~Best~ time to plant Garlic

Hello all,
I am in the Youngstown area in Ohio, zone 5. I have tried to grow garlic several times, in many different types of soil. ( I grow only in containers, and make my own soil). Every fall I plant, after reclaiming the pot from a veggie, and in the spring the bulbs never sprout. I have found them rotted in the pot, just laying there not growing, and sometimes not found them at all...All the old time garlic growers here tell me to plant in the fall, but I have heard that I can also plant in the spring too. Any opinions?
And a second question, is there anyone in this ng that makes homemade fruit brandy/wine? I have a recipe that has been handed down for generations from the old country that I would like to try, but I have a few questions.
Tim "Dirt is what you get from working on cars, soil is what veggies grow in."

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I've planted cloves in the spring and harvested in the fall. This in a garden not containers. I have planted in the fall too but defaulted to just spring. Seems spring encouraged me to to plant and fall to harvest . This mostly food stuff but it holds true to just about all my plant life. Yea I know fall is a good time to plant trees etc but not for me.
Concerning the wine start a new tread with Ping Billy in the title. Posting the recipe and particulars may garnish a few extra replies.
Bill

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Don't know about the garlic, but I'm a bit of a winemaker. Post away here or try rec.crafts.winemaking. Steve

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We're also in Zone 5 in Southern Ontario. We plant our garlic in late October, mulch it well and harvest in July. Quite possibly your problem is with the cloves not having enough protection in your containers. In your situation I think you'd be quite safe in planting your garlic in the spring. Plant well before the last frost date in your area as garlic will stand even a heavy frost. Your harvest will be somewhat later but, you'll at least get a harvest.
Ross. Southern Ontario, Canada. AgCanada Zone 5b 43º 17' 26.75" North 80º 13' 29.46" West To email, remove the "obvious" from my address.

I'm in Texas about an hour south of Dallas. I think we're zone 7. We plant our garlic in October and generally harvest June-July. If you have the soil space, why would you plant in containers? In my opinion , that is why your luck hasn't been so good. Just go the grocery store, buy a head of garlic, break up the cloves and plant them. Go with what the old timers say. They know what they're talking about. Plant the cloves about 1"-2" deep. let them do their thing. It's not rocket surgery.
*t
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I tried planting in the spring last year. Not a whole lot happened over the summer, and by fall nothing had grown to any significant size. I pulled up everything I could find and used it for food.
Come spring, I discover a bunch of garlic shoots where the old bed used to be! (The new bed is slightly off of the old one.) Guess I didn't get them all!
So I have no idea how or when to plant garlic, yet it is growing in spite of me. --S.

Suzanne D. wrote:
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At least I'm not the only one! <grin> Most of the 'old timers' I know save their best heads for planting. Maybe my trouble comes from trying to grow the heads from the store, I donno. They could be too old by the time I planted them. I ~do~ know that I love garlic though!

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I hear that store garlic often isn't the best for planting. They spray it with growth inhibitor or something like that. You should get garlic from a seed store. I have only halfheartedly tried to grow it a couple of times, but I love garlic as well and should probably take extra-special care of these "volunteers" so that I can finally stop buying it at the store! --S.

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Better yet, you should get garlic from someone near you who grows it, since it adapts to local conditions. Let them do the work!
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Gary Woods wrote:
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Of all the simple.....I've never thought of that. <sheepish grin> I'm going to do that this year. I know one older guy who has been saving the biggest heads he gets for about 40 years...I buy a few bags from him every year, and the flavor is so intense, that instead of using 3 or 4 cloves, I only use one.
Thanks for making me see the all to obvious!
Tim

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I've done it a lot of times. Being so close to an elephant you can't tell what it is.
Steve

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And I'll hold off on the dope slap, having received a few in my day. Often self-administered.
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

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hehehe.....I was trying so hard to think of the 'why', that I failed to just find an easy cure. Check to make sure the tv is plugged in before sending it to the repairman... Does this mean that I now qualify as a real newbie here?
Tim

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No, but to be an "old salt" you'll have to make a lot more mistakes. Orchid people claim to be fully qualified you have to kill your weight in orchids. Which in my case is going to be _really_ costly!
....Finally, time to start heirloom tomatos; I usually plant the flats too early. A few 6-packs of bok choi and other stuff already going on the plant table in the south window.
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

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No. A real human. Now certified.
Steve

Tim;836195 Wrote: > Suzanne D. wrote:
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I'm in the U.K. and always plant my garlic in the fall (autumn) when they have a head start on spring sown coves. If you grow from bulbs bought in your local store, they are probably last years bulbs stored over winter at low temperatures (about freezing), and second year cloves do not grow so well.
Bigal

I know the taste difference between store bought and fresh bulbs is dramatic, so I tend to agree with you. I think getting bulbs from a known good source will solve my problem.
Tim
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There's another factor that doesn't really affect me: some garlic, particularly hardneck types, needs a particular period of overwinter cold to do well. Some U.S. seedsmen sell "Cajun" garlic, i.e. suitably for the Gulf Coast south. Again, getting planting stock close to hope fixes this.
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Again, getting planting stock close to hope fixes this.
You are right. I have done a little more research and found that not only growing zones, but different areas of the zone may not be good for certain types of garlic..I think the Mother Earth News that I read said there were only 4 or 5 varieties that will grow good in my part of Ohio. Wonder if this holds for 'ramps' too........

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You may want to ping Charlie an Ohio kind of guy. Means hello in Japanese I believe.
Bill