[Salmo]

Many of my garlic stems have kinked at ground level or just above.  The tips have gone yellow but on the whole they look as if there is still growth in them.

I blamed it on recent winds but wonder if it is simply that they are ready to lift?

[simonwatson]

Once the above ground growth has really started to yellow and dry out, then it's time to think about lifting them. If there's still plenty of green, let them keep going.

You can gently dig down the side of the plant and take a look at the bulb which will also give you an idea of whether it looks ready or not.

[waxwing]

salmo, check them out by having a dig aroung. Checked mine yesterday and they sounded like your. On closer inspection I found 2 with a black rot. Dug them all up and they look and smell fantastic (not the 2 with rot)

Steve

[Salmo]

Simon - what should it look like when it is ready.

[Nikkithefoot]

Like bulbs of Garlic, nice fat cloves with a papery skin

[lucywil]

i have dug mine up, the stems had all dried out. i let it sit on the soil for a couple of days then brought it inside on sunday before it rained. wasn't expecting much because we moved it in january due to moving plots but they are all perfectly formed, on the small side but good considering

[fatbelly]

My neighbour on the plot had a furtle around his yesterday and they look as if they need another 3 or 4 weeks. The bulbs were the size of supermarket Garlic and the foliage is just starting to turn yellow at the tips but as another poster has sad they look as if they have up to a month of growth left in them.

Seeing as this is the prime growth period I intend to leave them in  the hope that they bulk up further.

[Yorkie]

I usually expect to get mine up in August so June would be very early for me.

[Jay The Digger]

I like to leave mine until they have all turned yellow and crispy.  This doesn't usually happen until July though.

They are then all dug up and dried in the front porch (which drives my wife mad) for a couple of weeks.

I then either platt them, or if I can't be bothered, I use scissors to trim the roots and the tops (leaving about 3 inches of stem - this will still be damp)  Once the stems are dry and brittle, I trim the rest and put them into store.

I am down to a handful of last years crop so July can't come quick enough....

[fatbelly]

My main problem is patience, I so much want to lift the plants and see what type of harvest I have got. But I know that the longer I leave it the better the harvest will be.

[shokkyy]

I'm about ready for some though. I've still got some of last year's garlic left, but it's starting to look a bit sad now, just starting to sprout and a bit dessicated in the cloves.