Topic: Gutted by Garlic!

[ripley]

Hi

I planted garlic last year and over wintered it. Some managed to survive even though lots were lost by all during the bad winter.

Just come to dig around and see how its doing. Gutted! Some of the larger garlics have started to split into separate cloves almost as if they have blown. Other garlics that look big and strong in leafage have a very small individual bulb almost like an onion.

What have I done wrong? What should I do with the blown and single bulb garlic?

I,ve been so excited about my first garlic crop and feel gutted. Especially after a friend realised I have saw fly on all my new fruit bushes.  BAD DAY  :'( :'(

Ripley

[goodlife]

Oh don't get upset..its all learning curve.. ;)
Well..lets see..those that have split..just should have been harvested bit sooner..the outer case (paper) is just gone and exposed the cloves..they are still fine to use..nothing lost! ;D
As for those that are like 'onion'..most likely cause is that the clove you've originally planted simply wasn't large enought to produce a divinding bulb. Instead it has only grow into larger individual 'clove'. Even then..nothing lost.. ;D,,you can re-plant those this autumn..if you wish..and get proper bulbs next year..or just use them as they are.
For that reason it is always recommended to plant the largest and best cloves out of several bulbs for planting and use all the small ones for eating. Small cloves just need that bit longer to reach the size of the larger cloves and then they need to grow into bulbs..that will take couple of growth cycles.
As for sawfly...if you can get hold of rhubarb leaves..lay 'sheet' of leaves under those effected bushes and next year the problem doesn't repeat or is less.... ;)

[ripley]

Goodlife thankyou so much for your advice and support. I thought it was all a waste of time.

So I dry it all out side and then just replant the single bulbs in the autumn?

The advice about the saw fly was great as I still have rhubarb going in the garden so I will give that a go!

Thanks once again Ripley

[RenishawPhil]

Hey you were not the only one with bad garlic.all mine split(i have a thread on it)also pigeons have had loads of our red currants!

[goodlife]

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So I dry it all out side and then just replant the single bulbs in the autumnYep..outside or in..it doesn't matter, as long as they are kept from a rain and they go papery dry.
You can also use your 'split' garlic for growing too..just choose some of the fattest cloves for it.
I think the weather has caused the garlic to be much earlier this year..so it is so easy not to realize to lift them in time. But 'splitting' bulbs doesn't spoil the eating quality..they just don't look so pretty and perfect..there might be effect for the long term storage..but if your haven't grown field full of garlic it should not be issue.. ;)

[BarriedaleNick]

Mine have split a bit as well - not all but some look a bit odd.  I put it down to the warm dry spring..

[pumkinlover]

I bought some garlic - to eat from Lidl, in a preety little basket- and they are one whole bulb. I thought they were some new variety! :-[ 
Any way they are brilliant so easy to chop and use!
Keep chin up Ripley!

[green lily]

I'm still using last years garlic. I've a little string bag with all the single solid 'onion' types and still another few bulbs of ordinary clove garlic. Both have kept fine   for 12 months so you shouldn't have any problems with use.
I'm eyeing this years crop I planted in the autumn and wondering whether to leave it another couple of weeks. Its been pretty cold and dry here so it might not yet be ready. No rush so long as I catch them before the foliage dies down. BTW replant your own garlic on pretty rich soil as it gets adapted to your own conditions, better than keep buying in. :) Regards

[Vinlander]

Personally, I'm happy with the 'onion' ones provided they are as big as a standard clove - often they are bigger.

The only 'bad' garlic clove for me is the tiny one that Goodlife uses while planting the rest - it's too much trouble to peel and chop.

Not quite so bad to just peel the tinies and chuck straight into a slow stew, but still easier to plant them (at closer spacing reflecting the yield) and harvest a set of single larger 'onion' cloves.

It's true that the thing you really want to avoid is a small clove growing and splitting to 10 smaller cloves that are even more useless - but you can reduce the chances of this by feeding and watering well and planting the tinies very late, in March-April.

Cheers.

[ripley]

Hi

Just got back from Lottie. Covered soil around berry bushes with rhubarb leaves for the sawfly!
Dug up rest of garlic in that bed but left the other batch for a little longer.

