Green thumb
The secret to growing garlic on the wet tropical coast
Growing garlic on the wet tropical coast has been an aim of mine for years, but my many attempts have met with failure. I visited my friend Rose Caltabiano this week and found Rose busy poking garlic cloves into soft dry soil filled into old foam vegetable boxes.
Rose had always grown garlic when she lived up the Palmerston Highway; her farm had gently sloped, deep red volcanic soil – some of the best farming soil in Australia – and Rose grew vegetables all year, and the best garlic.
When Rose moved down to the coast, she found it was not so easy to grow garlic. But she persevered and found a way, and she is willing to share her knowledge with us.
“Select only the biggest and cleanest knobs of garlic. The garlic must be from an area that is day-length neutral and has a soft, pliable neck which is easy to braid,” she says.
Rose grows Italian purple, softneck garlic, Allium sativum. This garlic has large, round flattened bulbs with strong purple striping. It has a warm, strong flavour and because of its thick skin, has some resistance to mould and stores well in hot humid weather.
“I plan next year’s crop when I harvest,” Rose says. “I always plant around mid autumn with a growing moon. Preparation is everything and I have found that on the wet coast, the best method is to grow the garlic in foam boxes.
“In a clean wheelbarrow I add a 65L bag of premium potting mix, a cup or so of dolomite to bring the pH up to 7, a bucket of cow manure, two cups of chicken manure pellets, one cup of superphosphate and a half cup of sulphate of potash; mix this throughly. The soil mix is then added to fill the boxes; do not water at this stage.”
Rose explained to me how she saves the best knobs of garlic for the following year’s crop. “I store the whole knobs of garlic hung in the coolest possible place where it will have good airflow and be perfectly dry, this way the garlic will not sprout.”
“When you are ready to plant, take the knobs off the braid and select the biggest cloves. Be careful not to break or damage the cloves when you are separating them. All the small cloves can go to the kitchen for cooking.
“If you do not have cloves from last year, be sure to buy large cloves that have come from a variety that is day-night neutral.”
“Press the knobs, fat end down, gently all the way into the dry soil mix so they are totally covered and none is exposed to the light, again being careful not to damage the clove. I plant 15 cloves in each box – three rows of five. It’s important not to bunch the cloves together as they need good airflow as they grow to avoid fungal rot problems.
“When the planting is finished, I place empty boxes upside down in the sun on an old cement path, then place the planted boxes on top. This keeps the garlic off the ground, provides better drainage and prevents worm invasion. I then water them throughly and depending on the weather, once a week throughout late autumn, winter, early spring and not at all in drizzly weather.
“When the bulbs have sprouted through the soil, in about 10 days, I side-dress with enriched chicken manure pellets (Super Grow or Organic Extra), once a month. I also foliar fertilise with fish and kelp on a weekly basis.
“The garlic clove will take at least five months to develop into a knob and should be ready to harvest in late September. When the leaves go brown and die back, you know it’s time to harvest. Harvest the garlic dry; delay the harvest if there is rain. Dust off the soil on the knobs after harvest.
“I use a kitchen fork to harvest the garlic. I push the fork down beside the knob and beneath the roots and lift it up so that none of the cloves break off. I then dust them down and place them on newspaper to dry under cover. It’s important that they don’t get wet at this stage.
“Place them out in the warm morning sun for a few hours before selecting the biggest and best knobs to plait and hang for next year’s growing. The rest of the knobs can also be hung on the same line where there is good cross ventilation and to use throughout the year.”
I thanked Rose for sharing her knowledge and I’ll let you know in September what success I have in growing garlic in the wet tropics.