Garlic in containers next year

I know it has been a weird year, but my garlic was infected by rust and there is very little green foliage left now for the bulbs to get energy from. I think the yield is going to be poor.

Strangely, my onions which are right next door on the same bed have no rust at all and are coming on strong.

I am thinking next year I will plant my garlic cloves in a large plant pot and grow them on my sun trap patio. They are mediterranean plants after all and I think they would do better if I remember to keep feeding the compost through the year.

Last year was ok but not brilliant, the year before they got white rot - on different beds as I rotate of course.

Would do other folks find?

Hi Kirpi,

Mine were also infested with rust (and also got white rot last year!).  I removed the majority of the leaves when they also started getting  black mould on them!



I have left the soft necked garlic in to mature a little more as the bulbs are very small, but removed the hard necked garlic yesterday as they were looking so awful.

I haven't grown garlic in pots - only in raised beds at home.  All the garlic at the allotment seems to get rust, as do the chives.  I am going to try the garlic water trick next year to reduce the white rot though as some of my onions and shallots were affected this year (on a different bed to last year).

Yorky - I think it depends on how much rust you get. In my case it was almost the entire leaves through the crop so there was very little green leaf for the bulbs to gain energy through.

Ours is in a big bag with lovely wicker crate surround - all covered in rust!

Got to get them up this week.

Got mine up this moning - everyone of them nice and firm though some were starting to split their bulbs so it was high time to harvest them. No white rot though.

Ideally I would dry them out in the sun but we haven't seen much of that. They are air drying in the garage right now - hope they don't rot.

bulb sizes from about a 2p piece to an old 50p size. Not bad - could be better, maybe next year.

Next year I plan to grow some in the soil on the allotment, some in a large tub on my sunny patio and some in plant pots to harvest the chives year round as they come up.