Thanks for all your advice and next year I will keep an eye on the bulb not just the foliage.
Ripley

[Mr Smith]

I've just picked some of my over wintering Garlic today, it might be a bit early but the wind had blown a few of them over so I picked them and a very nice size thet are too, thet are now strung up in the shed, :)

[goodlife]

After writing a reply to this post yesterday..I decided to check my garlic too.. ;D
I didn't water my garlic at all this year, but left them to their own devices..and they are looking good.. ;)
I did dug some up and put them to dry on stacked up bread trays with sheet of glass on top to keep rain away.
I'll keep others still going a week or two and then they all come up..must remember to sow kale on their place.. ;)

[PeterVV]

well at least you dont have white rot, all my autumn red onions and garlic have it... :'(.......gutted..

[THE DOG]

I planted Garlic on the shortest day of last year in a raised bed 2ft, over wintered and the last couple of weeks its seemd to go over, but to my delight i pulled it today and considering i wasnt expecting to crop until the longest day, i found a bumper crop of sweet medium sized garlic. platted and hung in the kitchen on the herb rack, (which is also full of the finest this year), hard and weird season so far, but as to yet the best ive had. Cucs are outstanding, cabbage awsome, corn superb. cant moan.

ATB D (WEST MIDS)

[ripley]

After reading the Dogs message I once again have a very basic question!! ???

At the moment my garlic is drying in large wooden open sided crates in the sun. I thought that I would braid the good ones in a couple of weeks when they have dried. How long do you leave it until you braid yours?

sorry for such a basic question thanks Ripley

[goodlife]

It is not about how long they dry..but you have to feel when they are ready. All the top growth have to be throughly dry..'crispy'..
If there is moisture in the stems..by braiding it, you will 'seal' the moisture in and they will go mouldy.
AND..don't apologize about your questions..if you don't ask..you will not learn... ;)
Often all these 'small' little details are left out of books/answers..may not be important for the writer..but vital for somebody else.

[antipodes]

I had a bit of a strange thing happen to the earliest garlic planted (december). It has produced several bulbs with no cloves, just a big garlicky ball! But I used it and taste is same as standard garlic. The rest seems to be developing normally, that was planted more late January (Jan 17 in fact). I know it is very sensitive to temperature, can only think that our odd conditions this year affected it in some way.

[galina]

I had a bit of a strange thing happen to the earliest garlic planted (december). It has produced several bulbs with no cloves, just a big garlicky ball! But I used it and taste is same as standard garlic. The rest seems to be developing normally, that was planted more late January (Jan 17 in fact). I know it is very sensitive to temperature, can only think that our odd conditions this year affected it in some way.

Antipodes,

All garlic develops a 'round' a bit like a tabletennis ball, before individual cloves split off.  Maybe you harvested just a bit early?  Or the garlic foliage dried down early because it has been so dry (not sure whether you had the same drought in France).

My suggestion would be to plant all garlic in late October.  Especially hardneck (flowering) garlic which needs a good dose of winter cold.  And if it does not get that, it will only produce rounds.  By planting earlier, you get all the winter cold and hopefully better clove development.  It isn't so critical with non-flowering softneck garlic varieties.  They usually split even planted in late winter/early spring.  Maybe your garlic was just borderline for winter cold exposure or then again, perhaps it was just the weather.

[galina]

well at least you dont have white rot, all my autumn red onions and garlic have it... :'(.......gutted..

Sorry to hear that.  Do you have deep window boxes that you can grow garlic in?  Or make a trench and line with thick black plastic with a few drainage holes.  You'd have to fill with bought compost, but that should still make growing garlic and onion possible.

[antipodes]

Galina,

Antipodes,

All garlic develops a 'round' a bit like a tabletennis ball, before individual cloves split off.  Maybe you harvested just a bit early?  Or the garlic foliage dried down early because it has been so dry (not sure whether you had the same drought in France).

Yes there was something amiss, the stems had completely died off, in fact I had to dig down in the ground to get them, i was a bit worried about them rotting. The others, not planted at the same time look OK, well, normal for this time of year, starting to yellow off, looking a bit floppy. I usually wait till they die right back.
Yes we have had drought, it rained once in April and May  :o and usually here it is quite rainy. We are just in a rainy patch now, but the plants have already mostly developed through teh worst of it. Funnily enough my onions are excellent so far, which is surprising considering the severe lack of rain.