Topic: Rusty Garlic

[Jesse]

My garlic seems to be growing strongly but the leaves are taking on a "rusty" appearance. Is this a sign that a disaster is iminent?  :-\

[dlmartin1972]

Mine too,  I am not worried at the moment as i pulled one the other day to use fresh, and everything was fine below.

I assumed that it was that they were starting to dye back/dry.....

Darren.

[sandersj89]

It seems to be a bad year for rust on garlic, mine is covered in it, more yellow than green to be honest!!

I have heard that it is mainly cosmetic and does not effect the bulb too much. Also you can try laying comfry leaves around them to reduce the rust.

Jerry

[Jesse]

Thanks Jerry, like Darren I also pulled one the other day, the bulb looks fine and I used it fresh, although the bulb was still on the small side. Jerry, will they continue to grow as usual now that they've got rust?

[Mrs Ava]

My purple wights, or wight purples, all came up today.  Most were a good size, some a little small, but the rust was so bad the plants had become so weak, they weren't going to do anymore growing.  It is cosmetic, but it will weaken the plant and there is little you can do about it!  I noticed my chard planted alongside now has rust on a couple of leaves!  Really could do with a drop of rain to dappen everything down and stop all of these spores floating around.

[alit]

My garlic is not only rusty but even though i have grown about 4 different varieties this year everyone has produced a seed head.  i have pulled them all off.  was that the right thing to do or should i be digging them up now anyway.  i pulled one up and although it was bigger than when planted, it was just one round bulb, not segmented at all.

Is it the right time to harvest?  And why would the seed heads have appeared.  they didn't last year?

Not really sure what is going on this year with the garlic.  Any suggestions or help much appreicated. ???

[philcooper]

Alit,

What varieties are you growing - some (the hardnecks) are meant to flower?

It does seem a little early to be harvesting, my softnecks don't usually come out until they turn brown which is usually early July

Phil

[redimp]

I never do get this - if it is a hardneck, do I leave the flowers on?

[Icyberjunkie]

Was talking to a few people on the lotties this week for everyone has got really bad rust...except me so must  be beginners luck.  Interestingly though  everyone else planted the cloves at soil surface while I followed instruction on the packet and put them in an inch deep so don't know if that helped avoid the problem or not.

One of the guys had met and shown Pippa Greenwood the problem and was told the spores are wind blown.  Apparently the only way to cure the problem is for no one to grow any garlic for a year - including the farmers round about to ensure there is no reservoir of infection.

If not to severe the bulb will keep growing but if bad there is nothing to do but pull up the infected bulbs and make a good job of a bad deal.   Not what you want to hear I'm sure....

[plot51A]

My hardneck garlic is affected by rust quite badly so I followed EJs lead and took it all up at the weekend - got decent size bulbs and the instructions with mine said harvest May-July - so that's ok! But I planted the softneck in February in a different part of my lottie and so far that has not been affected - fingers crossed very hard - and isn't ready yet anyway. Its all very odd. Do onions get it too? I've got shallots and overwintered onions in the same place as the rusty garlic and they're ok up till now (except they're not growing very well anyway so won't bother with overwintering onions again.)

[alit]

What is the difference between hard neck and softneck.  i have never heard those terms.

I am growing Elephant Garlic, a purple mediterannian variety and a white one - can't remember names.  Also doing what i did last year which was plant a row from bulbs bought at the grocers.  Last year all came up fine and no flowers. 

I did think this seemed a little early to harvest.

What damage may i have done by pulling off all the flower heads?

[MarthaMad]

My garlic was sooo rust'd that my partner thought if they had died. So I pulled them up. 

They were pathetic.  I planted them last october. I thought they would be the size of my fist! 

Oh well, i'll do more next year!

[philcooper]

Alit,

This isn't a cop out but the full details are at www.garlicworld.co.uk

Just to complicate things, Eliphant garlic is not a real garlic.

The good news is that removing the flower heads can only help things as far as getting big cloves is concerned

The bad news is that garlic from the greengrocers is not a good idea as:

it may have disease problems
it may well not be grown in the UK and therefore used to a warmer climate - henc it won't do so well here

Phil

[Mrs Ava]

Periwinkle, my onions, shallots and spring onions never get rusty, but my leeks really do.  My whites are rusty and the leaves are now starting to die back, so even though they are smaller than the purples, they will come up next week, and kale will be planted in their place!  ;D

[alit]

thanks Phil.  I had a look at the  website you suggested and now all is clear - ish!!!!

I will harvest at the usual time and just see what i get.  i'm sure it will still be edible, no matter how small it is.

Thanks for the advice. :)