too much rain - garlic

tjg911 · July 19, 2008

YES TOO MUCH RAIN!
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i dug 1 french pink bulb a few days ago, all of the french pink are almost on the ground... never saw this before.
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the bulb is 2" and looks fine.

i have 1 music also on the ground for several days so i dug it today.
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the bulb is 3" and looks fine, until closer inspection!
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i called rich, a local organic farmer, who i got my stock from. his garlic is a mess and he's trying to dig it all up before we get any more rain, no rain for 10-14 days but the soil is still damp and clings to the bulbs and especially the roots with 2" of straw mulch on it.
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so i decide to dig all the french pink. rain showers are predicted for sunday thru tuesday. some bulbs are a smaller than the original but just 1 or 2 are 1" most are 2-2.5" and i have 2 that are the size of a bigger than normal music bulb, and that's large.
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many bulbs have wrapper problems due to being too wet. i question how well this long storage variety will store?
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the 1 music bulb has the wrapper worn away at the roots with a space that looks like a clove is exposed. i assume too much rain.
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the other 6 varieties are standing up and don't look quite ready to dig so i am going to chance it and hope the thunderstorms miss me or don't drop a lot of rain.
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it just rained all of june every day with almost no sun at all, maybe 3 days if that. we got about 4 months rain in 1 month. pole beans, winter squash, cukes, peppers plants are smaller than normal and onion bulbs are smaller too tho plants are large and healthy. other plants seem to have grown ok - broccoli (heads rotting and bursting), potatoes but digging will tell me for sure, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, chard, parsley, eggplant. zucchini and yellow squash just put out on july 4th so they look ok.
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tom

July 19, 2008	#1
tjg911 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut Posts: 2,570	too much rain - garlic YES TOO MUCH RAIN! . i dug 1 french pink bulb a few days ago, all of the french pink are almost on the ground... never saw this before. . the bulb is 2" and looks fine. i have 1 music also on the ground for several days so i dug it today. . the bulb is 3" and looks fine, until closer inspection! . i called rich, a local organic farmer, who i got my stock from. his garlic is a mess and he's trying to dig it all up before we get any more rain, no rain for 10-14 days but the soil is still damp and clings to the bulbs and especially the roots with 2" of straw mulch on it. . so i decide to dig all the french pink. rain showers are predicted for sunday thru tuesday. some bulbs are a smaller than the original but just 1 or 2 are 1" most are 2-2.5" and i have 2 that are the size of a bigger than normal music bulb, and that's large. . many bulbs have wrapper problems due to being too wet. i question how well this long storage variety will store? . the 1 music bulb has the wrapper worn away at the roots with a space that looks like a clove is exposed. i assume too much rain. . the other 6 varieties are standing up and don't look quite ready to dig so i am going to chance it and hope the thunderstorms miss me or don't drop a lot of rain. . it just rained all of june every day with almost no sun at all, maybe 3 days if that. we got about 4 months rain in 1 month. pole beans, winter squash, cukes, peppers plants are smaller than normal and onion bulbs are smaller too tho plants are large and healthy. other plants seem to have grown ok - broccoli (heads rotting and bursting), potatoes but digging will tell me for sure, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, chard, parsley, eggplant. zucchini and yellow squash just put out on july 4th so they look ok. . tom