Garlic Question

[neoguy]

I know when scapes appear the green growth stops and cloves start forming. But, does the head and the cloves
continue to grow in size during this time?

I pulled a couple of head and they appear small, I'm afraid I may have over fertilized. I did stop the ferts, rabbit manure pellets in late winter/early spring and rabbit manure tea and fish fertilizer up until mid May. About 4 weeks or so until harvest and I'm bummed.

[tjg911]

yes, the bulb grows, the removal of the scape directs energy into the bulb and it's growth rather than the tiny bubils that'd form after the scape matures. cut the scapes when they achieve a full curl and don't water or fertilize. when 1/2 the leaves are green and the other 1/2 brown dig 1 plant to check the bulb size. YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE THE CLOVES EXPAND AND BREAKING OUT OF THE WRAPPER. waiting allows the bulb to increase in size vs getting a smaller bulb and risks allowing the bulb to get too big. it's a bit of a guessing game that's why you dig 1 or several to check.

tom

[Soilsniffer]

YES, the cloves are still growing. They continue to grow till the plant begins to die. A good time (I wouldn't dare say 'best') to pull the plants, is when about half of the leaves are brown and half are still green. That way, head size will be approaching maximum, and they'll store for some months after with proper curing.

J

[neoguy]

Thanks for the info. I cut all my scapes as soon as they appear. I've been growing the same hardneck, 120 heads, unknown variety for years. Last year produced a beautiful crop and I was hoping that I didn't blow it.

Oh, believe it or not, storage has been very good for this unknown variety, my crop from last year is just now sprouting and getting soft.

[neoguy]

A couple of other questions. My crop this year is showing unusual behavior. About 2 weeks ago most, not all, of the crop started leaning, several laying on the ground. They are leaning more and more everyday. I've never had experienced this before. In the past, when I've harvested, the plants would be standing straight up.

The other unusual behavior is that again, most, not all, of the crop is about ready for harvest. Nearly 50% of the leaves are brown and dried out. I've never harvested this early in the year, never before July 4Th and usually 1 or 2 weeks after the 4Th.

I don't think the problem is too much water, we had a couple of big rains earlier this week but well after the plants started leaning and browning.

Any thoughts on either of these issues? Thanks.

[Earl]

I'd dig a couple of the leaners and see what the heads look like.

[neoguy]

I have pulled 6 so far. The cloves are forming, the paper is tight but the head size is disappointing, on the small side.

[jhp]

I have a few questions too. I'm growing garlic for the first time this year. It looks happy to me. I pulled one out yesterday and it had a few cloves popping out of the wrapper. So what's the deal with that? Can I still eat it? Is it that it wouldn't store well that way?

Most of the scapes, I removed when they first appeared. Some I removed at the point of making a curl. How long after scapes appear, do I wait to pull the plants?

I also found a couple of plants that were completely brown and tried to pull them, but the leaves were severed from the bulb. Although the ground smelled of garlic when I dug into it, I didn't find the bulb. Under one of the severed plants, I found two cloves. I was away for a week, and didn't notice this before I left.


I feel like maybe I should harvest and avoid losing anymore, but I don't want puny cloves. Also, it is forecast that we will get rain tonight and we had rain last night too. Would that cause my cloves to pop out of the wrapper?

If anyone can answer these questions, I'd surely appreciate it.

Thank you.

[tjg911]

I pulled one out yesterday and it had a few cloves popping out of the wrapper. So what's the deal with that? Can I still eat it? Is it that it wouldn't store well that way?
Yes you can eat it and you are correct, when the cloves have burst the wrapper they do not store AS well. You can still store them, they just don't store as long. I'm not sure how much the storage time is reduced by this. I'm sure they'd store say 6-8 weeks just not 6-9 months.


Most of the scapes, I removed when they first appeared. Some I removed at the point of making a curl. How long after scapes appear, do I wait to pull the plants?
You should cut the scape once it has created 1 full curl.


I also found a couple of plants that were completely brown and tried to pull them, but the leaves were severed from the bulb. Although the ground smelled of garlic when I dug into it, I didn't find the bulb. Under one of the severed plants, I found two cloves. I was away for a week, and didn't notice this before I left.
Bulbs should be dug when the lower half of the leaves are yellowing drying the upper half will be green. This is not an exact science so you should dig some to see their progress. Again cloves breaking the wrapper is allowing them to mature too long but digging them too soon will result in smaller bulbs. I know, this is a SWAG!



I feel like maybe I should harvest and avoid losing anymore, but I don't want puny cloves. Also, it is forecast that we will get rain tonight and we had rain last night too. Would that cause my cloves to pop out of the wrapper?
Not sure but we can't contol the rain. What you can control is to stop fertilization and watering when the scape starts to form. I have not watered for 2+ weeks, no rain but I expect it today.

tom

[jhp]

Thanks for your response Tom. I just noticed that you're in CT too. I would say, the first pair of leaves is browning, but not half of the leaves yet. I'll dig some later and see.

[flowerpower]

I am just braking off the scapes this week. It was good to see that the German Red bulbils I planted 2 yrs ago are also getting scapes. I only checked a few in the fall when I thinned them. I don't think they will be very big. The soil is not so great there. They are just extras anyway. I have more in another spot.

[supergirl]

This is my first year growing much garlic. I grew a couple of plants last year, but this year I did about 8 types from a variety pack (I would have to go out and check the tags to see what they are.) I've been looking things up like crazy to figure out when they're ready to harvest, what to do, etc. I can't vouch for all of the following form my own experience, but wanted to share some of the bits of research that I found helpful -- I'll focus on the scapes-related stuff since that's what the thread was originally about.
- after scapes appear, it's about a month for the bulbs to grow and mature to their full potential
- the degree to which leaving the scapes to form bulbils will make bulbs smaller depends on the richness of your soil. In good soil, it could be only a 5% size difference. In poorer soil, it's a bigger difference.
- the curliness of the scapes is supposed to be similar within a variety - e.g., Turbans have a U shape, Rocamboles a double loop, etc.
- harvest when about 60% brown/yellow foliage and 40% green. Don't wait till it's all brown, or the outer skin may burst (this one I can vouch for, having had some of my Turbans burst the skins and almost end up naked. Scrubbed off all the cloves and that's what we'll eat first.)
- Lots of places say to turn off the water for the last two weeks to let them dry out a bit before harvest. Better to stop too soon rather than too late.

Here are a couple of the links I found helpful:
http://www.hoodrivergarlic.com/garlic-calendar.htm - helpful for having actual pics of what the foliage looks like when they harvest
http://www.gourmetgarlicgardens.com/ - I found the thing on scape characteristics here in the Asiatics information
http://www.garlicfarm.ca/growing-garlic.htm - good general info

And, as a proud newbie, here's a picture of my early garlic:

[velikipop]

When to harvest garlic can be difficult. The general rule of thumb is when the bottom six leaves turn brown or for us here in the PNW sometime in early to mid July. I usually pull a few to see how they look. If the heads are well developed or the cloves are staring to split that is asignal to harvest. Not all varieties are ready at the same time. The timing is important if you grow a lot of gralic and intend to save it for use. I've had some varieties last for close to a year.

Today I pulled a few Russian Red and it looks like they are ready.