Successful varieties from 2013
Elephant
a deliciously mild garlic
a turban hardneck
Successful varieties from 2014
Clockwise from the top:
Cuban Purple, Aglio Rosso, Thermadrone
Aglio Rosso
a creole from Abruzzo
Cuban Purple
a Spanish creole
Thermadrone
a French artichoke
This was the first time I've planted any of the creoles and the Thermadrone. Thermadrone and Thai Purple are ready to harvest between 3 to 4 months and about two months earlier than Elephant.
I've found that seed garlic needs at least one month of vernalization in order to bulb in the South Maui climate. As soon as I receive my orders in the fall I store them in the refrigerator until I'm ready to plant - usually the last week of November or the first week of December.
Growing Garlic in Kihei
New recommended varieties from 2017
Ajo Rojo
a Spanish creole
Germinador
a creole from Southern France
2019 Update
Due to the warm growing conditions all of the garlic I've trialed has produced bulbs that were smaller than the seed garlic they were grown from. After trialing numerous varieties of garlic over the years I've come to the conclusion that Thermadrone and Elephant are the star performers for Kihei. They never fail and produce the largest bulbs. Creoles grew well but the bulbs were small. For the 2019 fall planting season I ordered only Thermadrone and Elephant.
2023 Update
Cuban Purple, Aglio Rosso, Thermadrone
Aglio Rosso
a creole from Abruzzo
Cuban Purple
a Spanish creole
Thermadrone
a French artichoke
This was the first time I've planted any of the creoles and the Thermadrone. Thermadrone and Thai Purple are ready to harvest between 3 to 4 months and about two months earlier than Elephant.
I've found that seed garlic needs at least one month of vernalization in order to bulb in the South Maui climate. As soon as I receive my orders in the fall I store them in the refrigerator until I'm ready to plant - usually the last week of November or the first week of December.
Growing Garlic in Kihei
New recommended varieties from 2017
a Spanish creole
Germinador
a creole from Southern France
2019 Update
Due to the warm growing conditions all of the garlic I've trialed has produced bulbs that were smaller than the seed garlic they were grown from. After trialing numerous varieties of garlic over the years I've come to the conclusion that Thermadrone and Elephant are the star performers for Kihei. They never fail and produce the largest bulbs. Creoles grew well but the bulbs were small. For the 2019 fall planting season I ordered only Thermadrone and Elephant.
2023 Update
Graceful garlic scapes emerging at 5 months.
In December of 2021 I moved back to Keonekai, near sea level and
a few blocks from the beach in South Kihei. Unfortunately, I only have a
small garden space with limited sun.
During the first week of December 2022, I planted Thermadrone,
Thai Purple and a new to me variety - German White Stiffneck
aka German Extra Hardy.
There are a few farms now in Hawaii that are growing garlic successfully.
A farm on Oahu trialed numerous varieties of seed garlic and
had good results with German White Stiffneck.
This is a cold hardy variety grown in the northeast. I would not have
thought it could be grown in Hawaii. But it's the only one that grew in
my limited sunlight winter garden. It's a late variety and maybe that's
why it survived the limited sun and began to thrive when the
sun increased in March.
At 5 months the bulbs began producing garlic scapes. It was about
3 weeks until they were ready to harvest. I normally harvest
Thermadrone and Thai Purple by 4 months - now I know
they need full sun in order to grow.
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German White Stiffneck
aka German Extra Hardy.
The good news is that garlic grows at sea level in Kihei.
Just make sure to refrigerate the seed garlic a month prior to
planting and plant in full sun.
