitrogen.
Thank you. :)
I am happy that the garlic I planted a month ago is now growing well and putting down roots. I am wondering that the warm weather has confused them and there is more growth than there should be by this time of the year.
Garlic are very hardy. Soon it will turn cooler and new growth will slow down and I'm sure they will be fine. You may see some yellowing at the tips of leaves and this is quite normal in winter.
Hats off to you. That's a really nice veg garden. Wish we could all have such a wonderful space. Peace to you n yours ✌
Many thanks
Have just discovered your channel and have been binge watching your videos! Up in Canada here, November and winter is already, overwhelmingly so, set in (-18 last night). But to keep my spirits up I've been starting to plan my garden. First year I grew lettuces and carrots and radishes mainly, last year I had a baby and so gardening took a back seat, although I did expand and grow herbs. Next year I'm hoping to really kick up in grand style! Getting so inspired by your videos! You make it all seem possible and highly enjoyable! 💕😊
So glad to hear that and I hope the winter passes quickly for you, sounds like you will be prepared to go fast next spring
Thank you so much Charles, I just picked up some heirloom garlic bulbs from a plant expo and I have no idea what I'm doing :D
Happy planting!
Good stuff, Charles….your videos are always top notch
I appreciate that, we work at it
Trying 3 new varieties of garlic this year as well as my usual one. Will definitely be planting some in the polytunnel this year, thanks for that tip.
Use the scapes to make Pesto the same way you would use Basil. It's delicious
Thanks 😀
Excellent video! I grow the hardneck variety. I usually dig a trench and add worm castings and plant. Add more compost on top, no fertilizers ever, I do mulch with shredded leaves to protect in our harsh winters. I do get great looking garlic,, but you've convinced me here to use a dibber. Seems easier and less disturbance to the soil life .
Sounds great already, good luck with dibbing
I live in Israel. For now I can only do container gardening. We mostly have garlic from China, which I somehow don't like. Last year I found fresh garlic in the supermarket so I snatched a few for eating but also for planting. I put a head of big cloves in the fridge and planted in November. Our winters are, of course, much less cold and wet than the UK, but this year it was totally springy, as temps were around 20C most of the time!
I planted 6 big cloves, all of which sprang up in 3 days in November. In the last few days I noticed one of the necks was bending at the base. So I decided to give in to temptation and dug it up. My first garlic ever! A whole head! small, but the cloves seem pretty big, which I love. I'm so happy. I'll leave the rest to grow some more, of course.
Thanks for the info, it's so helpful.
This is really nice to hear Rose, what a lovely result! That is very very early for a head of garlic and generally I reckon your harvest time will be maybe early May. You can have a little rummage in the soil around the bulbs to see how much they are swelling
That is great! Thank you, I was just wondering if I should plant garlic now and you answered my question.
Yet another fantastic video thanks for sharing this im going to try and grow garlic this season
Great
Thanks for your lesson in how to go about planting garlic from the cloves!
the hard stem is common veg in China and very popular. One of my favourite but hard to find in the UK (super expensive in Chinese supermarket too)! finally see how they grow!
Nice to hear
I learn so much from Mr. Dowding. I eagerly await each video.
I have taken to now only growing autumn sown Elephant Garlic as it doesn't seem to suffer from rust, the yield is massive and it stores very well.
Wow I can believe look fresh and wonderful I try plant but no good Thank you about your video I very happy when I learn about your experience
Charles, I watched this video last fall. Purchased some nice garlic from a reputable grower and planted it just as you instructed (I top-
dressed with worm castings) it is
13 May 2021 and this is my best result ever. I told my daughter we will never need to purchase garlic again! Scapes soon and garlic too. Thank you Charles.
Such nice feedback and congrats Linda
@@CharlesDowding1nodig JOY!
1:18 yes that has happened to my Garlic two years in a row with rust so If stopped growing it. I find breadbeans getting rust earlier.
OMG 10:30 Charles is using a shovel digging!!! Haha great video as always.
Laww care,thaching and reseeding
Thank you for the education and encouragement.
