Selwyn Times: May 23, 2017

SELWYN TIMES Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
Tuesday May 23 2017 21
good garlic
WHEN TO PLANT IT?
Books and websites keep
copying each other and chant the
meaningless mantra of ‘plant on
the shortest day and harvest on
the longest!’ Don’t they realise
that our garden soil is at its
coldest in July and August? Why
submit rootless and vulnerable
cloves to that challenge by
planting in June?
I wanted to find out what the
professionals do so I phoned
John Murphy of Phoenex Garlic
in Marlborough, for advice. His
first words were “I ignore that
shortest-day advice.” Well, that
was a good start! He plants his in
August or early September – to
get bulbs of an even shape and
good appearance. They may be
a little smaller at harvest but the
market cares more about shape
and appearance.
For home gardeners, he
recommends July. I asked
about varieties – I have never
seen a garlic label giving this
information. John said he
grows ‘Printanor’ (derived from
the French word ‘printemps’,
meaning spring; there’s another
clue as to planting time). He
also grows ‘Presto’, which goes
in around July. In Canterbury,
and further south, late July or
early August would not be too
late.
HOW TO PLANT IT?
I do something which I think
John does not do. I dig a shallow
trench where my garlic is due to
be planted, put some compost in
the trench (I use the cheap stuff
which comes in 25kg bags from
megastores; I paid only $3.80/
bag a few weeks ago), mix the
extracted soil into it within the
trench.
Add some wood ash or bought
potash fertiliser. You will then
have a mound of friable, noncompacted
planting medium in
which to press the cloves so they
are buried at twice their length.
HOW TO GROW IT
First, don’t over-water. If you
do, onion white rot may clobber
your plants. Early yellowing of
the leaves, before the bulbs are
anywhere near the right size, is a
tell-tale sign that something’s up.
Some gardeners dip the cloves
before planting in kitchen bleach
(I suggest a five per cent solution
but it’s a bit of a gamble). This
is supposed to kill the white-rot
spores.
Definitely do not grow your
garlic in the same place as in
previous years – white rot spores
persist in the soil for ages.
So, minimise the threats to
your having a great garlic crop
each year and look forward to
a mildly-garlicky mayonnaise,
stuffed and grilled half-shell
mussels or a garlic chicken
casserole.
WHAT YOU NEED TO
KNOW
When to sow
Plant the single cloves (not
the whole bulb!) in late
winter/early spring.
Where to plant
Full sun, in a slightly raised
bed, for drainage.
Plant spacing
15cm apart.
Time to maturity
Around seven months.
Where to buy
A good garden centre or
a farmers’ market or use a
few good bulbs left over
from the previous season’s
crop.
SYSTEMATIC: Dig a shallow trench and mix in some compost,
along with wood ash or potash fertiliser, before pressing in the
garlic cloves so they are buried at twice their depth.
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