Garlic Maturing Early

[tjg911]

Originally Posted by stonysoilseeds

i really like growing garlic and want to expand my varieties this fall.. can anyone reccomend a reputable garlic dealer with good selection.. i ordered from fedco last yr and they were excessively expensive i think for 2 lbs it ended up costimg me $56.00 with shipping and i didnt even get what i ordered

http://wegrowgarlic.com

i am still cutting scapes. none of mine whose scapes were cut 2 weeks ago look ready. thankfully it has dried out, too much rain. one year i was digging in mud, the bulbs were a mess and it took twice as long due to the cleaning required. hopefully the ground will be dry and the soil will just fall off.

tom

[stonysoilseeds]

ty tom for the link it looks great i will order from them... i cut all my scapes off about 10 days or so now im jusy waiting for most of the leaves to brown which hasnt happened yet fortunately last several days habe been hot and dry here

[Jeannine Anne]

I cut all myscapes today, some not quite ready, but someone on our community garden had been helping themselves to them.Now I am worried about my garlic. I am wondering about harvesting it early to make sure it is still there.

Our gardens are open to the public and my garlic in a particularly open spot some distance from the main plots in a disabled bed so is quite vunerable.

I have 20 odd differnt varieties growing so am getting worried, does anyone know how early I could lift it and still get a decent harvest.

Some scapes today were curled some still straight.

I would appreciate any help.

XX Jeannine

[tjg911]

you should harvest softnecks when they fall over and hardnecks when the lower half of the plant's leaves are brown. if the thieves know when to harvest garlic you have a problem but since you harvest it when the plant still appears to be growing maybe they won't know when it is ready? harvesting too early will result in small bulbs but that may be better than nothing. sorry it's hard to say what to do. if you start digging that may signal the thieves so if you start i'd dig all of them.

tom

[tjg911]

i started to cut scapes around 6/3, today i cut the last. there are 2 plants with 4" straight scapes so they'll be another week but 99% of the hardnecks are done. all the garlic has the lower 2 sets of leaves dying back. the lowest are very small leaves and at ground level, the other set is the 1st real large leaves that are showing any drying out. i guess it will be a week maybe 2 weeks before harvest. the softnecks show no signs of tipping over.

tom

[fortyonenorth]

Maturity is going to depend on variety. I've already harvested Turbans, Asiatics and some of the Rocamboles - that's here in the lower Great Lakes region. I'd recommend you carefully scrape away some of the soil to reveal the bulb. As long as you don't get under the bulb and damage the roots, it shouldn't pose a problem. Then you can inspect them to see if they've sized up. It really comes down to your preference. I don't think there is any problem with harvesting early as long as you're satisfied with the bulbs. Or, split the difference: harvest some and leave some for later.

Originally Posted by Jeannine Anne

I cut all myscapes today, some not quite ready, but someone on our community garden had been helping themselves to them.Now I am worried about my garlic. I am wondering about harvesting it early to make sure it is still there.

Our gardens are open to the public and my garlic in a particularly open spot some distance from the main plots in a disabled bed so is quite vunerable.

I have 20 odd differnt varieties growing so am getting worried, does anyone know how early I could lift it and still get a decent harvest.

Some scapes today were curled some still straight.

I would appreciate any help.

XX Jeannine

[Jeannine Anne]

They are all varieties on Rombacole. I have never had to worry before and just left them to be harvested when ready but this year I suspect I may have a problem.

I will. take a look today, far too soon but it will give me an idea of how each variety is coming on.

I hate the thought of doing it early though.

Thanks for the help

XX Jeannine

[barkeater]

Never have I harvested garlic so early! I normally don't pull garlic for 3 more weeks. Consistently big, healthy bulbs too. A week ago I pulled some softnecks that were falling over, and I get back home in VT Wednesday and in just a week all the hardnecks went from lush green to half yellow. I should have expected it as they came up 3-4 weeks earlier. Funny how they don't scape any earlier though.

[salix]

Will be digging my garlic in the next day or two - just want the soil to dry a bit more and expecting hot dry weather for at least 2 days. Last year dug on 20 August, so a couple of weeks early up here as well.