Your shirt " ปาย แม่ฮ่องสอน " is lovely.
Thanks, from Pai!
Nice one,Charles. Really enjoy your posts. Thank you very much. I work in a garden centre,and am always recommending your channel.
Ah that is good to hear Elizabeth and thanks
Charles Dowding My pleasure.
Thank you for providing so much great information!
Those little corms at the bottom of Elephant garlic can be planted to yield more garlic only smaller...
Yes I am learning!
So many great tips I didn’t know yet! Thanks! Your channel is my favorite.
a very informative, well presented vid. i love your style of presentation. it is well mannered, patient and very soothing unlike some youtube presenters who yell and gesticulate like they are engaged in a sword fight.
Many thanks
It's that lovely British manner of not overstating things.
Very well explained .So now I am always watching your videos to solve my gardening problems instead of google 😀. Thank you, Mr. Dowding
Happy to help Vera
I always enjoy your videos. thanks very much!
Another fantastic video, thank you Charles
Thanks again!
That's the most dig I've seen in any of your videos ;)
It's pretty cool how plants make these antioxidant pigments to protect themselves from UV damage.
Wow. Is that what all those orange spots are on the leaves. Thanks. I didn't know this 💖
@@mm-nk3qe I was actually referring to how he mentions that some garlic gets purple in the sun -- a lot of plants have these purple pigments called anthocyanins which get up regulated in response to light. I'm not familar with the pathogenesis of garlic rust specifically but I can say that most plant leaves also contain orange pigments called carotenoids, which become more visible if chlorophyll production shuts down, and that can happen in response to pathogens. However the fungus itself might actually have an orange pigment? I wish I knew.
@@mm-nk3qe I actually tried to search what pigment causes the orange color but I couldn't find anything. They did say on all the pages that I looked at though that the orange was actually the fruiting bodies of the fungus, so I do think that it's probably from the fungus making the pigment and not the plant in this case.
It has always rotted here (Abdn) or cloves don't form despite sufficient frost. I even tried sowing in ridges to help drainage and early sowing in August to get enough growth before the frosts. Heavy loam. There's a garlic farm in Nairn even more north than here but they might have alluvial soil. or be using polytunnels.
Ah bother.
Try hardneck Frank as that tolerates cold better. There are Canadian varieties.
Best on youtube,making heaven on earth
Thank You for sharing all this information.
We have always left our elephant garlic in the ground and it always comes up every year ! A
PERENNIAL . They spread down the hill by them selves and multiply ! Also green onions
PERENNIAL
EMOSES NEPHO I also grow bunching onions. Plant once harvest as needed. Onions forever. Mine are huge stems. 3 seedlings became 15 red base ones and 6 white ones turned into about 30. They are about to bloom. I’ll save seed, but the6 divide into seed head and new onion, so no problem.
Look great , I am Montagnard indigenous live in USA I love garlic.
Welcome to USA.
Thank you sir! Very good video!! I'm about to plant some in Florida for the winter. My first time to do this!❤️☮🌻💚
Hardworking Man God bless Sir stay safe
This was so informative and yet very pleasant to watch. Thank you!
You are so welcome!
Cool video on one of my favorite crops. I liked the indoor-outdoor growing comparison.
Thankyou
Brilliant as usual. The Bulgarians have introduced us to a new use for garlic.They pick them young and immature when they are like spring onions and have them whole with Salad, meats, or both. Can be very hot, but very tasty and not for someone who doesn't like smelling of garlic! They also pickle the mature garlic, again whole in their skins.To eat them you just peel the skins to get to the fruit, again very tasty. I'm sure there are many countries that do the same and more, but I for one being from the UK had never experienced it before. Growing the garlic undercover, is this solely to help with the rust or do they mature earlier than outdoor grown?
Thanks Anne and I should have mentioned their use as 'spring onions', we do it sometimes, pickling sounds interesting!
