[Chris C]

Hi All
I planted my Garlic Cloves way back in November (sorry i cant remember the variety and have left the tag back on the plot)...anyway they have been through and growing quiet happily for months.
This last few days the folage has all been yellowing and falling down so i assume there are ready to Harvest.... today i have lifted a couple and they are about golf ball size and look nice and white.
After fetching them home i have cut and cleaned one up to my supprise its just one large clove and loos like a small onion ?...it hasnt split into indevidual cloves at all...it smells very strong.
My question is ..... i understood the frost over whinter would split it into cloves so is it really ready or should i still be leaving it to split also do i need to dry them out like and onion ?

Chris

[savbo]

a friend brought around 3 cloves just like that yesterday, though they are only about an inch across...

[Paul Plots]

I think that you'd need to "dry them out" if you want to store them for later - Dry, sunny place?

As for single bulbs - unusual. I thought, as did you, that they produced lots of smaller cloves once the cold had worked on them over winter.

Perhaps it is something to do with the richness of the soil - beats me  :blink:

[penance]

The frost helps to trigger the mechanism for splitting later in the season but not immediately.
I would leave them, tho not sure why they would be dieing off this early.

[tosca100]

In that L german supermarket you can get little baskets of garlic just like this, it's very strong and actually quite handy for some things. It is grown in China, so that may fit in with the cold not splitting it into cloves. Don't usually buy stuff from far countries but I was curious.

[Chris C]

Thanks for the replys......i have only dug two up and still have approx 20 in the ground so think i will hang the one i havent cut up to dry and try it in a week or so while leaving the others in the ground.....really unsure as to why it hasnt split but i geuss if it tastes good then why worry about it !!!!

[realfood]

The small size is probably down to the drought this year, and making the garlic think that they are in the dry season.

[stentman]

Hi All I planted my Garlic Cloves way back in November (sorry i cant remember the variety and have left the tag back on the plot)...anyway they have been through and growing quiet happily for months. This last few days the foliage has all been yellowing and falling down so i assume there are ready to Harvest.... today i have lifted a couple and they are about golf ball size and look nice and white. After fetching them home i have cut and cleaned one up to my supprise its just one large clove and looks like a small onion ?

Chris

That exactly describes my garlic at the moment. As with Chris I don't know what variety they are (Gift from a friend) but mine, all 14, were planted in November as individual cloves seperated out from the two large bulbs I was given. At harvest time I expected 14 bulbs made up of lots of cloves not 14 bigger bulbs of garlic. But as the tops are going from green to yellow what now?

[Rangerkris]

I lifted a garlic today and its stinking the house out hahahha it was about the size of a large  shop brought one

[chris23005]

Hi All I planted my Garlic Cloves way back in November (sorry i cant remember the variety and have left the tag back on the plot)...anyway they have been through and growing quiet happily for months. This last few days the foliage has all been yellowing and falling down so i assume there are ready to Harvest.... today i have lifted a couple and they are about golf ball size and look nice and white. After fetching them home i have cut and cleaned one up to my supprise its just one large clove and looks like a small onion ?

Chris

That exactly describes my garlic at the moment. As with Chris I don't know what variety they are (Gift from a friend) but mine, all 14, were planted in November as individual cloves seperated out from the two large bulbs I was given. At harvest time I expected 14 bulbs made up of lots of cloves not 14 bigger bulbs of garlic. But as the tops are going from green to yellow what now?

I lifted one of my garlic plants at the weekend and it, too, was like a small white onion. I believe this is what is known as "wet garlic" and this particular variety (Iberian White) was listed as such at the Garlic Farm in the Isle of Wight. I was not really sure how to use wet garlic so I have just "googled" and come up with the following link.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-green-garlic.htm

As you will see, the article tells us that when garlic is near the surface of the ground and the leaves have gone yellow, then it will be more like the garlic you buy in the shops. What you have at the moment is "wet garlic" which is milder, but probably needs to be chopped like an onion. I think garlic potatoes are going to be on the menu this week! yum! (Damn, just remembered I am supposed to be on a diet........!)

Edited because the message got sent before I had finished!

[JohnB47]

Yep, same here. I'm leaving mine in the ground for now. Leaves are yellowing at the tips but mostly green and not falling over. Chris - perhaps conditions for yours was too dry. Been dry here too so I watered mine accasionally.

[chris23005]

Yep, same here. I'm leaving mine in the ground for now. Leaves are yellowing at the tips but mostly green and not falling over. Chris - perhaps conditions for yours was too dry. Been dry here too so I watered mine accasionally.

Not sure which Chris you are replying to (we seem to have a Chris-mass on this site!  ), but if it is me, I have been watering regularly and plentifully until about 2 weeks ago when my instructions told me to cease. Going to chop my garlic up this week - definitely!

[DavidT]

The problem is, they are being lifted much too early. Garlic need a long growing season. Plant in September, harvest August/September the following year.

[chris23005]

The problem is, they are being lifted much too early. Garlic need a long growing season. Plant in September, harvest August/September the following year.

I am just following the instructions given to me by the Garlic Farm where I bought the garlic. This particular variety should be harvested in June as wet garlic because it is a soft necked variety, and those instructions were for the whole country not just the IOW. That may not be the case for the others though as they may have a different variety.

[Chris C]

The problem is, they are being lifted much too early. Garlic need a long growing season. Plant in September, harvest August/September the following year.

If thats the case why do you think the foilage has started to yellow and dye back...too dry ?