Separate garlic head now?

15 years ago

A friend just gave me a HUGE head of garlic from her garden to transplant. The cloves are really big, and the head itself is huge. I'm wondering if I should simply plant the whole, ginormous head or if I can separate the cloves and plant them individually. And...if I separate the cloves, will they be ready for harvest this fall or should I wait until next year?

I'm in northern Wyoming if it makes a difference. We still have freezing weather most every night, but my garlic that I planted last fall is starting to sprout.

Thanks!

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Comments (3)

garlicstonefarm
15 years ago
You should plant your garlic cloves in the fall. Separate the head into cloves right before you plant them. Long ago I read that when you separate the cloves a chemical reaction occurs in the basal plate, which is the tough part between the roots and the cloves. This reaction gets the clove ready to grow. So don't separate the cloves until you are putting them in the ground.
rxkeith
15 years ago
separate, and plant them as soon as possible.
you will get something to harvest.

if you wait till fall to plant what you have, they will most likely be too dried up to grow.

keith
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rain1950
15 years ago
To garlicstonefarm; not true that it 'must be separated. I've found garlic will begin sprouting in the kitchen if it gets too warm and once it starts to sprout; it will turn bitter.