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[Jack]

Gidday

I gotta big problem. My garlic has been lookin beautiful all year. It has been in the ground now for nearly 9 months and we have had way more rain and more often than anything that could be called normal down here. Yesterday I pulled one to use for our dinner and bugger me dead, it looks like it is still immature but worst of all, it is starting to rot.

They have discoloured a bit as if they are starting to dry off but methinks it's more like the rot that gettin em. I don't even thing chemical means can work at this late stage.

What, if anything can I do?????????

[Muddypause]

Take the garlic bulbs, make sure there are no bits of root or stem attached, put them all in an old sock, and then hang it up for about 3 weeks outside somewhere. Then take it down and put it in the bin.

Best place for garlic. Revolting stinky stuff.

[Chickpea]

Heh, Muddy. Now now, 60 million French people can't be wrong.

That mirrors my experiences with garlic, Jack. I stick it in the ground, it shoots up, grows healthy and happy, the leaves go brown and fall over and when I dig it up there's no bulb below. Boo. Believe it or not I'm trying again this year, but in the lottie, not the garden.

[Boots]

If their rotting, you might want to remove contaminated soil, or consider that bed out of bounds for a bit.

Might be lucky with something that grows above the surface maybe, but I'd probably just rest it.

[the.fee.fairy]

If its something that happens regularly, just grow the garlic for the scapes (curly green bits). When they get to a decent length, cut them off, chop them up and eat them.

At least you get some use out of it all then.

[Jack]

Gidday

Thanks ewe jokers.

I have grown it successfully since I have been here, always in a diferent part of the garden though. The bloody trouble this year is the way the globe has warmed up, like cold bloody wet spring and no summer.

[hedgewizard]

That's probably it, Jack - it concentrates on leaves until the longest day, then changes to bulb formation. If the summer's crap, it won't do well. Another possibility is it doesn't do too well if the soil surface forms a hard pan, so a bit of organic stuff scraped into the top inch of soil might help if you get another bad summer.

For this year if the rot is in all of them I'd whip 'em out and save what I could. If not, I'd probably water it once with something high in phosphate, then use a hand fork to loosen the top inch or two of soil and avoid watering it at all until harvest. Good luck!

[Jack]

Gidday

Well after one of our coldest Decembers on record and bloody wet as well and our long range forcast sayin we will probably only be getting one fine day till Saturday week I decided stuff it. I gotta try to save what I can so I dug my big ones up:-



Like I said they are a good size,


Now that's a size ten boot.

And I got what others say is a very big hand and have a hard job findin gloves to fit it:-


Well, I dug all the bigguns but didn't break all the soil from the roots and this is the first of two rows and three other wheel barrows full,


And am just going to let them dry out in the porch.

That was two rows of the biggest and the smaller ones which look like normal size where from the little bulbettes at the top of last years crop and there is three rows of the,.

You can see why I am reall peed off about the thought of losing the lot.

[hedgewizard]

Yep, I can see why you'd be annoyed. Those necks still look pretty thick so they may not store. If they start to go, you can slice them thinly and dry them, or freeze them whole and unpeeled, or chopped, or as a stick of puree rolled in cling film for cutting while still frozen.

[supersprout]

Corking garlic Jack, not many of them to the pound

Yep, I can see why you'd be annoyed.

Let us know if they dry off OK

[digiveg]

Wow! Great garlic! Is it 'elephant'?

I think the problem you've been having is due entirely to the high rainfall. Garlic is prone to rot during the latter stages of bulb growth if it gets too much water. Needless to say it's a bit of a problem here in Wales. Mine are learning to swim right now, but they're in the 'green' stage. Hopefully when the season turns a bit dryer (and warmer) they'll be heading into bulb production and we'll get some to keep. Not as big as yours, though...

Pity you had to dig 'em up while the stalks were so thick - the bulbs would have been even bigger if you'd been able to leave them.

[hedgewizard]

Personally I think that's a toy wheelbarrow and Jack just has really tiny hands. You know, the sort of person they use to advertise burgers and chocolate bars on TV.

[Jack]

Gidday

Me TINY


YEAH RIGHT!