A Garlic question w/picks

[rockytopsis]

Normal garlic bulbs I harvested this year.

These were from the same gathering but appear to be one solid bulb no seperation into cloves that I can see or feel.

All of the bulbs had these attached and my question is "What are they" LOL They are very hard and about the size of my little finger nail. In the first picture you can see the little bump at the base of the center one in the picture that shows how they were attached.

 

[Tutter]

When did you plant the garlic?

 

[rockytopsis]

I planted them in October of 07, and harvested them this year when the leaves turned brown.

 

[Reinbeau]

I know it won't help this year, but I'll bet if you plant those large single cloves this fall in well prepared soil you'll get a bumper crop next summer. By well prepared I mean ammended with lots of good compost or well-rotted manure. I use Bulb-tone, a bulb food made by Espoma, to fertilize my garlic. I've always got it on hand, because I feed my other bulbs, peonies and iris with it, a good topdressing each fall.

 

[Buff Shallots]

Rockytopsis, are you asking whether single-clove bulbs are normal? And what those small brown attachments are?

I'm not sure about either question. But maybe the answer lies in the variety the garlic is. Do you remember what it was, or where you got it?

 

[robbobbin]

Yes I think you sometime get single bulb garlics-I'd do like the other poster said and replant them for next years crop.
The little brown cloves have me stumped-I've never noticed them like that before.
Perhaps their seeds?? Plant them too...

 

[rockytopsis]

Rockytopsis, are you asking whether single-clove bulbs are normal? And what those small brown attachments are?

I'm not sure about either question. But maybe the answer lies in the variety the garlic is. Do you remember what it was, or where you got it?

I was just wondering why about half the crop was single bulbs and half normal. Also about the littl brown attachments--what are they?? Are they new garlic sets?

The garlic came from the grocery store about 5 years ago and I have been replanting the largest bulbs and using the smaller ones in the kitchen, so can't really say what kind it was, but the original bulbs were largs and had 5 cloves each.

This year is the first time I have had single bulbs and the little brown thingys.

As far as the way they are planted, it was a tractor tire filled with dirt, mulch and goat poo mulch. Been using it for several years now. This year it was full and beautifull with garlic.

 

[tinychicken]

That sounds like elephant garlic, and those little hard, brown cloves are called corms.

The small bulbs with no separate cloves are called rounds.

If you plant the corms, they will grow into a round the following year. Then when you plant the rounds, you should get a normal bulb of elephant garlic.

Before planting the corms, soak them four a couple of days to soften the hard outer shell.

 

[rockytopsis]

OK Tinychicken, so I should plant all my rounds and corms this fall? Should I plant any of the cloves from the normal garlic bulbs?

All I remember is they were large and mild and I loved the flavor of them. That is one reason I started replanting but this year it was a very strange harvest or so I thought LOL.

 

[tinychicken]

Yep, that's elephant garlic. It's mild tasting because it's not a true garlic. It's more closely related to onions.

I think experimentation is great! Plant some cloves and rounds and you will (hopefully!) get nice bulbs. Plant the corms and you should get some rounds. You can then replant the rounds or enjoy eating them. Nothing to lose any way you look at it.