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Question

amy simcox

Why did my fall-planted garlic not come up this year?

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Answer

That's unusual. October is normally a good month for planting garlic in cool climates like yours. I assume you were planting a hardneck, cold-hearty variety. The only thing that I can think of is that your seed garlic wasn't of good quality. Store-bought garlic, it is said, should not be used for planting because the bulbs may have been treated so as not to sprout.

Question details

Last October, I planted garlic in hopes to see it come up in the spring... however, it never did. I planted it in Kamloops BC which normally gets a stint of cold -20 weather during the winter... Last year it was unusually warm though. Also, we have had a mild wet summer and spring. Would these conditions affect the garlic growth?

karenperri

Tue, 06/29/2010 - 12:58

Yes, I agree that the most likely answer is that you didn't get organic garlic to start with. I always save enough cloves from my last year's harvest to plant the next year, thereby continuing my family's supply of heirloom garlic. Once a friend of mine planted supermarket bought garlic and I dug it up UNCHANGED three months later - can't imagine what they sprayed that with.