Garlic 'Wight' Duo Pack (Autumn Planting)

What You'll Need

A garden fork or trowel • Well-rotted garden compost • Concentrated Slow-Release Onion, Garlic & Shallot Feed Granules • Horticultural fleece if birds are a problem • 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, particularly through winter. 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 in spring as the bulbs begin to swell. Avoid waterlogging the soil and stop watering during the final few weeks before harvest to help the bulbs mature.

Watch for Scapes

Both varieties are hardneck garlics and produce curling flower stems known as scapes. Remove them while they're young so the plants can concentrate their energy on developing the bulbs. The tender scapes are edible too, with a fresh garlic flavour that's excellent in stir-fries, omelettes and pesto.

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

Both varieties grow 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

‘Extra Early Wight’ is one of the earliest garlics of the season and can be ready from around late May into June. ‘Rose Wight’ also gives an early summer harvest. Watch each variety separately and look for the lower foliage beginning to yellow and die back rather than relying on a fixed date.

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.

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 stems 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

Once properly cured, keep the bulbs somewhere cool, dry and well ventilated. As both are hardneck varieties, they're best enjoyed while at their best rather than being chosen specifically for very long storage.

Two Flavours to Cook With

These two garlics bring noticeably different flavours to the kitchen. ‘Extra Early Wight’ is crisp and fresh, while ‘Rose Wight’ has a richer, more intense character for dishes where you want the garlic to stand out.

Enjoy Extra Early Wight Fresh

Make the most of ‘Extra Early Wight’ soon after harvest. Finely sliced and gently sautéed, the cloves hold their shape well and make excellent crisp golden garlic slices for scattering over pasta, vegetables and salads.

Bring Out the Rose Wight Flavour

The rich, intense flavour of ‘Rose Wight’ works particularly well in sauces, marinades, roasted vegetables and slow-cooked dishes where its stronger garlic character can really come through.

Cook with the Scapes

Pick the young scapes while they're still tender and use them as an extra crop before the bulbs are ready. Chop them into stir-fries and omelettes, add them to salads or blitz them into pesto.

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

You'll receive four bulbs in total – two of each variety – with around 20 cloves from each pair of bulbs as a guide. Garlic is a natural product, so the exact number and size of cloves will vary from bulb to bulb.

Hardneck Garlic

Both varieties in this duo are hardneck garlics. Hardnecks typically produce larger cloves arranged around a firm central stem and also produce edible scapes before the bulbs mature.

Softneck Garlic

Softneck garlic generally produces more cloves of varying sizes and has flexible foliage rather than the rigid central stem found in hardnecks. It also tends to store for longer. This particular duo contains two hardneck varieties.

Your Garlic Autumn Wight Duo

The collection combines ‘Extra Early Wight’ and ‘Rose Wight’. ‘Extra Early Wight’ brings unusual all-white bulbs, a crisp, fresh flavour and a particularly early harvest, while ‘Rose Wight’ adds distinctive pink-striped bulbs and a richer, more intense flavour.

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.