I've been a little concerned about my garlic this winter due to the yoyo temperatures we are having here in Missouri. No tip burn going on at all and the garlic seems to still be growing slowly. My concern is with the almost daily freeze and thaw we are seeing. The ground is freezing most nights and then the top inch or 2 thaws out during the daytime, more like March typically is here. Hopefully the 4" of shredded leaf mulch over the beds is moderating the freeze/thaw cycle somewhat. We have only had a couple nights get into single digits with our low at 1 degree. No current snow on the ground and less than 6" of total snow so far and none in the 14 day forecast. I'm thinking about starting some Broccoli and lettuce a couple weeks earlier than normal and try to take advantage of an early spring warm-up. I will still start some at the normal time just in case Ma Nature pulls one of her tricks. I have 250' of AG19 frost blanket on hand if needed.

Good to hear about your garlic sprouts... Is the soil water absorption a good or bad thing for you?

We don't get snow here but it looks like we're going to have an actual winter this year... The last two warm winters even had the trees confused.. Here, I usually fall plant garlic but they sprout to a certain height, depending on the variety, and just sit until maybe March before they really take off growing... I do notice how some plants have a short sudden growth spurt when a cold snap rolls around. I actually planted late this season because of last falls hot dry weather so I guess I'll see how that goes...

Jack, Your mulch will probably do your garlic a lot of good moderating the cycles. Unless you have all creoles I doubt you have much to worry about. I would be more concerned about drying out than freezing out. I used get some spring kill in my perennials from early spring thaw coupled with late spring rains. I have had to water here in Minnesota as early as the beginning of March/end of February on a couple of rare years with ultra early warm spells.

mav, I will take all the soak in I can get. We do not get an over abundance of summer rain and no spring monsoon normally either, and my garden is quite sandy, sandy to the point that I have to water mid summer. Of course, dry at harvest is a good thing for the alliums. Also the deeper the snow the shallower the frost goes down in the ground, which can be 4' and more in this country. The shallower, the quicker the spring thaw, too. Fence posts are supposed to be set at least 4' deep to lessen the potential for frost heave. Water pipes are normally deeper than that or they freeze up and that is a disaster. There are actually times when warm weather suddenly breaks into a snow storm that the snow cover actually keeps the ground from freezing much at all causing bluegrass to actually grow under the snow bank.

Interesting... I didnt know that about snow... We have clay soil here that either doesn't want to absorb water deep or doesn't drain well if water is over abundant... That's why I was asking if it was good or bad... Late fall and winter is usually the time when we get most our water... That's the reason I was actually happy that we got a winter this year... Last years garlic harvest was minimal at best because it was hot and dry and I lost my artichoke garlic and Asiatic garlic bulbils that I was trying to grow. My Creols and Silverskins heald on though... Even though the strains that I grow are supposed to do ok in warmer areas, I suspect that they needed some vernalization because they didn't come up right away this season, unlike the replacement garlic I got...

One of the big problems with clay soil is how easy it forms hardpans. They both inhibit a more natural moisture absorbance and cause drainage problems. My soil here in Minneapolis is pretty sandy; I wish it were more clay. I grew up on Iowa Black Dirt which overlays a clay subsoil, making it one of the most drought resistant growing mediums in the world and one of the most productive. If you have a hardpan, you might try the earth drill daikon radishes, that penetrate remarkably well even in clay soils and through shallow hardpans. Always treat clay gently, use lots of organic matter and pay attention to your drainage. It can be remarkably productive, if handled right.

Daikon radishes? I think I'll try that... I tried carrots once and the ended up looking like twisted up gnarly looking things at the bottom... They were still good but hard to peel the bottom... Some areas of my garden, I can only dig about a foot before I hit hard clay... In the more cultivated areas, the past grown plants have loosened the clay to a much deeper depth...

For us daikons are a late summer crop unless you chose particular hybrids, otherwise they tend to bolt right to seed. Curiously enough daikons (also called oil seed radish and earth drills) are commonly used in deer hunters' feed plots. They are also used as a late season cover crop that freezes out at maybe 15-20 degrees F. For you they may be green and alive all winter. There are some differences in varieties for various climates. Here in Minnesota I normally plant April Cross and Summer Cross for early to mid summer yield and often plant back like one does for late turnips when the garlic has been harvested. Other varieties may do better for you, and you may be able to harvest fresh roots all winter long.

