Garlic Turning Up Tiny!

[mattie g]

Here's the deal:

At least part of my garlic crop is small, as in barely even the diameter of a half dollar. And I don't know why.

I ordered premium planting-sized garlic (Inchelium Red and Chesnok Red) from a reputable outlet last year and planted at the end of October. The Inchelium Red poked through the ground within a week or two and was about 6" or so high before winter kicked in. They got knocked down a little in the cold and snow, but recovered really well once spring kicked in. The Chesnok Red didn't break the surface at all in the fall, but went gangbusters come spring.

The issue I'm having is with the Inchelium Red. The leaves started to yellow a few weeks ago, the crop mostly flopped over about 7-10 days ago, and they were primarily browned out, so I decided to pull them this weekend. Having inspected some of the bulbs over the last couple weeks by just sticking a finger into the ground, I figured they were on the small side, and when I pulled them, my fears were realized. Despite the plants being around 2.5' high with nice thick stalks, these bulbs are pitiful.

This is a semi-raised bed that consists of well-draining soil containing plenty of organic material (compost and shredded leaves from last fall), and has been amended in the last year to help with drainage and compaction. It's quite a nice bed, if I say so myself. I also made sure to fertilize early in the sporing and then again a couple months later. It gets plenty of sun, especially during the fall, winter, and spring months, though it gets shaded a little in the summer from a plum tree we recently planted.

I'm a little fearful of how the Chesnok Red will end up. I've done a similar check on them and the bulbs seem fairly small right now, though the plants are nice and hearty. I harvested the scapes about two weeks ago and the leaves are starting to yellow, so I'm guessing harvest will be coming within the next week or two.

Any suggestions/feedback?

[rainbowgardener]

IME half dollar size is pretty typical, not huge, but not what I would call tiny either. What were you expecting?

[mattie g]

IME half dollar size is pretty typical, not huge, but not what I would call tiny either. What were you expecting?

I figured that by growing from high-quality stock that I'd get something a little better than what I've seen so far. Heck...last year was the first time I really tried growing garlic - I planted much smaller cloves and got similar-sized bulbs to those from this year. I've read plenty of people who mention getting 2"+ diameter bulbs. Mine are barely 1" wide - not even the size of a hlaf dollar. The disappointing thing is that the plants are really big and healthy looking, with nice, thick stalks. Then I pull the plants and the stalk isn't all that much thinner than the bulbs!

I don't mind putting in the effort and giving up garden space because home-grown garlic is wonderful, but it's frankly not worth the money to purchase high-quality starter garlic if I don't get cloves that are big enough to plant the following fall. If it's a year-on-year thing and my bulbs will get bigger as the garlic adapts to my garden (which I've read it can do), then I'm willing to be patient!

[rainbowgardener]

OK... I think I was picturing bigger. That may not be tiny, but it is small. Mine typically come out about 2" wide. I did just start with grocery store garlic cloves, but I think this is now my third year of planting my own home grown garlic.

[mattie g]

OK... I think I was picturing bigger. That may not be tiny, but it is small. Mine typically come out about 2" wide. I did just start with grocery store garlic cloves, but I think this is now my third year of planting my own home grown garlic.

Yeah...maybe my proportions are off a little, too. What I do know is that I can easily fit five or six (or more) bulbs in one hand (I do have large hands, though ). I'll try to take a picture a little later and post it.

[imafan26]

Sometimes it is the soil and the culture. Garlic needs to have nitrogen in the beginning to get strong top growth. Then the high nitrogen needs to be switched to a higher phosphorus as the days get longer so the bulb develops.

I don't know what kind of garlic you were growing. Garlic, like onions are sensitive to day length and warmth. I can only grow southern varieties that do not require the longer days. In other words in general softneck varieties grow better in warmer areas and hardnecks in cooler areas. Soil should be well drained and deep. Garlic roots go surprisingly deep.

https://greenharvest.com.au/Plants/Infor ... owing.html

[mattie g]

Didn't have a chance to take picture yesterday, but I did measure one of the bulbs - it's was a shade over 1" in diameter.

Sometimes it is the soil and the culture. Garlic needs to have nitrogen in the beginning to get strong top growth. Then the high nitrogen needs to be switched to a higher phosphorus as the days get longer so the bulb develops.

I don't know what kind of garlic you were growing. Garlic, like onions are sensitive to day length and warmth. I can only grow southern varieties that do not require the longer days. In other words in general softneck varieties grow better in warmer areas and hardnecks in cooler areas. Soil should be well drained and deep. Garlic roots go surprisingly deep.

https://greenharvest.com.au/Plants/Infor ... owing.html

I fertilized with blood meal and had *plenty* of healthy top growth, so that doesn't seem to have been an issue. I then switched to a balanced fertilizer once we got into regularly warm weather. I didn't know about the phosphorus-heavy idea though. The soil is an amended bed with good soil drainage.

I'm growing Inchelium Red (softneck) and Chesnok Red (hardneck). I'm in a bit of an intermediate zone in that we can have very cold or quite mild winters, and we get just shy of 15 hours of sunlight on our longest days. This winter was quite cold, so the garlic got its necessary "cold treatment."

Obviously something is amiss. Just trying to figure out what...

[RogueRose]

Mine were small this year two. I got some from SeedSavers I think. I could tell they were going to be small because the stalks were small. Last year I got some nice BIG ones. I think I got the Bogatyr Organic. I initially planted and fertilized with the Peruvian Bird Guano which is VERY strong nitrogen fertilizer. Good drainage. I planted there the year before and didn't have a problem. I think it was because our winter was so abysmal.

[jal_ut]

It is very likely that not all varieties of garlic are well suited to your soil and growing conditions. You need to ask around locally to find some varieties that do well in your area. Get some stock from a successful local grower.

[Ohio Tiller]

I just pulled all of mine last weekend and I got several that were a lot smaller than the others but most of them were good sized bulbs. I blame that cold winter that just would not go away till May this year.

[ArtVandelay]

I planted garlic for the first time last fall. I decided to try both a hardneck and a softneck variety. I chose German porcelain and German red. I pulled the garlic up yesterday evening. The porcelain garlic came in a bit smaller than what I was expecting, while the German red came in a little larger. I plan on saving some of what I just pulled up to plant in the fall but I'll also be trying a couple different varieties from a different seller.

[mattie g]

Mine were small this year two. I got some from SeedSavers I think. I could tell they were going to be small because the stalks were small. Last year I got some nice BIG ones. I think I got the Bogatyr Organic. I initially planted and fertilized with the Peruvian Bird Guano which is VERY strong nitrogen fertilizer. Good drainage. I planted there the year before and didn't have a problem. I think it was because our winter was so abysmal.

I figured since the winter was cold that the garlic would have been that much more perky this year. Don't know...

I still have the Chesnok Red in the ground, so I'm hoping they put on some girth in these last couple weeks!

[mattie g]

It is very likely that not all varieties of garlic are well suited to your soil and growing conditions. You need to ask around locally to find some varieties that do well in your area. Get some stock from a successful local grower.

I'd been thinking of this, and thought it might help me get a variety that grew well enough that I could save some cloves to plant each successive year. Just not sure where to look for a local grower, to be honest.