Garlic

[shirlton]

Our elephant and ordinary garlic were taken out when a couple of leaves had gone brown and almost everyone of them have split into separate cloves. Still edible but not as pleasing to the eye. Could it be the wet weather I wonder?

[shirlton]

[Robert_Brenchley]

What do you mean by 'not as pleasing'? Last year mine came out with grey skins due to the wet, but they were foine this year. Unfortunately I had a bad attack of migraine over the weekend and didn't get my garlic presented as well as it should have done, and I suspect that cost me a first for it in the site show.

[shirlton]

I do like to string mine up but they don't look as nice when all the cloves are separate like shallots

[Robert_Brenchley]

I get you, that's what happens when the covering has rotted. You probably left them too long.

[realfood]

It happens when you leave them in the ground too long. I left two heads of garlic in the ground to harvest the bulbils on the top of the plant (hard necked garlic), and noticed that the head of garlic had opened up. It is the natural progression of garlic, preparing for growth next year.

[Barnowl]

My garlic harvested in June, so not late harvested, had this problem and I think what happened is that the soil dried out and the outer skin set. Then when it rained again,  the cloves expanded but the outer skin couldn't and so burst.