The biggest selection I have seen is at Kitazawaseed. They have an on line catalog that is well done, but I have to admit that I have not purchased from them; so I cannot speak for their service.

Daikons are commonly available in supermarkets all over the country anymore - they sure are around here, and they are delicious, generally mild, sweet and crisp, either fresh, stir fried or in soups. They are also very big with diameters up to as much as 3" or more and lengths that can reach 20" or more. The earth drill varieties have had their tap roots dug out down to something like 4', not all of that edible size of course, but hard pan doesn't seem to bother them all that much and they don't seem to mind burrowing into clay either.

Care is simple. They germinate very much like normal radishes and they grow fast enough that early weeding is about all that is needed before they shade out weed competition. This is also the type of radish that produces oil seed for radish seed oil. Open pollinated varieties are generally planted early spring for oil seed, mid to late summer or even early autumn for the big roots.

Thanks OldDutch... From what I've read, I may be able to get away with growing them right now. They're preferably planted earlier. We'll see... I've never tried growing them before.. We have them in markets too in 2' lengths but not as much as I use to see 10-15 years ago. I've eaten them raw in types of salads but mainly cooked in fish soups.

My garlic is very small and significantly yellowing, it has been an extremely mild winter, I hope it is ok (hardneck, music.) No snow cover at all. We do get hard freezes almost every night, and most of thr daffodils are still underground.

Since you're having a mild winter, how's your drainage? I've had bad drainage spots where the garlic root and bulb would rot away but there would be a leaf stalk sticking out of the ground..

Excellent drainage. But it is the winter, the ground is going to be wet or frozen here.

I think the leaves turn yellow from lack of sunlight if nothing else.

LOL Mild here means we don't get to -20F in the winter. Mild is quite relative.

I have excellent drainage when the ground is thawed, but I found out the hard way that I had to have elevated beds for drainage in the winter and especially in the spring even though the ground doesn't usually completely thaw out until early to mid April around here. One year I trenched my fall garlic planting thinking to get a head start on the next summer's watering and in the process of spring thaw and refreeze of the puddles that accumulated in the garlic trenches I lost the whole planting. BTW the raised beds also thaw a bit earlier which also helps drainage when it is needed most and get the planting off to a bit earlier start. They don't have to be raised much either, a couple two or three inches is usually enough at least for me, but be sure to allow for settling in any prepared bed.

I expect that Zone 10, where you likely have no ground freezing in winter, sorta has the opposite concerns. You will also grow different types of garlic than those of us up north are able to. Of course if you have a hard pan problem that has to be taken care of first. Sometimes something as simple as driving a few steel posts down two or three feet every so far is enough provided the hard pan is shallow enough. Drive them down, rotate them a bit and pull them out. Getting water through it and underneath it usually helps to soften the clay a bit. If you have enough space, you may find that local landscapers will have what are called "subsoilers" that can break up shallow hardpans. Or you may know a local farmer who might oblige or at least advise.

Also walk on boards between the rows - perhaps take a 4x8 sheet of plywood and cut it into three 16" wide 8' planks you can then move them around ahead of you as you walk or else you may leave footprints that can dry hard as concrete in an otherwise mellow bed. If you are going to break up the hard pan you won't want to lay it back down again. I find I can work on a 16" wide median (2' is better but space is a premium for me), but less width than that and I find myself with my feet in the bed behind me messing up what I didn't want to.

Edit: for smaller spaces with shallow hardpan, one of those long stemmed bulb drills on a cordless drill every 5 or 6 inches may be all that is needed. Go all the way down and reverse the bit if you otherwise have problems getting it back out. You might be surprised at how thin the hard pan layer actually is. It doesn't take much to shed water.

I use a thick 4 pronged pitch fork and a 4' log 20# crow bar to break up the clay... Last year I broke up an area that hadn't been dug in years... I could stand on the pitch fork like a pogo stick with only a 1/4" penetration. I'm no little guy either... I tried a picaxe but the shock was too hard on the wrists. I actually had to wet the area down as a start, then loosen the soil up, and repeat with the water...

Thanks for the plank advice. I use to walk on two 2x4s but I never replaced them after the rotted away...