Hi, I garden at a community garden so I have never planted garlic before. Another gardener gave me some garlic and I planted it in containers on my apartment patio. I was wondering whether the garlic plants had a very strong smell? I know that it keeps bugs and animals away but I don't want to stink up my whole neighborhood. Also could this garlic be transplanted to my community garden in the spring? LoreD
My Great grandmother planted garlic in her garden years ago and it is all over the place now after many years of the gophers moveing the bulbs around and I have never smelled them .I think you only smell them if mowed are crushed. You can plant and not worry.I've grown a few several times never smelled it except when I pulled it up.
I know wild garlic can be smelt quite a distance away from the plants but I've never caught any scent from our cultivated variety. I can't see any reason that your galic can't be transplated in spring. It should do really well for you LoreD. :-D Here's a website that may be of use to you: http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/growing.htm
Thank you for those quick responses. You have been very helpful. I guess I'll go out and plant the rest of it. Also it is sprouting and I was wondering if it would be killed if we have a freeze. It is unseasonably warm in Chicago right now-40-50 degrees. LoreD
The ones in the back field may freeze back and over the years has had lots of ice and some snow and in the past really extra cold winters but always comes back .I don't think cold will kill it .I really don't know maybe Eileen will know and pop back in.
Well we have some pretty severe winters here in Scotland and my garlic has never been affected. However, this year it has extremely wet and I'm worried that the garlic bulbs may have rotted in the ground.
My husband has plent of garlic here in Michigan. We can't seem to kill it so I don't think your weather will bother it. It just spreads and spreads. This year I think he had enough to feed a small country.
I grow garlic and it never smells while it is growing. Grow as much as you want without a problem of odor. Jiffy
I planted over 100 garlic cloves last fall. They did well over the winter, and we even had a hard freeze a couple weeks ago that froze the emerging plants solid. They thawed out and continued to grow just fine. Even with 100 plants, I can't smell them when I'm out in the garden.
I have always planted my garlic in the fall,right around Columbus day. Then harvest it the following summer. We have some cold winters here in Ohio and it's never hurt the plants.
Garlic actually needs that cold snap to make the one bulb break into the individual cloves. It is a problem we have over this side of the pond if we don't plant our garlic until spring. When you come to harvest you find you just have something that resembles a large garlic flavoured scallion!
