[diggin@diggle]

I planted my garlic last September and it has been growing really well, but over the last fortnight we,ve had non stop rain and it seems to have developed what i can only describe as rust. at first i thought the leaves were dying off and it was ready to harvest but the bulbs are not massive and I'm not totally sure if the cloves have formed properly yet .
Can anyone help

D@D :?

[ColinGrigson]

Mine are exactly the same , I pulled one and the bulb looks healthy and sound it's just the foliage as you describe with tiny rust coloured spots , I hope someone will recognise this , at least you're not alone d & d ! Incidently we too have had some shocking storms of late with monsoon rain !

[DD.]

From previous posts, this appears to be nothing serious to worry about.

Try putting "garlic and rust" in a search.

[allotmentnut]

Hi

Thought I would let you know that we have just pulled a couple of our garlic (Purple White) and they are great.  I am very surprised about this as our plot flooded 4 times during the winter (13" of water all over).  I thought we would get nothing, but it looks like our garlic likes water.    

[corndolly]

We have some rust on the foliage too, this does nt seem to affect the storing quality. Harvested all the garlic yesterday as the leaves have turned brown and starting to die back, one or two bulbs starting to show signs of rot but otherwise a good crop of reasonable size bulbs. With all the rain thought best to get the garlic up and start the drying process.

I do not remove any leaves or roots, wash the soil off the bulbs and roots and lay them in the greenhouse on slatted bench to dry out , would dry them outside but need dry weather for that.

Will be using some of these bulbs for next years crop, planting in September .

[Bombers]

I'm in the same position as you, and will (Weather permitting) pull them all up tomorrow. (Already got some Cabbages waiting to go in)

[muddifoot]

when did you plant this garlic ?  I planted mine in May and it looks like it could be ready but -I know nothing except what I read on this site.

[DD.]

The OP said last September - just as I did.

I doubt yours would be ready in 2 months. Is it starting to die back yet?

[Carmen7878]

I planted mine in September too and have only really just been able to pull them - they are a little on the small side but it is my first year ...so I know what mistake to not make next year

[gobs]

when did you plant this garlic ?  I planted mine in May and it looks like it could be ready but -I know nothing except what I read on this site.

Also try next season, it really should be ready by then.

[DD.]

I planted mine in September too and have only really just been able to pull them - they are a little on the small side but it is my first year ...so I know what mistake to not make next year

What mistake would that be? You planted at the correct time for over-wintering garlic.

[diggin@diggle]

Thanks for all your help do you think I should pull them as they look like they have got flower heads forming

[gobs]

If it's soft neck, it will fall over as onions, when ready, if it's hard neck you wait for all foliage to yellow, try not to confuse this with advanced rust.

In either case, quickly take the flower head off, flowering also means they are not ready yet, unless you left these on too long.

[diggin@diggle]

Thanks gobs I'll de-head them tomorrow