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Vegetable Gardening

Saving/replanting Rocambole garlic

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

Last fall, I planted garlic for the first time. I bought 4 different varieties of seed garlic (2 hard neck, 2 soft neck). One of the hard neck varieties was a rocambole variety. I had read that rocambole garlic does not store as well as other varieties, and that you should eat them first.

When we harvested the garlic in the early summer, it was a very good crop. We just finished eating the last of the garlic that we saved for eating. I also saved two heads of each variety to replant this fall.

This weekend, I was getting ready to plant my saved garlic, and was opening up each head to separate the cloves. Sure enough, the rocambole variety was bad. Mold dust came out of each head when I opened it, and it smelled bad, so I tossed it. All 3 of the other varieties were fine.

So my question is: If rocambole varieties do not store well, and will go bad by the fall, how are you supposed to save them to plant again???

Comments (3)

zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
2 years ago
Rocamboles don't store as well as some types, but the issue is usually sprouting - not rotting or molding. Something else must have happened to those bulbs, perhaps the bulb wrapper was damaged by an insect, or bruised during harvest.

Two of the varieties I grow (Special Idaho and Vic's) are rocambole, and both are still in good condition. The only problems I notice with rocambole garlic is that there are often double cloves (multiple cloves within one skin) and the clove skins tend to separate easily at planting time. Those naked cloves should grow normally if planted (all of mine did).
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
2 years ago
What were the storage conditions where you had them since harvest? I store my garlic in my basement and found that if I run my dehumidifier down there 24/7 the garlic tends to desiccate by planting time in the fall. Now I run it only when absolutely required and the garlic heads including my Spanish Roja, which is a Rocabole, are still solid and in good shape come October.
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You should be fine, but I am not sure why you felt the need to dig them up. Typically garlic in our zone/area is fall planted and summer harvested for large bulbs/cloves. While this is typical it doesn't have to be the only way. Leaving garlic in the ground for a second year and then harvesting what you need as you need it also works even though it isn't often discussed. You may not get nicely divided cloves, but you still get usable garlic. Let the stuff sit and grow and you can just harvest the greenery which has the garlic flavor/scent for kitchen use and never uproot the bulbs/cloves. When the patch is established, go ahead and dig up whatever you want. You can do this in summer or winter by chipping through the ice ;)
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Indeed, rocambole is tough. And I find that most porcelains are even tougher, in that they often don't even need to be planted into the soil, just laid on top right before snowfall, good news for a newly burnt field (if one clears fields that way), that one doesn't have time to plow prior to the ground freezing. In the spring when the snow melts, they will already have roots growing into the ground. No need for mulch even; the roots will hold the plants up fine. The bulb will often become lop-sided, however they are still good quality, perfect for eating and replanting.
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I live in San Marcos, and I'm just now harvesting my garlic too. I'm no expert, but I'm saving the biggest and prettiest blubs to replant and eating the rest. I think that's the safest way, since those are the ones that were the most healthy plants. The ones that haven't divided into cloves yet will be eaten first, since they supposedly don't keep as well. Those are ones that didn't fully mature, so I doubt they'd be good planting stock. I've got them hanging in the garage to cure right now. I think you're supposed to leave the leaves on until they're done curing and then cut them off. At least, that's what I'm doing, since I've got them tied up by their leaves. Also, I grew several different types of garlic, and they are maturing at different times. The softnecks were ready first, and then the elephant, and my hardnecks are still in the ground, though one variety could probably be dug up any day now. Don't know if that's normal, but I'm glad I didn't dig up ALL my garlic at once.
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Yes, individual cloves can definitely be saved for planting as long as their skins aren't torn or removed in the process of separating the clove. If they aren't fully protected, figure to use them sooner or peel and freeze them. Some years I have too much garlic to eat and/or plant so I just freeze it to save it. I even have unprotected cloves when I plant as once in a while the skin will tear a little as I'm separating them. But definitely keep everything dry in the meantime.
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Joe Martinez
Original Author
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Thanks for the comments. I stored the garlic heads in paper bags inside the house, same as the other 3 varieties. I dunno. Maybe I'll try again sometime.

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