Ever wonder what you could do with all of that hardneck garlic you picked up at the latest harvest fair? Instead of eating it all right now, you could plant some of it and have more for yourself next summer.
Master Gardener Ed Buyarski explained how to plant garlic during the latest edition of Gardentalk that airs each Thursday morning on KTOO’s Morning Edition during the spring and summer.
Buyarski recommends layering the bottom of your planter with 8-32-16 or 10-20-20 fertilizer, bulb food, compost or horse manure. Add a layer of soil on top of the manure if it is fresh, straight from the horse. Break up the garlic into the biggest individual cloves before planting them — pointy end up — in 2-inch deep holes about 6 inches apart. Cover with soil and then fertilize on top with compost or seaweed.
Cover the planter with clear plastic to keep the soil warm and dry until about March when the garlic starts sprouting. You may also want to fertilize again in the spring.
“They are heavy feeders,” Buyarski says. “Planting those bigger bulbs and giving them a good dose of fertilizer should give you bigger bulbs next summer when we harvest.”