Topic: Yellowing Leaves on Garlic?

[irridium]

my garlic on the allium bed is looking quite yellow at the base of the stem. should they be like this at this time of year with the crazy weather we've been getting, or is it where they're at the stage where they're drying off ready for cropping june/july time when the leaves start drying off? i can't remember how they were last year and at what time it was when that happened.. i was being quite complacent with the watering in this dry period last week. i went on thursday (last visit was the 4days previously and they were fine then) and i felt so guilty that maybe it was the dryness that they've suffered with. the other alliums on the same bed are doing well tho'...

[antipodes]

They do go yellow as they start to dry off. I think they have finished their growth at this stage and the bulbs start forming their skins and drying out. They often get rusty too but I find that has no effect on the finished product.
I can't wait to harvest mine, they seem huge, if the stems are anything to go by. Some of mine were stolen from my plot! So I won't have the full amount, but still, plenty left.

[Nigel B]

Hi antipodes, :)
Sorry to hear people are stealing stuff. Lets hope it gives them bellyache.
I noticed you mentioned rust among the garlic. Yesterday, I noticed it on mine too, and especially on some leeks I left to go to seed. Does it just pass on? It looks ugly, that's for sure. Is it safe to leave it do you think?

[irridium]

went again today at the lotti, and found to my horror that there's rust on all the garlic and am beginning to worry about the yield and size of the bulb when we've still got 4 weeks of growth left. is there anything i can do about it? i'm worried it'll affect my onions, leeks (going to seed recently) and shallots.

[BarriedaleNick]

Rust is fine in that it wont affect the bulb but it is ugly and decreases activity slightly.  I always get rust - everyone does on our site.  I suppose you could spray with a fungicide or copper sulphate but personally I'd leave it.