Rust is almost inevitable in the UK. I grew it on a totally virgin site with virgin soil with no other veg in site and still got it mid May. Started spraying with dithane as soon as I seen it and it is still slowly spreading although probably at a slower rate. Heart breaking after spending so much time and space over them. Plus my softnecks all bolted and made scapes.
Ah shame
Oh thank. Pai Mahongson from Thailand.
nice to hear!
Wonderful harvest
Please allow me to say that the colour of the outer skin of dry garlic depends on the species. In Italy white skin garlic and pink garlic are considered as features of two different species. I would like to add another point here. From my gardening experience and cooking adventures, soft neck garlic may be made stronger in flavour by controlled watering. Controlled watering would reduce the size of the clove but increases the flavour. Peeling small cloves can be time consuming in the kitchen, but luckily some dishes would accept garlic with peel. In some countries the roots are not removed to indicate that it is a national product. Most garlic is imported from non-EU countries because of cheap labour, but it must have the root area free of roots. There is no guarantee that non-EU garlic has been treated with EU approved chemicals during its culture.
Victor this is all most helpful, thankyou.
I find a good way to speed up peeling of skin is to put cloves in a saucepan with the lid on and shake them, it loosens the skin.
Charles....your forgotten/self sown garlic grows better than my intentional garlic...HA!
:)
Elephant leek has a wonderful taste of it's own
I grew garlic outdoors from supermarket garlic... Looked at the veriety on the label before I bought them and they did really well... It took about 1 year to form a bulb though but they look really nice... I planted them in areas of the garden I don't use due to being a poor location for veg (near the hedge rows).
Sounds great Michael!
Luckily I have not had any rust problem. We like to eat them green, as well as dried, so tasty including leaves. Tried elephant garlic, although huge was so weak flavoured that we had to use same number of cloves as standard garlic, will not bother with it again. Usuall source new planting cloves from the veg counter, lower cost than most garden centres
I have grown hard neck garlics for two seasons now. The first year I took cloves from the store and harvested them last autumn. Then I replanted the new cloves and during this very dry summer they never finished but dried up somewhere around July even though they grew by a river.
I have observed that if the plants do not get succesfull pollination of the flowers, small elongated garlic cloves grow where seeds should have matured. I have planted some of these with success but they form almost grasslike stems. Your elephant garlics seems to do the same thing but on the roots, just like potatoes.
I am not sure what you mean by the seeds maturing? You are talking about the little bulbils on the cloves and not the flower? In any case you will get grass like stems for the first year but you will be rewarded the following year with proper sized bulbs.
I did not find the English word for the part of the plant where the flowers would have turned into seeds (the small black ones after successful pollination) so I described it as best as I could.
There are as far as I can count four ways into new garlic bulbs. One from cloves in the ground, two from pollinated flowers, three from missed pollinated flowers with one year delay and in the case of elephant garlic from root growth also with a year delay. Cloning and sexual reproduction en masse.
@@aopstoar4842 Greetings from South Africa! You are quite correct, some alliums produce small aerial bulbils on the flower head instead of making seeds or forming underground bulbils off the main bulb.
I was always under the impression that the only edible alliums which reproduced in this way were the Egyptian Walking Onions. However, this year I bought a small bag of shallot bulbs from a grocery store and planted them. Of the 15 bulbs planted, 14 made seeds... and ONE made bulbils. Evidently they were not real shallots, but onions that looked like shallots! Regarding the bulbils, however, at the time I believed that the purchased "shallot" must have been crossed with a walking onion somewhere in its past.
Now I am fascinated by your theory that the aerial bulbil production might be the result of a lack of pollination? I do have 3 beehives on the property so pollination is rarely a problem, but interestingly the one plant that formed bulbils instead of seeds was the one hidden away under a rambling tomato.
Do you have any evidence to suggest pollination (or lack thereof) plays a part in the formation of aerial bulbils instead of seeds on the flower head?
I really love so much your garden your new subscriber from phils..
Nice to hear thanks
Thanks Charles
Thank you for the great video. I love your Garden. Nice greetings from Austria, Thumpfy
Thankyou Thumpfy!