Just pathetic

One of my garlic beds basically died. Everything just fell over the other day after most of the leaves turned brown.
So, I says to meself, time to dig them up, I guess.

Aw man. That is rough. I bet you can't wait to try cooking with one of those failures.

Phil Stevens wrote:Aw man. That is rough. I bet you can't wait to try cooking with one of those failures.

I was actually wondering what would happen if I took some of them after curing and just replanted them. Some of them are not much bigger than the original cloves I planted in November.

Did they get hit with rust? Have a look at the leaves and see if there are clumps of powdery orange spores.

Phil Stevens wrote:Did they get hit with rust? Have a look at the leaves and see if there are clumps of powdery orange spores.

Not that I can see. We did have a couple of days with heavy rains and I'm thinking the stock tanks didn't drain well enough and they drowned.

Weird. Overwatering plus poorly drained soil would be a possible cause, but given the time of year they might have just been finishing up anyway and that sealed the deal. When did you plant?

If it's any consolation, garlic went from being one of the easiest things for me to grow to one of the most fickle, and it's all because allium rust came to our islands about 10-15 years ago. Now I consider myself lucky to get bulbs less than half the size of what I used to consider average.

I am going to harvest in a couple weeks in NW California, so maybe they were done anyway? I would improve drainage
(1” holes every 6-9”, layer woody debris on bottom of container), give an extract of the best compost possible. I might also look into your soil, particularly whether you have decent amount of Calcium and Phosphorus.  Anaerobic wet conditions can lock out nutrients and encourage disease though, so that may still be the underlying issue.

Joshua States wrote:I was actually wondering what would happen if I took some of them after curing and just replanted them. Some of them are not much bigger than the original cloves I planted in November.

Sure you can do that though landracing seem to say that is not the best idea .... Maybe experiment and see what happens.

I heard a rumour that replanting your own garlic and other perennial alliums does make them somehow acclimatise to your area. I'm not sure how it is supposed to work though.

Both I and the 40 acre farm behind me had a lousy garlic harvest last year, the cloves were small. My farmer neighbor chopped hers and froze what she needed. I used it and bought other garlic to plant in the fall.

I have nothing useful to contribute other than commiseration. I have NO idea why the garlic harvest was so bad!

There's this: The search results suggest that 2024 was characterized by above-average temperatures.

That's for my entire state.

Bummer! I had the same thing happen last year. I thought I dug up all of my measly bulbs but I found some growth this year so I left them. If you replant them, they will flower and go to seed if my experience proves to be the norm. I'm wondering if I will see some volunteer garlic next year!

Timothy Norton wrote:If you replant them, they will flower and go to seed if my experience proves to be the norm. I'm wondering if I will see some volunteer garlic next year!

I think garlic seed is pretty unusual actually - they are normally propagated by bulbils.

Phil Stevens wrote:Weird. Overwatering plus poorly drained soil would be a possible cause, but given the time of year they might have just been finishing up anyway and that sealed the deal. When did you plant?

Bem Zumeta wrote:I would improve drainage. (1” holes every 6-9”, layer woody debris on bottom of container), give an extract of the best compost possible. I might also look into your soil, particularly whether you have decent amount of Calcium and Phosphorus.

I planted the cloves on October 22.
The stock tank beds have (4) 1/2" holes distributed around the bottom perimeter and a 3-inch layer of wood chunks, chips, and other organic matter on the bottom.



Then the rest is filled with some of my rich composted soil I moved here from AZ. The cloves were planted about 2 inches down into that soil.



This was covered with about 4 or 5 inches of pine needle and oak leaf mulch (locally available). By mid-March they were sprouting.



I water them about once a week with fish emulsion mixed in the water because I know that garlic is a voracious feeder.
By mid-May they were looking pretty good and I had a few scapes already. Now, a month later, they are done.



The well water here is particularly alkaline because of the limestone deposits in the ground. I do have a filtration system that reduces the lime considerably, but not completely.

