Circuspup
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Nematodes eating garlic bulbs--do I need to harvest early?

I noticed some of my hard neck garlic leaves dying/turning yellow too early so I dug up one bulb. I found that it was infested with what I believe to be root nematodes. They had eaten through the outer layers causing brown decay and it looked like a nest of them in the stem. I checked a neighboring bulb and found some beginning to eat the outer layers of that one too.
My garlic still needs about a month before harvest. I'm afraid that if I leave them in the ground all my bulbs will be destroyed. However, if I harvest this early, I won't be able to cure the garlic for storage. Should I go ahead and dig it all up now, or wait until the skin and cloves have properly formed and simply hope that not all the garlic will have been affected?

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RamonaGS
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I admit that I have never tried it, but I saw this article about using a dilute mix of hydrogen peroxide to kill nematodes. Maybe someone else here has some experience with it.

https://joemacho.hubpages.com/hub/Hydrog ... for-Plants

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applestar
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Could you post some pictures? Maybe the first step should be to confirm if they ARE nematodes so effective solution can be recommended.

In the event that you decide to dig them up early, some people freeze garlic to store them. Other methods include dehydrating them or pickling them... I think there's a thread (I'll go look :wink:)

...I think this is the one I was thinking of... There doesn't seem to be a single thread but several with sprinklings of how members save/store/preserve their garlic. Try the custom search bar up top and see what you think.

:arrow: https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 11&t=45197

Another possibility I picked up while looking is to re-plant the smallish cloves you harvest now later in the fall for next year's larger than normal sized harvest.

mattie g
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I was going to post about this, as well. I've been having trouble with my Music garlic - I've already had to pull six or seven plants for the very same reason, and have been hoping that the rest of the bed can hold out until they're ready for harvest. My Inchelium Red bed, which is about 12' away, has been unaffected.

Here's a picture if one I pulled this past weekend:
image.jpg
image.jpg (49.29 KiB) Viewed 1733 times
I'm curing these plants in the hopes that they'll last for just a little bit, but I'll use them before any other bulbs as long as the flavor isn't affected by the damage.
Last edited by mattie g on Wed Jun 19, 2013 4:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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applestar
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I can't really see clearly, but I wonder -- do onion fly maggots also infest garlic?

mattie g
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applestar wrote:I can't really see clearly, but I wonder -- do onion fly maggots also infest garlic?
Don't know, but I will say that my Music is taking a beating from whatever they are.

I just edited the picture - hopefully it looks better right side up.

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applestar
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OK, I'll study the picture some more ...

I found this article in the mean time and - yes - they do attack garlic. :evil:
:arrow: https://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/factsheet ... ion/om.pdf

mattie g
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applestar wrote:OK, I'll study the picture some more ...

I found this article in the mean time and - yes - they do attack garlic. :evil:
:arrow: https://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/factsheet ... ion/om.pdf
You can see the beasts about halfway down the bulb and also at the base near the roots. Urgh...

Luckily my onions are OK, especially since my onion bed is only 5-6' away from the Music bed.

Thanks for the link, apple. I'll try finding some more info on them, as well.

imafan26
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UC Davis site below talks about onion nematodes. Nematodes are nasty no matter what you plant. Adding more organic matter to the soil helps keep them at bay and also solarizing. But, most of the time it is best to move the garden or plant only resistant vegetables. If it is nematodes you need to be careful not to move the soil to uninfested parts of the yard by carefully washing tools and boots as well.

Planting sun hemp or certain varieties of dwarf French marigolds help to kill off some species of nematodes, but they must be planted thickly as a cover crop. Usually nematodes can be controlled but not eliminated.

https://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r584200111.html



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