Is it too late to plant garlic in April? This is our next topic to discuss in this garlic care guide, hence helping to find the answer to the above question.
Standard gardening advice says that garlic cloves should be planted from October to February when the weather is cold. Even cultivars that are meant to be planted in the spring should, by the book, be in the ground by early March.
As with a lot of gardening advice, the exact reason for this is often left out or brushed over with phrases like “garlic needs a period of cold,” so I thought I’d explain.
The genes that cause cloves to form in garlic bulbs are turned on when the temperature stays consistently below 10 °C for a long time, about a month.
Without this period of cooling, called “vernalization” in geek speak, the plants will still grow well and produce good harvests, but they won’t look like “traditional” harvests.
IS IT TOO LATE TO PLANT GARLIC IN APRIL?
“There are no mistakes in gardening. There are only experiments. ” This quote by gardener Janet Kilburn Phillips is my favorite gardening saying ever because it’s so simple and true.
Read also: WHAT IS ELEPHANT GARLIC
As someone who has always been interested in plants, I can’t help but think that the strict rules that make up a lot of traditional gardening advice are often a huge – and completely unnecessary – barrier for shy first-timers who want to start their own gardening adventure.
This is because, when tested scientifically, many of these “rules” don’t hold up. Even the ones that do work often only do so to meet outdated Victorian requirements that don’t apply to growers in the 21st century.
One of the best ways to see this in action is when you grow garlic. If you, like me, forgot to plant your garlic this winter, as conventional wisdom says you should, here’s how breaking gardening rules can help you…
If the plants don’t have a signal to tell them to split their resources into many small “offsets,” all of their energy goes into making one big garlic clove.
Read also: WHAT DOES GARLIC LOOK LIKE? – ANSWERED WITH EXAMPLE
Think of a big shallot that, when cut in half, is filled with garlic. In fact, these cloves are often sold as Himalayan single clove, snow, pearl, or Kashmiri garlic in high-end grocery stores for a higher price.
Isn’t it crazy what a little marketing can do? Maybe it’s not a surprise that this happens when garlic is grown in places with warm weather or at the “wrong” time of year.
But this isn’t just about taking advantage of the fact that you forgot to plant the seeds. One clove of garlic has real benefits that can make it a better choice.
First of all, these huge cloves are much easier to peel than tiny cloves grown at home in the UK, which can make a lot of them.
Read also: GARLIC AND HONEY BENEFITS FOR MEN (EAT HONEY AND GARLI DAILY, AND THIS HAPPENS)
Second, because of this, it is better for some dishes, like whole roasted garlic, because each clove is so big that it slides right out of its skin.
Because it has less surface area, more of the strong flavor compounds are concentrated, giving it a milder, more complex taste.
And all you have to do to reap these benefits is to forget to plant it on time and to plant it when the weather warms up in the spring.
The standard advice for gardening says that garlic cloves should be planted when it is cold, from October to February. Even cultivars that are supposed to be planted in the spring should be in the ground by the beginning of March, according to the rules.
Read also: THE DANGERS OF EATING GARLIC YOU SHOULD KNOW
As with a lot of gardening advice, the exact reason for this is often left out or brushed aside with phrases like “garlic needs a period of cold,” so I thought I’d explain.
When the temperature stays below 10 °C for a long time, about a month, the genes that make cloves in garlic bulbs are turned on.
This period of cooling, which geeks call “vernalization,” will still grow well and produce good harvests, but they won’t look like “traditional” harvests.
SUMMARY
Is it too late to plant garlic in April?
Standard gardening advice says that garlic cloves should be planted from October to February, when the weather is cold.
Garlic needs a period of cooling, called “vernalization” in geek speak. Even cultivars that are meant to be planted in the spring should, by the book, be in the ground by early March.
The standard advice for gardening says that garlic cloves should be planted when it is cold, from October to February.
When the temperature stays below 10 °C for a long time, about a month, genes that make cloves in garlic bulbs are turned on.
This period of cooling, which geeks call “vernalization,” will still produce good harvests.