I am further north, but I too, found last year disappointing for the size of garlic bulbs and cloves. I blamed it on the bed I grew it in, as that bed has disappointed me in the past. Maybe I shouldn't have?

However, I don't know what variety of garlic you planted Joshua, but here are some thoughts - now that you're in a different ecosystem:
1. Your compost was suited to the old ecosystem - it may be great stuff in the old area, but needs some time to adapt?
2. Same with your garlic. Compared to mine, the leaves look quite small and skinny and possible shorter than mine.
3. Did you save the *largest* cloves for planting? I have heard that helps and is what I've been doing.

As for garlic blooming - those little bulbils they form take a long time to develop into large bulbs, if they ever do. That said, I'm using a bunch of them as a border to discourage the bunnies. Not sure I'm fooling them - they seem to know there's much better stuff just beyond those defenses - but every bit helps!

Did you say this only happened to one bed? So garlic in other beds is fine or they are following the same path?

I had problems with some of my garlic last year: white rot, slow to fill up, mild flavor and poor storage ability.  I speculated it was due to nutrient deficiency and added certain minerals accordingly. This year's garlic is healthy and productive again. There is a slow and natural way to do it and there is a faster one for quick remedy but both use no -cides or synthetic NPK.

Jay Angler wrote:I am further north, but I too, found last year disappointing for the size of garlic bulbs and cloves. I blamed it on the bed I grew it in, as that bed has disappointed me in the past. Maybe I shouldn't have?

However, I don't know what variety of garlic you planted Joshua, but here are some thoughts - now that you're in a different ecosystem:
1. Your compost was suited to the old ecosystem - it may be great stuff in the old area, but needs some time to adapt?
2. Same with your garlic. Compared to mine, the leaves look quite small and skinny and possible shorter than mine.
3. Did you save the *largest* cloves for planting? I have heard that helps and is what I've been doing.

A local farmer I was speaking to said the same thing about my compost and soil. He thought that the microorganisms from a 9a environment would not have survived the 6a winter unscathed. Some would, but not all of them. My garlic looked about half the size of some I saw growing in a friend's garden a month or so ago. She was growing in local soil only, and she was the one who recommended the fish emulsion when I told her my garlic was stunted compared to hers. Generally speaking, I don't save garlic and will buy new seed garlic. I will plant any clove that "looks" adequate for planting. That usually means about an inch tall and about 3/8" thick. This year was two new varieties for me: Musik and Purple Morado. I usually buy Duganski and Russian Red but they were all sold out when I ordered. Which reminds me, I need to place the pre-order for next year.

May Lotito wrote:Did you say this only happened to one bed? So garlic in other beds is fine or they are following the same path? I had problems with some of my garlic last year: white rot, slow to fill up, mild flavor and poor storage ability.  I speculated it was due to nutrient deficiency and added certain minerals accordingly. This year's garlic is healthy and productive again. There is a slow and natural way to do it and there is a faster one for quick remedy but both use no -cides or synthetic NPK.

The other bed pretty much fell over a couple of days after this one. I just harvested everything in it except for the three late planted cloves that are only about 4-inches tall.
The excess garlic cloves I had went into the local soil in a small berm alongside the beds. You can just see them behind the beds in the last photo above. They are quite small but still standing.

Not being one to allow vacant planting areas, I got some of my short season bean, carrot, and pepper seeds and put them in the garlic beds.
I don't think I really have the 80 days for the peppers, and the squirrels will probably steal anything that does come out.
Sometimes you just have to share with the locals.

