Hey Phil! I live in Niagara Falls(zone 6B). I never bothered to mulch mine and it seems to be coming up anyway! That doesn't answer your question I know. :) We are supposed to get a ton of snow over the next few days so maybe keep the mulch on a little longer!

Snow should get us through the next week, as for removing the straw I will probably wait until overnight lows are above zero.

My garlic is poking up nicely. We do have overnight temp about 20F. I did not mulch the garlic bed this winter.

Phil,

Up there in Canada, you mean zero Centigrade right? Most of us in the USA read temperature as Fahrenheit. For you if zero means above freezing, which for us would be 32, well you don't have to wait for that. Garlic is hardy here in Minneapolis to well below -20 F or which is just about -30 C. Temps around the freezing mark a bit either way don't bother garlic much if at all provided drainage is good. Garlic goes through that around here every spring with no problem whatsoever.

I did not mulch last fall either and both my garlics and my walking onions are up with new growth showing in the middle of what was left from last falls growth.

As for the mulch I would leave it alone, just make sure it is not packed down tightly enough to keep the garlics from poking through it. I would only remove the mulch, if the ground needed the extra air circulation to prevent the garlics from rotting. (But IMO you should have made arrangements for drainage when you set up the bed to plant last fall. I had to learn that lesson the real hard way, by losing an entire planting of expensive new stock!) If you have any garlics poking through and in zone 6 you probably do, it is probably nothing to worry about any more.

Here in Minnesota I probably should mulch my garlics now as soon as the ground is well thawed because this spring threatens to be quite dry and the mulch would help hold the moisture. BTW we have no snow cover and no forecast for any in the foreseeable future, but I will take all the rain I can get right about now.

Our spring is always very wet. I do not want to put on any mulch until the weather turns hot, like early June.

There you have it, to mulch or not to mulch pretty much depends on your local conditions.

I think I'll remove the mulch this week and let the soil warm and then put the mulch back on when the soil starts drying, should keep the soil from drying out later in the season and keep weeds down. A buddy has 1 acre planted with no mulch and the leaves are burnt, his is about 1 inch tall and he planted 2 weeks before me, mine is 5-6 inches tall and leaves tips are yellowing a bit, they need sun. This is a good forum.

Show us the picture of your 5-6" tall garlic please, in zone 6. Just curious.....

I'm in Zone 6 too, and should be warmer than you are. We did not even have much snow at all. My garlic is about 2-3" tall the most. And they do not have brown tips.

I do not know how you can grow 5-6" garlic by this time, with snow cover. Maybe you have 4" tall mulch??

All 3 fields are still covered in snow, it should be melted by Wednesday. Snow fence helped allot this winter. I put 8-12" of mulch on, if the weather cooperates I will pull off some mulch next weekend and takes pictures.

Phil, you put on 8" to a foot mulch on acres of garlic fields? This is just amazing! Can anyone calculate how many cubic yards? Sounds like a huge operation. I am not even sure if garlic can still grow under the heavy mulch, plus snow cover in Canada. Would like to see some pictures when available.

Remove straw in 1 field Monday, ground is still frozen. Removed straw in another field tonight sandy soil and very light frost still in the ground. Mulch is too thick, in some spots with lighter mulch the garlic is poking through, heavier mulch won't allow the garlic through and the garlic is yellow. Next year I'll run the straw through a shredder before applying and only 8 inches thick. Suppose to cool off in a week so I'll throw the straw back on in a week, I'll loosen it up more. 3 more weeks everything should be looking good.

Phil, how do you remove that much straw on acres of garlic.

by hand in big clumps it wasnt easy, i havent used straw mulch in 2 years, i had to weed pretty much on my hands and knees back then, now i cant mulch because i cultivate with a tractor