Garlic crop

[Shallot Man]

Pulled up my garlic just over a week ago, most had rotted. Any ideas.

[mandylew]

I grew mine in black boxes (the recycling ones our local council gave out a few years back) and had a great crop, sorry thats no consolation, do you think its white rot from an infected patch?

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Shallot Man, if there was a white fluffy stuff, or a kind of black scale at the bottom of the Garlic, it will be White Rot i'm afraid to say.

[Tony Hague]

I would say that you left it a bit late to harvest - mine has been out for a good wihile. I find that if I leave it too long, the outer wrapper at least starts to decompose, leaving an untidy bulb.

[Mike Vogel]

I'm with Tony. Received wisdom is that it is better to dig up too early than too late. Sometimes the bulb starts to shrink as the vitality goes into preparation for flowering. With Rocambole and Elephant types it is advisable to cut off the flowering spike [use it in stirfries] some time before digging up.

[FelixLeiter]

It's a bit late for harvesting. You may have planted too shallowly. This can lead to the bulbs not properly forming a tunic. Garlic should be planted to a depth at least twice the height of the cloves. I always plant in autumn: spring-planted garlic does not seem to do anything like as well. For me, anyway.

[Shallot Man]

Many thanks for the advice.

[Johnboy]

Hi Felix,
You live in the deep south and your growing year begins at least a month ahead of me here so I suspect that your information is not for nation wide advice. Some of my Garlic is not yet ready to lift and maybe in another week or so I will lift it. I have had a good crop so far and this was from December planted cloves (French Rose Garlic 3" dia.). The ones that are not ready were planted in late February.
JB.

[PLUMPUDDING]

I've just lifted my garlic this week and have a very good crop even though I planted it much later than usual due to the snow and ice.

I planted it in pots in the cold greenhouse at the end of January, then moved it into the coldframe and planted it in the garden in mid February.

I've never had garlic that rotted, but wonder if yours was too wet, or as Mandylew suggests has been infected with something.

[The Mouse]

Garlic should be planted to a depth at least twice the height of the cloves.

I've never been quite sure what that means in practice!

Suppose, for the sake of argument, that the clove measures 1.5cm. Should I put it in a 3cm hole or a 4.5cm hole? In other words, should it be the top, or the bottom, of the clove that should be at a depth of 3cm?

I have the same dilemma every time I plant any sort of bulb!!!

[Shallot Man]

Mouse. I was told they should be planted 2inches deep. Sorry I am still imperial. shallotman

[Johnboy]

Hi Mouse,
My Garlic is always planted so that there is aprrox. 5cm (2") of soil above the crown of the clove. So really to plant the Garlic you need a hole that is about 7.5cm (3") deep. I do this with a dibber and add a very small amount of sharp sand then drop the clove in the hole then and fill it in.
I do not use any fertilizer and rely solely on the normal fertility of the prepared bed.
JB.

[The Mouse]

Ok! Thank you - that has put an end to years of uncertainty!

[Mike Vogel]

On one of the TV programmes we were recommended to plant garlic in soil which had been ridged. The rain would then drain round the bulbs in the ground and would thus be less likely to cause them to rot.