Your bed looked well prepared but garlic takes over 8 months to grow. That's a very long time and with too much precipitation some nutrient can leach out faster than others by the time plant needs lots of it. Sulfur is particularly important for garlic because allicin, it's natural antifungal substance, contains sulfur. If you look at garlic fertilizer from the garlic seed company, it's formulated to increase S without adding too much N. I prefer natural slow release mineral, aka gypsum for supplement. When my garlic scapes shoot up in mid May, I pull and taste them raw. I grow asiatic garlic and if the scapes taste pungent, they have enough sulfur. Bulbs will start to fill up in the following month and I would monitor that too. If the bulb swelling is delayed, I give it some boric acid. Boron is essential for sugar transportation, cell wall integrity and root growth and should be in constant supply to have a healthy and vigorous plant. Each people's situation is different so this is just to give you some possibilities to investigate.

My planting time is similar to yours and here are what the garlic looked like by the month.

May Lotito wrote:Your bed looked well prepared but garlic takes over 8 months to grow. That's a very long time and with too much precipitation some nutrient can leach out faster than others by the time plant needs lots of it. Sulfur is particularly important for garlic because allicin, it's natural antifungal substance, contains sulfur. If you look at garlic fertilizer from the garlic seed company, it's formulated to increase S without adding too much N. I prefer natural slow release mineral, aka gypsum for supplement. When my garlic scapes shoot up in mid May, I pull and taste them raw. I grow asiatic garlic and if the scapes taste pungent, they have enough sulfur. Bulbs will start to fill up in the following month and I would monitor that too. If the bulb swelling is delayed, I give it some boric acid. Boron is essential for sugar transportation, cell wall integrity and root growth and should be in constant supply to have a healthy and vigorous plant. Each people's situation is different so this is just to give you some possibilities to investigate.

My planting time is similar to yours and here are what the garlic looked like by the month.

Wow. That certainly is working for you!
What I find curious is that all the reading I have done on garlic fertilizer says high N is the key. Adding blood meal in particular is the most commonly suggested additive. With you adding sulfur and boric acid, it sounds like you are lowering the ph of your soil considerably.
Have you tested your ph? I would really like to know what range you are having such good results in.
Oh, and what form are you using for the boric acid?

Sorry to hear of your results.  I have had that type of harvest several times over the years.  Never figured out why they just died when they should have thrived.

Two years ago I bought garlic from some place in Minnesota, planted it in the fall and had a 100 % failure!  They all rotted !

Last year I bought local, (Montana) and have had a 100% success rate !!  Glad I have a large family, (5 kids with lots of grandkids) as we are going to have a bumper crop !!

I think 4 x 1/2” holes in a container that size is too few, and would add more throughout the bottom, but we get 100” of rain per winter and up to 10” in a day. It seems like calcium should be solid with your water, but maybe th pH is too high or other salts are in excess? I have read and followed the suggestion to stop adding any nitrogen (ie fish emulsion) by mid spring/May to encourage bulbs to fill out rather than send energy to green growth.

Dennis Barrow wrote:Sorry to hear of your results.  I have had that type of harvest several times over the years.  Never figured out why they just died when they should have thrived.

Two years ago I bought garlic from some place in Minnesota, planted it in the fall and had a 100 % failure!  They all rotted !

Last year I bought local, (Montana) and have had a 100% success rate !!  Glad I have a large family, (5 kids with lots of grandkids) as we are going to have a bumper crop !!

Will add something here as it may apply to crop adaptation for one's region.  When we moved to our location in northern Minnesota, we immediately set out to grow garlic.....many different varieties purchased from a distributor out west.  We did this for 3-4 years in a row, planting in the fall and then watching it wither and die the following year.  Suscpicion was either some sort of root maggot or Fusarium fungus.  At any rate, we gave up.

~30 years later we have this 'perennial', overcrowded patch of garlic from those years back that had volunteered each year (top photo below). We would take a few leaves for a few meals, then ignore it for the rest of the year.  Last fall, my wife finally pulled up a clump of the overcrowded, small bulbs and divided the cloves for planting.   So far, the rows look pretty good with scapes developing nicely.  Should be time to check the crop soon for harvest and to see if we've selected for something way too small to be of use.  But it may be that we finally have a stock that will resist whatever was killing the original plantings.  So it may be worth protecting those that do survive and plant them this fall for another try next spring. Good luck!

