Topic: Disappointing garlic

[Mrs greenjeans]

Hi all,

I'm a bit of a newbie here....  I took over my allotment in early March and quickly stuffed some garlic in as thought it was still winter as far as I was concerned!

It's now about knee high or more and the green tips are drying out a bit. Do I leave it in or --as it sounds like you all are -- dig it up now and store it?

I suppose I could dig up one and check - just a bit nervous about spoilling one.

any advice appreciated!!!
 ???

[Robert_Brenchley]

Wait till the stems start falling over, then lift it. Since it was planted late you may have some 'solo' bulbs, which haven't split into cloves.

[vaca]

I planted Purple Garlic from Seeds of Italy last October and over the last few days, they've all gone rusty. I dug one up which, like Tim said, had a thick hard stem - I thought below I'd find a large chunky garlic bulb. Instead, I uncovered a measly golf ball. I cut it open and it had split  :), but the cloves are not much longer than 1cm  :(  -  haven't lifted any others, but the rust may force me to have to do so this weekend.

Vaca

[tim]

gj - don't worry - even if they are all 'solo', like mine will probably be, they will all be usable, fresh or frozen. Just not as strong.

The Garlic Farm has a very good harvesting guide.

http://www.garlicfarm.ca/growing-garlic.htm - see also:

http://www.garlic-central.com/growing/harvest.html

[amphibian]

My stems are never going to fall over, you could use them as walking sticks.

[tim]

There's something weird about this year!!

[the_snail]

By Tim

Indeed - as in Green Garlic - a gourmet dish!

I tried this with winter onions a few years ago and it worked a treat. I planted them close together and then at about November time they where grown enough to thin out and use as spring onions. Must confess the winter onions where very tasty in a salad. I imagine that imature garlic would be just as nice to eat in both salads and sauces. So there is no excuse if you are late with your garlic just bung it in and let it grow. When it gets to a certain size, harvest it and put it in your late summer salad dressings or cooking. (Thanks Tim :))

OK My personal way of growing garlic.

I know this sounds strange but I like to treat a garlic clove when growing it like a daffodil bulb. Plant in mid October or Early November on a sallow bed of a mixture of grit and compost. Make sure the soil is fertile. Leave to grow over winter and then in spring feed once a week. If you continue feed ing whilst the leaves are still green then the leaves will absorb all that goodness and when the leaves die down all the goodness will be encorporated into the garlic bulb. It is the same principle as looking after a daffodil bed, plant in October the same way a mentioned above (The reason for that is if you plant your bulbs on a bed of grit and compost it give that little extra dranage so you will not run the risk of rotting the bulb or clove.) Feed when flowering with a good plant food that contains a high potasium base fertaliser to help with flowering. (With garlic I would use a hight phophotouse and nitrogen ferterlizer.) Keep feeding say once a week untill all teaves are dead or dying. (Once a week feeding depends on the brand and consistance of fertaliser used. Please read instructions at the back)

So a little tip treat then like daffodils and you will not go far wrong. And wait till the leaves are brown and dead. Then Dig'em'up :)

I hope you have managed to understand what I have typed above.

And Yes it has been a  funny growing year so far!

The_Snail

[Squashfan]

I found last year we had poor garlic, but this year we laid them down in November with compost, then kept weeding and watering and got a good result. Took them up last week to make room for other crops. In fact, I used the tips from this site to braid my garlic and now have two kinda lopsided braids hanging in the kitchen! But garlic needs love and attention. Our crop last year wasn't watered or weeded properly. Made allll the difference in the world to us.

[amphibian]

Well I lifted some of my garlic, and I have cloves, not the best bulbs though, but they'll do.

[amanda21]

I lifted one the other evening and eventually through a few layers I found some cloves.  The bulbs were about golf ball size though - will they get bigger now or can I pull up? 

Smelt devine though!

[tim]

Patience?

Lifting is normally in July & August. Yes, lift as you need, but do checkout the garlic farm's guide to harvesting.

[Curryandchips]

I have lifted a dozen heads, since they appear to have stopped growing due to rust, so they can ripen, and will be used before the end of the summer anyway.
I also lifted two heads of elephant garlic, never having eaten these before. There were several tiny 'bulblets' adhering to the bottom of the heads, are these worth keeping at all? They look too small to be of use as seed ...

[amanda21]

I have the patience Tim but just thought that if they were unlikely to grow any more I could lift and use the bed for something else.  What does rust look like?  (probably daft question - rust I guess!!)

[Curryandchips]

Rust is caused by a fungus (puccinia allii or puccinia porri) and produces brownish red spots on the leaves. There appear to be several strains, each specific to either garlic or leeks. As an example, all my normal garlic are covered, but the elephant garlic in an adjacent bed are completely unaffected.

Rust does not make the crop unusable, but it will slow down or arrest development of the heads.

[amphibian]

Rust is caused by a fungus (puccinia allii or puccinia porri) and produces brownish red spots on the leaves. There appear to be several strains, each specific to either garlic or leeks. As an example, all my normal garlic are covered, but the elephant garlic in an adjacent bed are completely unaffected.

Rust does not make the crop unusable, but it will slow down or arrest development of the heads.

I have rust, should I lift the crop then?

[Curryandchips]

From what I gather, once rust has established itself, then there is no urgency in doing anything, so lift the crop as per normal.

[flowerlady]

What a brilliant thread - thank you peeps  :D

[Jill]

Yes, I second that - great thread.  I lifted my early purples last week and not a single one had cloved.  I was late planting - January - but they certainly had a good dose of freezing temperatures.  The others are later varieties (from the Garlic Farm) and look bigger and healthier so I'm just going to wait, fingers crossed, and see.

[Squashfan]

I haven't lifted the elephant garlic as the leaves haven't died back yet. I think, in retrospect, I must have had rust on the regular garlic (which was a combination of the purple type and regular, both of which were dug up from our poor crop the previous year and re-planted). What causes that? The garlic seems to taste fine.

[kitty]

hm.yes-good thread ;D-here in lincolnshire-no rust-no cloves-just one big hoof of garlic!
still..a hoof in the hand is worth 2 cloves in the veg patch.as they say!
still delicious tho ay?
kitty