Spanish Roja

Spanish Roja bulb and cloves.

Spanish Roja cloves and base plate that shows how the cloves were arranged.

Spanish Roja bulb

Creole Group Hardneck – Weakly Bolting

There are at least two different garlics that go under the name ‘Spanish Roja’. One seems to fit mostly into the Creole Group, the other fits better into the Rocambole Group. The one described here is the former.

General Information

International Names	Spanish Roja
Flavour	Good hot spicey flavour.
Storage	Long up to 12 months.
Growing location	Southern NSW to Tasmania, all of SA and Southern WA.
Growing requirements	Does not do so well in wet and humid conditions. It likes dry heat.
Planting and harvest	Mid season planting and harvest.

Bulb

Shape	Medium to large, 5-6.5 cm, round.
Skin colour and texture	Typical white, tissue-like transparent bulb skins with the pink from the cloves showing through.

Clove

Number and layout	There are 11-15 in two layers.
Size and shape	Three-sided, wedge-shaped cloves, 2.5-4.5 cm tall in two layers. Short to medium clove tips.
Skin colour and texture	Strong purple colour, dark purple veins and tan tones on the bottom third of the clove. Skins are easy to remove.

Plant

Size and shape	Medium, slender and upright.
Leaves	Narrow, green to blue-green leaves at small angle from the pseudostem.
Young plants	Slender and straight.
Matures	Slower to mature.
Scape	While this garlic is in a group classified as ‘weakly bolting’ which, among other things, means that sometimes the scape doesn’t grow, with this cultivar it is nearly always present. It is a vibrant white, solid and thick, requiring strong secateurs to cut it. The scape produces an upside-down U-shape. At peak coil, it can cross over the scape, almost producing a 270° turn. Remove the scape as it starts to straighten or the bulb size will be affected.
Umbel and beak	Slender umbel and mid-length beak
Bulbils and flowers	Small to medium bulbils, 20-50, red.