Garlic ‘Mersley Wight’ (Spring Planting)

What You'll Need

A garden fork or trowel • Well-rotted garden compost • Concentrated Slow-Release Onion, Garlic & Shallot Feed Granules • Horticultural grit if you have heavy soil

Prepare Your Soil

Choose an open, sunny position with fertile, free-draining soil. Garlic dislikes sitting in wet ground, so if your soil is heavy, work in plenty of organic matter and horticultural grit to improve the structure and drainage. Avoid planting in freshly manured ground.

Planting Your Garlic

Keep the bulbs whole until you're ready to plant, then separate them carefully into individual cloves, leaving the papery skins intact. Plant each clove with the flat base down and pointed end upwards, around 15cm apart and 2–2.5cm below the soil surface. Leave approximately 30cm between rows.

Protecting Young Shoots

Birds can sometimes pull up newly planted cloves or emerging shoots before they've rooted securely. If this becomes a problem, cover the crop with horticultural fleece or suitable netting until the plants are well established.

Watering & Feeding

Water during prolonged dry periods, particularly as the bulbs begin to swell in late spring and early summer. Keep the soil moist without waterlogging it, then reduce watering as the crop approaches harvest.

Watch for Scapes

‘Mersley Wight’ is a softneck garlic and doesn't normally produce the curling scapes associated with hardneck varieties.

Keep It Weed Free

Garlic doesn't compete well with weeds, so keep the area around the plants clear. Weed carefully by hand or hoe lightly between the rows, taking care not to damage the developing bulbs.

Growing in Containers

You can also grow ‘Mersley Wight’ in a large container with good drainage. Choose a pot at least 30cm deep, space the cloves around 15cm apart and position it in full sun. Check the compost regularly during dry weather and water when needed.

Good Companions

Garlic takes up relatively little room above ground, so it fits easily into a productive vegetable plot alongside crops such as carrots, beetroot and leafy salads. Make sure neighbouring crops don't crowd it as the bulbs develop.

Making the Most of Your Bed

Quick-growing radishes and salad leaves can be grown nearby and harvested while your garlic is still developing. Leave enough space around the garlic for plenty of light and good airflow.

Crop Rotation

Garlic belongs to the onion family, so avoid planting it where onions, shallots, garlic or leeks have recently been grown. These crops can be affected by some of the same soil-borne pests and diseases.

Planning Ahead

Where practical, leave three to four years before growing onion-family crops in the same ground again. Once your garlic has been harvested, the cleared space can be used for later-sown salads and other quick-growing vegetables.

When to Harvest

‘Mersley Wight’ is generally ready to harvest from July into August. Watch for the lower leaves beginning to yellow and die back while some of the upper foliage remains green – a useful sign that the bulbs are approaching maturity.

Don't Leave It Too Long

Once the bulbs are mature, don't leave them in the ground unnecessarily. If left too long, the protective skins can begin to deteriorate and the cloves may start to separate, which can affect how well they keep.

How to Harvest

Choose a dry day and carefully loosen the soil beneath each bulb with a garden fork before lifting it. Avoid pulling hard on the foliage or bruising the bulbs.

Drying Your Garlic

Leave freshly lifted bulbs to dry thoroughly somewhere warm, dry and well ventilated. Once the outer skins and foliage are completely dry, brush away loose soil and trim the roots.

Storing Your Harvest

Give the bulbs plenty of time to cure, then store them somewhere cool, dry and well ventilated. Check them occasionally and remove any that begin to deteriorate.

Full-Flavoured Garlic

‘Mersley Wight’ has a good, full garlic flavour that works particularly well in everyday cooking. Chop or crush the cloves into sauces and marinades, or add them to soups, stews and roasted vegetables.

Roasting Garlic

Roast whole cloves until soft for a sweeter, mellower flavour. Mash them into sauces, stir through vegetables or spread onto warm bread.

Using It Fresh

Freshly lifted cloves have a livelier flavour. Finely chop or crush them into dressings, dips and sauces when you want the garlic to come through more strongly.

Plaiting Your Garlic

As a softneck variety, ‘Mersley Wight’ has flexible stems that can be plaited once thoroughly dry. Hang your garlic somewhere cool, dry and airy, then take a bulb whenever you need one.

Understanding Your Garlic Bulbs

Garlic is supplied as a whole bulb made up of individual cloves. Separate each bulb just before planting and plant the cloves individually. Each healthy clove can develop into a complete new bulb.

Bulb Size & Clove Numbers

Each ‘Mersley Wight’ bulb contains approximately 14–18 cloves. Garlic is a natural product, so the exact number and size of cloves will vary from bulb to bulb.

Hardneck Garlic

Hardneck garlic typically produces fewer, larger cloves arranged around a firm central stem and usually develops an edible flower stem known as a scape. ‘Mersley Wight’ isn't a hardneck variety.

Softneck Garlic

Softneck garlic generally produces more cloves of varying sizes and has flexible foliage that can be plaited once dry. It also tends to keep for longer after harvest than hardneck garlic.

Your Mersley Wight Garlic

‘Mersley Wight’ is a silverskin softneck originating from central France. Its vigorous growth makes it well suited to late-winter and spring planting, while its particularly long storage life sets it apart from many other garlic varieties.

When Your Garlic Arrives

Keep the bulbs whole until you're ready to plant and separate the cloves immediately before planting, leaving their papery skins intact. If you can't plant straight away, keep the bulbs somewhere cool, shaded, dry and well ventilated until you're ready to get them into the ground.