Garlic '25 - '26 - A New Beginning

[IronNoggin]

Garlic '25 - '26 - A New Beginning

The old garlic planter was starting to show it's age.
Thought I could get another year out of it though.
But while I was off chasing whitetails, the younger dog decided the planter was her new playground.
Literally shredded it. Dug a fair amount of soil out of it, and sprung the side rails along the upper side.

So I pulled the soil and got ready for the dismantling process.

Dismantled and piled up out back awaiting the ride to the dump.

Collected all the newly required lumber - in this case old growth fir with super tight grain.
Hard as a damned rock - tricky to cut and tough to run screws into.
Cut it all to shape, and applied 3 coats of Thompson's Water Seal (waterproof stain) to all.

A shot of the Ikea planter.

The floor got 4 coats of the same.
Here is the culprit with the new floor:

It was tricky getting that done - took literally days working between our seasonal downpours here.
That trend continued into the build, but we persevered and got to it.

The upside down view. Fresh sealant over all the screw heads.

Continued...

 

[IronNoggin]

Top view. Major drain holes on the lower edge.

Backfilling the soil.

Let that settle a few days while it rained constantly.
Then got to the task of planting.
Due to our cold and wet spring, my bulbils did not do well this year. First in 8 years they failed.
So went with my own stock of bulbs, and introduced 2 new varieties to experiment with.

Continued...

 

[IronNoggin]

Slapped the cold frame on her and piled on the leaves.

Then on with the cover.

Latest I have ever planted garlic.
But the weather remains well above freezing, so I suspect they will do fine.
Fingers crossed!
See ya in the spring...

Cheers

 

[wildmanyeah]

I just planted mine last week, two weeks behind when i normally do but as you said there’s no freeze in site

 

[fish brain]

Slapped the cold frame on her and piled on the leaves.

Then on with the cover.

Latest I have ever planted garlic.
But the weather remains well above freezing, so I suspect they will do fine.
Fingers crossed!
See ya in the spring...

Cheers

I have planted into mid December with no ill effects.

 

[RageWelding]

I have a similar bed. Ive insulated with leafs but ive never seen the peaked poly roof. Have you noticed a major difference with this addition? Easy enough...

 

[IronNoggin]

It rains constantly here through the winter.
The cold frame keeps all the nutrients & soil from washing away.
Also gives the garlic a little boost IMO.

 

[islandboy]

I've had reasonable success with garlic in spite of rust. I read somewhere that using seeds or bulbils from infected plants can grow resistant plants.
As a trial I've planted 40' row each of seeds, bulbils, and cloves. All covered in oak leaf mulch.
It will be interesting.

 

[ChilliSpoons]

Any concerns about the wood preservative leeching into the soil and plants? I’m always curious about these types of cross contaminations. Not knowledgeable just curious.

 

[IronNoggin]

Any concerns about the wood preservative leeching into the soil and plants? I’m always curious about these types of cross contaminations. Not knowledgeable just curious.

Nope. Discussed just that with a couple botanist buddies and the folks at the paint store.

All round said "No Worries".

Been using it for over a decade with zero issues.

Cheers

 

[Corey_lax]

Any concerns about the wood preservative leeching into the soil and plants? I’m always curious about these types of cross contaminations. Not knowledgeable just curious.

I stained mine with regular stain. Immediately after I thought about the stain leaching into the soil. I think I'll use Linseed oil next time I stain it because it's food safe, but I'm also still alive so maybe it doesn't matter.

 

[ChilliSpoons]

I just think about the toxic **** that goes into pressure treated wood or what was used in the past. Plenty of folks used pressure treated wood for their garden beds. Hopefully there were no ill effects from it.

 

[IronNoggin]

I just think about the toxic **** that goes into pressure treated wood or what was used in the past. Plenty of folks used pressure treated wood for their garden beds. Hopefully there were no ill effects from it.

That was one thing I was advised not to use many years ago.