Anyone with an allotment?

On another garlic related matter. I planted some garlic and onions and have no recollection when they went in. The one stem has turned into several stems so can we assume those cloves have now become bulbs? If so do they need to come out?

The onions on the other hand are still quite small.

It’s my understanding that you lift garlic once the stems begin to fall over. Probably a way to go yet unless you’re much further south than me!

Couple of months I'd expect for over wintered garlic. June/July time

Not @JonD specifically.

The one stem has turned into several stems so can we assume those cloves have now become bulbs?

Sounds more like shallots no? Garlic clove grows a single stem that forms new bulb, harvest as the leaves begin to yellow off (check bulb size by digging around too though). If planted neatly would look like this:

We had a baby about 6 weeks ago so our allotment has been neglected for a bit. At the beginning of April it was pretty bare, cardboard laid over two plots and a few bails of hay on top. Looked pretty clean.

Came to it today for the first time and it’s gone mental. There’s a pond and a path which were so covered you couldn’t see any of it. Managed to cut some of it down and I’ll dig out whatever grows back. Lots of comfrey, nettles and grass. Most of it will rot down and feed the soil at least.

Surprisingly though where I had dug in some potatoes there was very little weed growth. That was the one place I was expecting weeds.

4 Attachments

It’s definitely garlic

Wow. (And congratulations). It is all growing so damn fast at the moment with sunshine and showers! An area I had cleared and hoed to bare soil three days ago was showing 3” high thistles until I cleared it again today.

Cool. The only time I saw multiple stems was where a bulb was planted whole. I guess this yields many more bulbs too, one from each clove still?

I guess this yields many more bulbs too, one from each clove still?

I can say from experience, it doesn’t 😅

It was just the clove. I wonder if it’s grown into a bulb and then the bulb has grown into single cloves again. They’ve in for 9 months approximately

Sounds like that may have been the case.

Why are my onions so small? There’s been in for a long time. Even started to flower

My onions are rubbish too but at least they’re not flowering yet.
Got the sweetcorn in, a few got snapped on the ride over but hopefully they’ll survive.
Climbing bean, edemame, radish, cucamelon and carrot seeds in too.
Nice varied bed now. The spuds at the end are just popping up as well.

2 Attachments

Now getting to grips again

3 Attachments

Peony’s are primed and ready

2 Attachments

The potatoes in pots have really shot up. They’re in quite a lot of shade so I’m wondering if they’re trying to find the light. In the long run is this going to take energy away from the tubers or will the haulms put energy back into them as they wither?

1 Attachment

Are those pots quite small? Possibly all the effort’s going on overground rather than under?
IANApotatoE

30L each. With 4 earlies in each of them.

Hmm. Only ever put spuds into the ground. Neighbour does a whole (stood upright) growbag for one plant (so that’s maybe 50l+ of ‘growing medium’ not dirt)
Sorry can’t be more helpful:(

I’ve got to get better at harvesting. I must have thirty potato plants that I didn’t, er, plant this year.

In other news, the Oxeye daisies have officially gone mental in my (supposed to be) diverse wildflower patch;

1 Attachment

I’ve got to get better at harvesting. I must have thirty potato plants that I didn’t, er, plant this year.

Well that's one problem I won't have with my potatoes in tubs. :)

Got a few volunteer spuds from last year though, Maybe 5-6. Only got one or two last year.

Magnificent nonetheless

Well working on how I sow I put potatoes down in an 18” grid (roughly). If we assume a foot down for the root cluster; then that comes in at 9x9x12” 972 cubic inches or a smidgen under 16 litres au naturel per plant.

Not saying that this maths translates, but the small pot concept could be valid as you are giving your plants about half that volume?

Thanks! It was really diverse last year……