anyone mulch onions like garlic
TJG911
15 years ago
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Comments (8)
makalu_gw
15 years agoRelated Discussions
To mulch or de-mulch garlic & garlic roots
Comments (14)Grass clippings can harbor rust and infect your garlic crop with that disease if they are used for mulch. Both myself and a friend had this happen. No rust after we stopped using the grass clippings. Also, yes, it is normal for the feeder roots to seek out heat, moisture and nutrition in the top layer of the soil. Here where the winters are relatively mild, I believe that the roots grow all winter. My early, soft-neck varieties get pretty sad looking without a good dose of high nitrogen fertilizer in late winter or early spring. I have already fed and mulched two times this year. All-in-all, it appears that I will be having a good harvest this year if we don't have late rains as we have had the past two or three years....See More(too) small bulb garlic and onion
Comments (6)How do the lower leaves look on your garlic? A couple weeks after the scapes go up, you'll see the leaves on your garlic turn brown. The bulbs will start expanding and the lower leaves die one by one from lowest to highest. The difficult part is when to harvest as no one "exactly" agrees on this. I've heard anything from 3 leaves to 5 leaves. Once the third leaf starts dieing off, I'll start pulling a test clove every few days to see if they've bulbed up to where I want them. I wouldn't let it go more than 5 leaves dead though. One thing for certain, if you are going to err on earlier or later, it's better to pull them earlier than later. If you wait too long, the wrapper around the clove will be gone and you'll end up with garlic that won't store. If you pull too soon, the cloves will just be smaller. After you've pulled them, keep the largest heads for replanting in the fall and use the smallest for cooking. Don't expose the heads and don't leave them for overwintering. Just have a little more patience. They do take their time. I just pulled my first test of Music garlic 3 days ago and it was quite small. I'm sure it'll only be a week or so more....See Moreonions or garlic?
Comments (4)If the leaves are flat they are garlic, if the leaves are hollow and tube-like they are onions I can not know if they are edible or not. You might google to see if any alliums are toxic. Mary...See Moreplanting Garlic and Onion
Comments (11)The leaf thing is not the best idea but not the worse either. I generally think of shredded leaves being strictly for mulch when used direct. The only time that I'd normally work them in just before planting would be if they'd gone through a composting cycle. Wood will tie up nitrogen until it breaks down. I keep thinking that plain leaves should do as well despite being around 1% nitrogen. But then I turn right around and do it myself! The leaves would not be robbing enough nitrogen for long enough to cause any problems. So, I'd say that it's a good idea but work it all deep, down to at least 8". Your elephant garlic should be in the ground as soon as possible. Even then, you may not get anything but rounds when you harvest next summer. For them, I'd suggest a depth so that there is at least 2" of dirt above the tip. Spacing at 8" minimum, 10" would be better, and 12" if they are really large cloves. As for the onions, I know the ones that you are writing about. If they are in good condition yet, I'd hold them until whenever would be normal "early spring" in your parts. I've never had much luck overwintering those types up here without a lot of protection. Even then, it was strictly for scallions as they'd quickly bolt to seed at the first hint of warm weather. Martin...See MoreTJG911
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