harvesting garlic

[sarea_okelani]

My cousin and I are growing garlic for the first time. The other day she asked me, "So have you stopped giving your garlic water yet?" And I said no, because the leaves hadn't turned brown yet. (I'd read somewhere that you're supposed to stop giving water to your garlic about a week before you plan to harvest them.) And she was like, "But they

Comments

[jenstclair]

I don't water, especially my garlic, so I can't comment on that (except to ask--why water garlic, of all things?! Is it in a pot?), however, I plant in the fall or really early spring, and let it grow until it starts to turn brown and/or fall over in late July/August, depending on the weather.

That's it. I don't touch it otherwise.

[sarea_okelani]

Wow, you don't water and all your stuff grows anyway? Amazing. Everything I've read about garlic says that it does need to be watered -- and that you only stop watering a week before harvesting. But obviously if you don't need to water your garlic and it comes out fine, then fantastic!

[david_anderson]

According to your user info, you live in Ohio, which gets most of it's rain in the spring through fall. When you live in a dry summer area, you have to water, including your garlic.

[jenstclair]

But if you water every day, the roots on your plants will not grow deeply, they will be shallow and then you will *have* to water because they will shrivel up and die otherwise. It's kind of a Catch-22.

Even in drought years, I don't water, and I don't ever have any issues. But I do mulch! Which is the key.

[david_anderson]

Mulch does not create soil moisture, it only preserves it. I was at a farm in California that didn't water their tomato plants throughout their long, hot, dry summer. Their tomatoes were the sweetest you could ever imagine. They mulched heavily to preserve the moisture. Their plants were on 12 foot centers. I don't have hundreds of acres to plant at such wide spacing, I plant more intensively, so I water

[jenstclair]

I really do commend you for being able to grow your garden without watering, but you should not project your own circumstances onto those that live in drastically different environments.

I'm sorry, I take offense at this comment. Are you not projecting your own circumstances as well?

[david_anderson]

Really, you take offense at that part? How sad.

[jenstclair]

Obviously you know more than I do, so I shall refrain from commenting on posts that you comment on from now on.

[david_anderson]

That wasn't my intention, but if you can't discuss things without getting easily offended, it would probably be for the best.

I really did mean it as a compliment that you are able to grow without watering. That is a good thing. But not everyone is able to do that, since they don't have the advantage of a wet summer climate. I'm not going to apologize for pointing that out. Take offense if you must, that's your prerogative.