PS:  I know what you're thinking with regard to photo 1:  "That's not garlic....thats a St. John's wort bush!".  Which is what occurs after the early garlic patch gets consumed by the rogue St. John's wort each year. Ha!

We've been growing garlic since 1994, the first few years weren't easy. I remember speaking with Tom Moon at Filaree early on about garlic adapting to your soil and climate over time. It may take a few growing seasons but garlic will become acclimatized to your soil and grow zone. Acclimatizing is one thing, reaching it's full potential is another though. Grow types of garlic that do well in your area, for instance, if Spanish Roja does well, try another rocambole like German Red.
We grow about 20 different varieties of garlic in any given year, some definitely do better than others. In central NY most growers go with only porcelain and rocambole types, but I've grown Asiatic, Silverskin, the purple stripes including marbled and glazed, artichoke and even southern Turban garlic.
We plant in well-drained, moisture-retentive soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0.

Plant 3 weeks prior to hard frost. Using well rotted organic matter helps, if cover cropping, turn under at least 2 weeks prior to planting. Raise up the rows to help with drainage, garlic hates wet feet.

When you plant use a balanced organic fertilizer, we use kreyers (it's omri) a local brand and it contains additional calcium. Hold off on using high nitrogen fertilizer initially, instead, space out 3 to 4 applications, about 3 weeks apart, late winter/early spring to May 1st. Stop all fertilizers after May 1st (as per David Stern/Garlic Seed Foundation).

Basic things to note:
Garlic hates competition, weeding is essential.
Garlic needs at least 1 inch of water a week
However, too much rain and nitrogen in the soil may lead to rust.
Leave one scape on a plant for each hard neck variety, when the scape stands straight up the garlic is ready to pull.
At least a 3 year field rotation or use cover cropping to simulate an additional year.

That garlic looks and sounds moldy. If that is in fact the case, then replanting is not a good idea, and your soil is contaminated for the foreseeable future.
Amy's garlic looks wonderful and she's been doing it for a minute, listen to anything she says.

Tommy Bolin wrote:That garlic looks and sounds moldy. If that is in fact the case, then replanting is not a good idea, and your soil is contaminated for the foreseeable future.
Amy's garlic looks wonderful and she's been doing it for a minute, listen to anything she says.

Hehehe.
Well, let me just say, we'll all be part of the garlic growers alliumni after this post...

Its always best to start fresh. However, during a very wet year, Mr Stern told me that my damaged waterlogged Music garlic was still good to plant as long as I did the 5 minute dunk in 5-6% peroxide. If the cloves are firm and the growing point isn't damaged it does work. We do this prior to planting all of our garlic. Punch holes in a smaller bucket and that will fit in 2 larger buckets. Have the peroxide in one large bucket and a water rinse in the other. You could also use vodka or something else to sanitize the cloves, we're stuck using the peroxide, NOFA gives us few choices in the matter.

I'm the physical/trades part on our homestead. Mechanic, building, firewood, equipment, etc.
Lil'B grows the hardneck, porcelain and red, 5000 last few  years, 7000 this year. Been at it since 2016. Selling garlic/bulbi and increasing seed stock.
Strawed when it gets cold, lets the vermin find cover somewhere besides next to the garlic for the winter.
We have mold this year looks like to me. Bad straw and fall rain. Sh***y part is the garden with the problem has been out of use for two summers. If mold is the issue, I'll be building another garden here shortly instead of next year,If she does not lose 1500 this year, I will be surprised.
She would resist the peroxide idea, I've suggested it in the past. We'll see. We've had mold before, slugs as well. Interestingly, I have some weakening peroxide rocket fuel that could be diluted. Too weak for anything fun.
Vodka is interesting, I have a very old Anaconda copper gas water heater, with 'still' in it's near future. I could see the test proofs used for sterilization.