Garlic hasn't formed cloves

[glallotments]

I pulled some garlic up yesterday (Albigensian Wight) - the bulbs looked great but hadn't split into cloves.

They were planted directly in the ground in autumn last year so should have had the period of cold weather that they need to divide. Any ideas?

[Nature's Babe]

my autumn planted did the same gallotments - using it now as green garlic the leaves have browned at the ends and they looked ready - must be the weird seasons we are experiencing. Fortunately also planted in spring, they look fine.

[Binky]

Mine are the same. I planted Early Purple, Albigensian and Iberian Wight in early November. They had a good spell of cold weather in February. All are good healthy plants but none have split.

[Kleftiwallah]

I think I would prefer one big clove rather than a load of fiddly little ones.

Cheers, Tony.

[Monika]

GL, by coincidence I pulled two of our garlics today, one Edenrose (which I had never grown before) and Solent Wight (which I grow every year), both planted as sets in October, and, yes, ours are very small too. But there is still plenty of time for them to grow. I always start about now pulling them as I need them but for storage over winter, I don't harvest them until August when they have usually grown into whoppers. So, have patience!

[glallotments]

GL, by coincidence I pulled two of our garlics today, one Edenrose (which I had never grown before) and Solent Wight (which I grow every year), both planted as sets in October, and, yes, ours are very small too. But there is still plenty of time for them to grow. I always start about now pulling them as I need them but for storage over winter, I don't harvest them until August when they have usually grown into whoppers. So, have patience!

Ours wasn't small Monika - it was a lovely big bulb which made it all the more disappointing when it hadn't split. I picked it as it was starting with rust on the leaves which were quite yellow anyway. We have lots more and various varieties so I'll hang on a while before picking any more.
So if I leave it longer will it split as I thought it was the cold that made it split?

Does anyone know if you use a piece of a big bulb if you can keep the rest as I read that you can easily end up with food poisoning if you eat garlic that has been exposed to the air?

[Monika]

Sorry, GL, I obviously hadn't read you post properly. I think it's been an odd year all round. At this very moment I am sitting here at 19.05, sun still high and there is a pipistrelle bat hunting over the nature reserve we overlook.

Back to garlic: I occasionally have had single-bulb garlic as a one-off. Maybe that's the case with yours?

[glallotments]

Sorry, GL, I obviously hadn't read you post properly. I think it's been an odd year all round. At this very moment I am sitting here at 19.05, sun still high and there is a pipistrelle bat hunting over the nature reserve we overlook.

Back to garlic: I occasionally have had single-bulb garlic as a one-off. Maybe that's the case with yours?

No problem Monika - I misread all the time especially when I am in a rush. A single bulb I could accept but I pulled 5 or six bulbs and all were exactly the same. Now I don't know whether to leave the rest for a while as once pulled up it's too late.

[Colin_M]

Does anyone know if you use a piece of a big bulb if you can keep the rest as I read that you can easily end up with food poisoning if you eat garlic that has been exposed to the air?

I don't believe there's any danger of food poisoning by doing this. Whether the remaining garlic keeps well is a separate question. There is a known risk of trying to preserve garlic in oil (it needs acific conditions, otherwise Botulism is a risk and this is hard for most home producers to achieve reliably).

Back to the original post, my garlic looks sad this year having been vibrant earlier in the Spring. Like some of you, the most advanced plants have thick swollen stems, but the bulbs don't look very developed yet.

I don't think any of them were helped by having to stand in water for several days during the heavier rain of April/May

[glallotments]

Does anyone know if you use a piece of a big bulb if you can keep the rest as I read that you can easily end up with food poisoning if you eat garlic that has been exposed to the air?

I don't believe there's any danger of food poisoning by doing this. Whether the remaining garlic keeps well is a separate question. There is a known risk of trying to preserve garlic in oil (it needs acific conditions, otherwise Botulism is a risk and this is hard for most home producers to achieve reliably).

It was when reading about preserving in oil that I read about the problem so I just assumed it would be the same when not preserving it in anything