[suedenim]

I planted my garlic in March which I know is a little late, but given the cold start to Spring, I didn't worry too much. They initially put on good growth, with leaves unto 6 inches tall, but since then there has been no growth. They appear to be healthy with no obvious signs of rust or other diseases/pest damage. I've given them a feed of Fish, Bone and Blood, but they just seem to have stalled. Is there anything I can do, or should I just give up on them and use the bed for something more productive?

Last year was not a very good crop, so I'm wondering if the soil (different bed though) isn't right for them. Does anyone have any ideas?

[BabbyAnn]

if the leaves look healthy and green then it might just be the weather (they should respond to warm sunny weather)  A couple of other things to try - maybe they need more water (give the bed a good drenching) and watering in a little seaweed solution might help (it contains growth hormones)  As you have already given them a feed of fertilizer, I'd be reluctant to add more but a dilute liquid feed might help as it should be more readily taken up.  Having saying that, I've stopped feeding my garlic any nitrogen based fertilizer now because I don't want leaf growth and want the bulbs to start bulking up in the coming weeks and have instead started to add a little potash instead.

I planted my garlic in March which I know is a little late, but given the cold start to Spring, I didn't worry too much.

Were they autumn or spring planting garlic?  If spring, then March is fine but if an autumn variety, the bulbs might be on the small size.

I do know someone who planted autumn garlic in late April last year - he did have the garlic in the fridge for about a month before planting though, and amazingly, his crop was surprisingly good.

[Auntiemogs]

Have they divided suedenim?

[suedenim]

They have swelled but they don't seem to have divided completely

[Auntiemogs]

The chances are then that all you can hope for now is that they will bulk-up a bit.  Having said that, that's just what they will be intent on doing, and I've had some pretty decent size single bulbs before. If you need the space, you could always leave the most promising ones in and remove the rest, as it would be a shame to waste them.   

[AussieInFrance]

Keep in mind that garlic bulbs continue to swell after harvesting.

[suedenim]

Unbelievably it's been very warm and dry in Manchester for the last week or so, and they are not coping well, they have gone from sulking to deep depression. I think they've suffered from too little water. I don't tend to water my beds as nature is usually more than generous in Manchester, so I think that this is the root cause of the problem.

I will probably remove them because I am running out of space, and it's not exactly expensive or difficult to get garlic from the shops I'll try again with an autumn variety later in the year and chalk this one up to experience.

Thanks for all the suggestions and replies.

[Halteres]

Hello. Sulking garlic is new to me : a web search brought the previous post in this thread, which was from Manchester, and this from West Yorkshire. Was a cure ever suggested? My garlic came from a garden centre in tiny pots after a long dry spell, and now they reside in luxurious large pots in a sunny position with regular watering the leaves have flopped over and nothing's happening. Are they being spoilt by the present treatment? A growing lamp, maybe? Perhaps they'll be laid back until next season.