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Can you still plant garlic in January in
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the UK? Welcome to Gardening with Ben. A
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lot of times I get a lot of questions
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asked if we can still plant garlic. So,
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I'm going to answer that now for you. As
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garlic is usually planted around October
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time down at the a lotment and in the
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garden, but can you still plant it in
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January? Well, the answer is yes. And if
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you fast, get some in the ground now.
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And the reason for that is because
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garlic likes the cold weather. It needs
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the cold weather. It needs frost. It
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needs snow. And the reason for that is
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because the cold weather helps form the
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garlic clove into the garlic itself.
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Without the cold weather, it won't crack
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it and create the formation which
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creates the whole garlic bulb. You'll
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just end up with one garlic bulb. Uh you
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which you don't want. You obviously want
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to be able to peel it off and get all
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the cloves out. So, if you've not got
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any garlic, go out and get some garlic
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and get some planted. Now, most places
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probably won't sell garlic at this time
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of year cuz we're getting ready for
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starting all the summer stock off now.
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So, if you are looking for garlic, the
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best thing to do will be to go to the
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supermarket and have a look for a UK or
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Spanish variety of garlic. try not to go
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for the Chinese variety because that'll
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have been grown in different climates
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whereas the UK will have been grown in
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the UK and uh plants tend to remember
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the climate that they've been grown in.
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That's why people save tomato seeds
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because it's been grown in this climate
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and it's done well and it will remember
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for growing next year. So try and get a
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UK or a Spanish variety of garlic and
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then hopefully it will grow pretty well.
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You might be harvesting it a bit later
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than most people because most people
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will be grow harvesting around July
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time. You usually harvest garlic on the
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longest day in the UK. Now that's an old
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gardener's tale. You harvest your garlic
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on the long longest day and then get it
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hung up and dried out ready for using.
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And the old gardener's tail I use for
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planting my potatoes as well. I plant my
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potatoes on Good Friday. It's all to do
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with the moon. So yeah, I stick to these
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little tails and I've always stuck by
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them and they've always done well. So if
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you've not got any garlic, go out and
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get some and give it a try. And make
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sure you leave enough spacing in between
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it so that you can keep them weed free
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because they don't like competing
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against the weeds and they don't go deep
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the roots. They stay pretty much near
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the top. So they're not big massive
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roots on them. So you need to keep those
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weeds down because the weeds will fight
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them for the nutrients and for the
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water. So keep them weed free. And you
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don't need to put any fleece over them
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cuz like I said, they need the cold to
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help form the formation of them. You
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might want to put some netting over them
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because squirrels love to pull them out.
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I've had loads of issues with squirrels
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pulling them out and birds love to pull
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out the green shoots as well. So, you
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might want to net them if you have
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issues with birds and squirrels. So, let
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me know if you've got any garlic growing
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down at your a lotment or garden or if
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you're going to plant some. Drop us a
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follow to stay up to date with all our
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videos and tips and advice. Until next
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time everyone, remember, keep smiling,
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keep shining, and keep gardening with
