Needed: Crash course on Rocambole garlic

Wood Sprite Gardens

9 years ago

I received 12 garlic cloves in the spring. They were different sizes, some larger, and some smaller.

I planted them all, but lost 2.

Right now, 2 have made scapes. 2 are still only inches tall. The rest are about a foot tall with no scapes.

My questions, relate to what to do with them now.

One with no scape, was flopping over. I tried watering it, but it was still floppy.

I pulled it up, thinking maybe it was succumbing to rot, but to my puzzelement, it wasn't rotted, and looked like a single onion bulb.

I looked this phenomenon up, and apparently, it's state of being, is called a "round".

Which apparently means that it hasn't matured enough to make cloves.

I am in zone 5b. How does one care for garlic up here?

I pulled the floppy leaves off from around the bulb, but it still has a central stem, with more leaves at the top.

The stem had a crease on one side it, so it wouldn't stand up straight.

So since I didn't know what to do with it. I put it in a wide , tall container, with spring water over the roots, and high sides for the floppy leaves and creased stem to lean on, so it wasn't flumped over.

All the garlic cloves were planted in pots because the bed that they were supposed to go in wasn't ready.

What should I do with this weak stemmed "round"?

How does one cure garlic?

Are they supposed to overwinter in the ground, aka fall planting?

Are they perennials?

Maybe they aren't freeze tolerant?

How does one make garlic powder?

I would like to keep these viable, and perpetual in some way.

This was my first year growing garlic.

Since 2 made bulbils, I want to try planting them.

When are the "ariel bulbil tents" mature?

Do the bulbils just grow straight away, or have to be cured.

Will they survive a winter outside, or can they grow inside in a pot, under lights or would they rot?

If they can't over winter, nor be grown inside, can they be stored?

I saw in another post, that another garlic newbie stated that the little bulbils are prone to rotting, or sprout in the fridge. I know it will take a long time for the bulbils to turn into a cloved bulb.

Do I need to pull and cure the growing garlic, or plant it in a half vacant raised bed, to overwinter?

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Comments (2)

drmbear Cherry
9 years ago
The fact that you had any of them growing in the summer at all is a little surprising. Garlic is not something you plant in the spring with everything else expecting a fall harvest. This is something you plant, for you in z5, by late Sept. Plant it with the tops at least 2" below the surface in well enriched soil. About a month later, even if there are little sprouts, carefully mulch the entire area. I use ground up leaves, maybe 3" or so in a colder place like yours. Don't break shoots or bend them over as you apply the mulch. We want some roots to develop. Sometime in early spring, you'll see these things come alive - feed them some then, fertilize, and take care of them, keeping out weeds, etc. For you, probably late June or early July you'll see the lower leaves turning yellow - and when a good number of those leaves turn yellow, maybe three up from the bottom, then it is time to harvest. The process starts over next Sept.

Don't put any of it in the fridge. Small bulbils can be planted as well - I usually sow them thickly in pots buried in my garden ( so they don't end up everywhere). When I get some good sprouts, I just separate them out of the pot and transplant them to their growing location - then re-level the soil in the pot and put it back in the garden. Some will sprout from the pot at all kinds of strange times through the year. I expect rounds from bulbils, so I'll dig and fall replant for future production. I keep enough garlic, and enough varieties, that I grow all I use - and I use it liberally all year long, and what I like about it is that it is really fairly easy. In mid August, I took some spaces in my garden that emptied out, amended with compost, dug it in well, and raked it out. That's the hardest thing I do, but the beds are already set to go. I can probably plant and label everything in about an hour, and I grow enough for our family and extra. In early winter, I'll be gathering neighbors leaves anyway to grind and mulch, so my mulching is easy as well. You can do this.
mr_rumphius
9 years ago
1. let the round dry for a couple weeks plant it in the fall, it will make a bulb next year.
2. cure garlic by hanging it up in a well ventilated area for 3 or 4 weeks.
3. yes, they over winter. plant in fall harvest in julyish.
4. yes, perennial but most people treat them as an annual by separating the cloves every year and replanting them.
5. they are very cold hardy, mulch to protect roots, if tops get frozen its fine, it won't hurt them, they will grow like crazy in early spring
6. garlic powder-dehydrate, grind em up
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Needed: Crash course on Rocambole garlic

Comments (2)

drmbear Cherry

mr_rumphius

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