[viettaclark]

I spent quite a lot on this garlic and planted last November. They grew well but the foliage has now collapsed and is going papery. They had some rust but are otherwise very healthy.
When I dug one up the bulb was starting to divide well but it's fairly small still (2 cm) and the outside "skin" hasn't formed properly yet. The stalk is still fleshy and a bit green inside the outside papery brown/white layers.
Is there any reason why I can't leave them in situ as it's still only June and hope the bulbs swell?
The Spanish garlic (30p from the greengrocer) are still upright and green but starting to clove so may give a better crop!!
Is it just a "Music" thing? They're a Scottish cultivar aren't they?

[mumofstig]

Leave them in a longer, that's what I'm doing, but mine are so badly rusted I don't think it will help much.....some are already bigger than others though.

Here, it's not just the Music that are suffering 

[suesowsseed]

Here's mine, bottom of the photo. Taken just before I cut the scapes off a week or so ago.  All covered in rust and not very big.  As you say, they were very expensive! Think I'l be planted the ones from Wilkinsons again next year.

Does anyone know how long you can leave them in the ground for?  Don't think they will big enough to lift by next month.

[New shoot]

I've harvested my normal garlic already as it was covered in rust and its drying out in the greenhouse.  Not massive cloves but respectable given such a funny growing season.  Poor old garlic has had a mild winter, a cold snap late on, wet chilly spring and now monsoon rains  

My 'Music' garlic has got very thick stems but was also pretty badly rusted last time I was at the plot.  I left it as I was hoping for DD'esque ginormous cloves but not sure I will get them    The ones DD grew last year were amazing and it was his pic of them on here that prompted me to buy them, but that's the russian roulette nature of veg growing I guess

[Lardman]

Don't give up on Music, it really does give very nice bulbs. As Shoots says it seems to have been a very poor year for garlic all round.

Even with the all the trouble I have, the bulbs are a normally a respectable supermarket size. I had a little look yesterday and mine are so bad this year they resemble leeks. What is normally a large lush 4' top is struggling to make 18" , covered in rust and mainly dead already.

[viettaclark]

Why is rust so prevalent this year? It's the first time in my garden and the rasps had it too. Luckily they haven't been affected and are fruiting well but the garlic (both under debris net and in the open) have got it quite badly. Is it the weather?
I shall leave them in for a couple more weeks especially as we're expecting more rain. Just need a bit of warmth too but of course, that's the recipe for blight, and my tomatoes are only 1' high!!!

[arugula]

The ones DD grew last year were amazing and it was his pic of them on here that prompted me to buy them..

Same here. Mine seems to be doing well, no rust and not ready yet. The plants are giants in comparison to the shallots, I'm not sure what has happened to them.

[BabbyAnn]

Is it the weather?

Cool, damp and dull conditions are perfect for rust.  My plot at the bottom of a hill frequently gets leaf rust even last year when it was dry in the Midlands, whereas when I had a smaller plot at the top of the hill, I rarely had problems. 

Also, a common weed called groundsel acts as an overwintering host for rust fungus, so another reason to do the weeding.

The ones DD grew last year were amazing and it was his pic of them on here that prompted me to buy them..

Same here. Mine seems to be doing well, no rust and not ready yet. The plants are giants in comparison to the shallots, I'm not sure what has happened to them.

Hardneck garlic varieties such as Music do much better in northern climes, and interestingly, those crops with problems are those grown in the far south.  They seem to thrive after a harsh winter.  This winter has been very mild in comparison.

[grendel]

since I pulled a couple of heads today to be used 'green' I thought I would show you all- heres the garlic I picked (5p included for scale)

[grendel]

and as for the rust - yes I think I have that too (excuse the unweeded potato patch behind - I'm trying to get all the other crops weeded before I tackle the potatoes)
Grendel

[New shoot]

I did have a bit of a fertle around the base of the Music garlic today and there do seem to be some decent heads forming.  Mine look like they have been tango'd they are so rusty but going to leave them a bit longer and see  

Flippin' weather is a pain this year.  Most of my potato onions are going to seed and that's a crop I save bulbs from to grow the following year  

[chrissie B]

most of my stems look abit thin except for 1 the leaves are abit lollopy but want to leave as long as poss but worried about the amount of rain coming down .
chrissie b

[suesowsseed]

Think I will lift mine this weekend, as we are assured some sun in Kent over the next few days    I don't think they will grow much bigger anyway as the leaves are so yellow/orange they can't possibly photosynthesise any more.  I could do with the space anyway for my brassicas.

[marcofez]

I harvested my rusty "marco" garlic yesterday. Was fearing the worse but was pleasantly surprised by the size it delivered. Will grow it again next time.

[Trillium]

I grow Music all the time and the heads really are decent sized. But all garlic is not too fond of constantly wet temperate weather, which the UK seems to have this year, and which the rust thrives on.

By all means, let them grow on a bit but once the leaves get quite spotty with orange, there's little point leaving them any longer since the rust will work its way down into the cloves. Do be sure to bin the leaves and never compost them. As you work with the leaves, handle them carefully as the rust is a fungus and those red spots are pustules that will burst and further spread the spores into soil and other plants to live on for another day.