the smallest garlic bulbs are rotting w/beetles in them?

[patandchickens]

I have been pulling my garlic since the lower leaves are yellowing and it seemed to be time.

Of about a dozen and a half plants, about 3-4 were significantly smaller, both in aboveground vegetation and in bulb size, and their foliage was mostly yellowed/browned with hardly any green left, and when I pulled them up the bulbs were squishy in spots with various small black beetles crawlin' in and out eating the bulbs and making an awful mess. These small, squishy-eaten plants were not in any one particular area in the garlic patch, they were kind of scattered throughout.

The majority of the plants are larger, happier-looking and do not have this problem, but I would like to know whether this is just Life or whether I did something wrong that I oughta know about for next year?

Thanks,

Pat, whose garage now smells seriously like garlic (where it's hung to dry off), mmmmmmmmm

 

[Tutter]

I don't know about black beetles....I know of off-white creepy crawlies.

The only thing I can think of that could have been wrong, would be if you had grown another allium in that spot in the past 4 years.

Other than that, I don't know. Not much goes after garlic. You can give them a hot water soak for half an hour before planting, I guess. It helps with the off-whitish critters. (Darned if I can remember what they are called.)

Mmmmm, I can smell it from here; I love garlic!

Hey, you ought to come on down. Have you ever gone by Gilroy?

Let's hope that you can kill off the critters in that area, and not repeat this next year!

 

[patandchickens]

The only thing I can think of that could have been wrong, would be if you had grown another allium in that spot in the past 4 years.

Nope, it was tomatoes last year and lawn before that, without any alliaceous (ha, that sounds good doesn't it, even if it's not a real word <g>) weeds.

I am wondering whether possibly they were just constitutively smaller weaker plants and matured sooner, and should have been pulled sooner, but just stayed in the ground too long and started to rot and attract creepy crawlies? What normally happens if you leave your garlic in the ground too long?

You can give them a hot water soak for half an hour before planting, I guess. It helps with the off-whitish critters.

That sounds like good advice and I will do it before I plant this fall, thanks! Even if it doesn't help with this issue it can't hurt to take General Precautions.

Mmmmm, I can smell it from here; I love garlic!

Me too, I have never understood why garlic breath is considered a *bad* thing. I would make a *terrible* vampire <g>

Hey, you ought to come on down. Have you ever gone by Gilroy?

No, but my sister went to the garlic festival about ten years ago and had a blast -- brought me back a jar of garlic jelly. Oh was THAT ever good


Pat

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Me too, I have never understood why garlic breath is considered a *bad* thing. I would make a *terrible* vampire <g> Pat

Oh, I so agree with you on that one! In most recipes that call for garlic, I use more than the recipe dictates. In September we have tickets to a Dodger's game. The one thing I have to have at the game is the Gordon Biersch garlic fries. There are big hunks of garlic all over those french fries! Oh yuuuuuuummmmm!

Google it and you'll know what I'm talking about!

What kind of garlic did you grow this year?

 

[patandchickens]

The one thing I have to have at the game is the Gordon Biersch garlic fries. There are big hunks of garlic all over those french fries! Oh yuuuuuuummmmm!

Google it and you'll know what I'm talking about!

Ooooh, that sounds goooooood. <drool>

What kind of garlic did you grow this year?

Nothing particularly interesting, just Music, and only because on the day when I realized 'hey, I need to get some garlic to plant' and stopped at Richters' Herbs that's what they happened to have at the time

I would like to try a couple different varieties this year though. The Music came out pretty respectably -- not going to win Giant Garlic awards but I would say that most of the heads are significantly bigger than the extra-large or jumbo eggs my older hens lay, so as long as they cure ok I am quite satisfied.

I think my total work input into the garlic part of the garden, over the past year, was like 15 minutes (7 minutes planting, 2 minutes mulching, 5 minutes weeding, didn't actually water or anything like that)

Pat

 

[Backyard Buddies]

That sounds pretty darn good to me, Pat! You must get enough rain where you are to provide them with what you need. Living in So. Cal, I'm still trying to figure out the needs of the garlic here. I have no idea what I planted as they were given to me by a family member who has grown them for a couple of generations. In Oct., I'd like to plant a variety to see what comes of it. I'm finding the garlic growing to be quite interesting. What else are you going to try?

Well, since the garlic fries sound so good to you, I'll eat a few extra for ya!

 

[curly_kate]

I think my total work input into the garlic part of the garden, over the past year, was like 15 minutes (7 minutes planting, 2 minutes mulching, 5 minutes weeding, didn't actually water or anything like that)

Pat

I am now a total convert to growing garlic! I planted it for the first time last fall, and it was by far the easiest thing I've ever grown! I'm also trying yellow onions for the first time this year, and they're super-easy, too. Love those alliums!