Garden Studios

IN OCTOBER and November the soil remains relatively warm and the bulbs will establish good root systems before the winter sets in, so the sooner you get garlic into the floor the easier the outcomes can be, although you are able to stick with it planting garlic right up until February.

Of course, during winter you have to protect the garlic with a cloche or horticultural fleece, and in case you live north of the Midlands it’s probably best to plant the bulbs into pots and keep them in a chilly frame or sheltered spot until early spring, once you can plant out the seedlings.

That is usually definitely the right thing to do in case your vegetable plot gets waterlogged over winter.

Tempting because it is to only use garlic bought together with your weekly groceries, you’ll have more success with specially-prepared virus-free bulbs out of your local garden centres.

Split up the garlic cloves and plant them in well-draining soil in order that they won’t rot away, in a row about 4ins (10cm) apart, and in a niche so that you can be sunny enough for them to ripen in time for harvesting next June or July.

Use an analogous method as you are going to for planting onion or shallot sets: ensure the tips of the bulbs are only visible.

If you’re planting them in modules, or preferably small pots to provide the roots quite a lot of room, fill the containers with multi-purpose compost then push in a garlic clove in order that all however the tip is roofed.

Don’t let the soil or compost around your garlic dry out, particularly between now and December when the roots are growing and from next spring when the brand new garlic head will start to plump out – or the garlic you harvest won’t be much bigger than those you planted.

They must be able to dig up from next June, although possible leave them in until August in order that they will hopefully get even bigger.

Choose a dry day to dig them up and, whenever you can, leave them out within the sun for a number of days to get them super-dry.

It’s best to try this on a wire tray, so there’s numerous airflow around them – and so that you can take them inside if the elements changes.

And in case you do find you could have supermarket-bought garlic that grows a green shoot, there’s no harm in planting it out to look what happens!