# Can you grow a perennial garlic bed?



## Cliff (Jun 30, 2007)

So I am wondering what would happen if you were to just leave garlic in the ground and harvest it when needed. I realize it wouldn't be like we are used to and it would always be in various stages of growth, but would it work? Would there always be usable garlic there? I'm thinking you would have to do some harvesting to thin it out after it bulbs, but what are some other considerations?


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

Every year i miss some garlic. break off the stem pulling it and the whole thing gets left in the ground to volunteer. All I ever get from it is garlic greens. Which are good in the early spring and we harvest them and use them in spring salads. They just are too crowded to produce real garlic.

When i was learning to grow garlic I was told us to plant back the largest cloves for the biggest heads of garlic. But i started getting too many small cloves that had to be hand peeled and frozen to store them for later use. So we started planting those with the kinds all mixed up at one end of the bed 2 inches apart in the row.
We used those for greens in the spring too. and if some thing happned to one of your kinds of garlic you have them to restart or extend your garlic bed.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

For the first year this year, I did not rotate my garlic. I don't know if it would have happened anyway, but I had a horrible case of garlic rust which I had actually never known existed previously. 
The garlic I'm growing in a new bed did not have the problem.
I love my garlic, I recognize that it might simply be due to the wet weather this year, but I'm going back to rotating.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

where I want to said:


> For the first year this year, I did not rotate my garlic. I don't know if it would have happened anyway, but I had a horrible case of garlic rust which I had actually never known existed previously.
> The garlic I'm growing in a new bed did not have the problem.
> I love my garlic, I recognize that it might simply be due to the wet weather this year, but I'm going back to rotating.


My garlic is always followed by broccoli, since the brocolli is still in the bed when it's time to plant garlic I have to pick a new bed for it.
The only bed I have that is perenial is asparagus. And i wish i could lift it every year too. to clean out the perenial weeds.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Garlic left in the ground will start growing about a month or so after maturity. Would be no problem if it were only a single clove. However, each clove becomes a new plant with each growing in the space of one plant from before. I note that we must have missed a rocambole last year and there is now a clump of about 30 plants crammed into about a 3" circle. Most have only 1 or 2 leaves and won't get much bigger.

Martin


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## Cliff (Jun 30, 2007)

Paquebot said:


> Garlic left in the ground will start growing about a month or so after maturity. Would be no problem if it were only a single clove. However, each clove becomes a new plant with each growing in the space of one plant from before. I note that we must have missed a rocambole last year and there is now a clump of about 30 plants crammed into about a 3" circle. Most have only 1 or 2 leaves and won't get much bigger.
> 
> Martin


Ok next question. Zone 6b - what would you think the earliest that I could stick garlic back in the ground and have it turn out normal would be? With the disease problems I've had this year I'm afraid to leave them out of the ground too long before I soak them in the alcohol and put them back. Same question for the potato onions if you know....

ETA - what I'm afraid of is that the cloves will rot away before I can get them replanted.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

For time to plant, start with Zone 4 as 1 September and add 15 days per zone. Zone 6 would be any time after 1 October. Of course, one can always be a month early but then there's a long winter of worrying about all of the foliage which usually dies no matter what.

Martin


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## Cliff (Jun 30, 2007)

Thanks Martin. 

Btw the foliage doesn't die back here.


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