Australian Garlic
Celebrating and understanding our garlic groups and cultivars
Dynamite Purple
Hardneck - Weakly Bolting
This cultivar falls into the Artichoke Group, Type 2 and shares its evolution with others in this sub-group from Formosan to Taiwanese and Taiwanese Purple. Long time grower Roger Schmitke selected bulbs from this heritage that produced larger bulbs and cloves then other cultivars grown in the 80s and 90s. These went to Queensland’s Gatton Research Station and over a 6 year period they were grown and selected and replanted, selecting only the biggest and best bulbs and cloves. In 1997 Southern Glen named and released.  See the Production of Garlic here
This day-length neutral cultivar is a very important cultivar for growers in warmer more northern regions.
General Information
International name/s: None known
Flavour: Very hot and spicy both raw and cooked.
Storage: Very long to 12 months or more.
Growing location: Tasmania to Northern NSW. South Australia and Southern WA.
Growing requirements: This garlic likes cold to warm winters and hot dry summers. They do not do so well with high humidity. In cooler regions the bulbs tend to be a bit smaller.
Planting and harvest: Mid to late season planting, mid to late harvesting.
Bulb
Shape: Globe to round shaped, can be slightly lumpy and uneven. Convex base, usually 5-6 cm.
Skin colour and texture: Tight white skins, with a faint pink blush showing through on first harvest.
Clove
Number and layout: 12-15 cloves usually in two layers. Some of the internal cloves in second leaf skin.
Size and shape: Tall and slender cloves with an angled inner surface. 3 cm tall x 1.5-2 cm wide.
Skin colour and texture: Strongly coloured dark pink to burgundy with purple streaks, or deep purple-red. Often tan at the base and some tan striping through the purple.
Plant
Size and shape: Slender and upright, stronger and more substantial as it gets closer to harvest.
Leaves: Narrow and mid green to blue green. 30 to 40° from the pseudostem.
Young plants: Slender and upright.
Matures: Matures slowly, have reasonable time to harvest. Remove scape for good bulb development.
Scape: Classed as weakly bolting, this scape is often quite strong, although is usually only makes and upsidedown U, or just weakly bends. Remove the scape for good bulb development.
Umbel and beak: Small slender umbel with medium to long sometime flattened beak.
Bulbils and flowers: 20 to 50 small to medium rice grain or bigger bulbils. Pointy at the top, blunt at the bottom, often white. No flowers.
Artichoke Group
Silverskin Group
Subtropical Group
Asiatic Group
Creole Group
Middle Eastern Group
Turban Group
- Flinders Island Purple
- Glamour
- Italian Purple
- Monaro Purple
- Ontos Purple
- Shandong
- Tasmanian Purple
- White Crookneck
- Xian