Kitchen Garden Forum

You ought to be keeping an eye out for gaps appearing in your garlic, Codger......

I accidentally dug up a garlic plant yesterday and there was no bulb at all forming on it. I would have expected at least a small one by this stage. Could it be due to the lack of cold weather during winter? Also the leaves are becoming increasingly covered in rust. Could this be affecting the size of the bulb, or the lack of it?

Managed to grub around & get enough new potatoes for our meal last night. That is a great feeling - we'll the first of anything always tastes the best!

Westi

Primrose wrote:I accidentally dug up a garlic plant yesterday and there was no bulb at all forming on it.

I did a test digging just to give me an idea of what the bulb might look like compared to the foliage which looked very healthy.

Like you I was disappointed and quickly shoved the earth back around the bulb that wasn't really a bulb at-all.

I have very little experience so I can't comment though I would like to add that because I had white-rot in a different bed I'm nervous about leaving the garlic in the ground any longer than it needs.

Mine looks health with big tops, I already know that big tops doesn't mean solid and healthy bulbs.

I wouldn't worry, Primrose and Richard. I have not tried i this year, but in previous years I proddled about to see if any garlic bulbs were growing and found nothing - and then suddenly they bulked out.

The overwintered onions and shallots are certainly clearly visible now and I will soon start using the former.

I have a funeral to go to today, of one of the village lads of my time. I haven't seen him for quite a few years now, but it's strange how all the childhood memories come flooding back at such occasions. He was only 57 so no age at all really.