Garlic ‘Solent 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. Avoid waterlogging the soil and stop watering during the final few weeks before harvest to help the bulbs mature.

Watch for Scapes

‘Solent 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

‘Solent Wight’ grows well in large containers with good drainage. Choose a pot at least 30cm deep, space the cloves around 15cm apart and position it in full sun. Check container-grown plants regularly during dry weather as the compost can dry out more quickly.

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

‘Solent 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, reducing their keeping quality.

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

‘Solent Wight’ is particularly prized for its excellent keeping qualities. Once thoroughly cured, store the bulbs somewhere cool, dry and well ventilated so you can keep using your homegrown garlic for months after harvest.

Full-Flavoured Garlic

‘Solent Wight’ has a strong, full flavour that comes through well in cooking. The large cloves are easy to prepare and can be chopped, crushed, sliced or roasted whole.

Roasting Garlic

Roast the cloves until soft and lightly caramelised for a mellower, sweeter flavour. Mash the cooked garlic into soups and sauces, stir it through vegetables or simply spread it onto warm bread.

Using It Fresh

Freshly harvested cloves have a stronger, fresher garlic flavour. Crush or finely chop them into dressings, dips and sauces, adjusting the amount depending on how strongly you want the garlic to come through.

Storing Your Garlic

Make the most of ‘Solent Wight's’ excellent keeping qualities by curing the bulbs thoroughly before storing them. Keep them somewhere cool, dry and well ventilated and use them as needed over the following months.

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 ‘Solent Wight’ bulb contains approximately 10–16 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 larger cloves arranged around a firm central stem and develops an edible flower stem known as a scape. ‘Solent Wight’ isn't a hardneck variety.

Softneck Garlic

‘Solent Wight’ is a softneck garlic. Softnecks generally produce more cloves of varying sizes, have flexible foliage and tend to store for longer than hardneck varieties.

Your Solent Wight Garlic

‘Solent Wight’ combines a strong, full flavour with excellent keeping qualities and is particularly well suited to British growing conditions. It also holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

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.