Garlic Leaves Turned Yellow & Wilting - Should I Worry?

[jasonvanorder]

This is my first year growing garlic and so far its been going pretty good. We had a big warm up this past weekend with temps in the upper 70's. Thats when I noticed on a couple of the plants had a leaf or two that were wilting and turning yellow from the top down. Is this something I should be worried about? I will try to get a pic tonight.

[jal_ut]

Garlic seems to do best planted in the fall. It overwinters and comes up early.

Worried? I would not worry. All we can do is put it in the ground and stand back. Enjoy!

[jasonvanorder]

Garlic seems to do best planted in the fall. It overwinters and comes up early.

Worried? I would not worry. All we can do is put it in the ground and stand back. Enjoy!

First year growing garlic and didnt know that till it was too late. Anyway looks like I was worried about nothing. I underestimated the amount of water these critters needed. After an all day rain they perked right up and are looking fine. Time to step up my watering schedule.

[BirdLover]

Just 5 minutes ago, I was reading some interesting things about garlic, so I will share what I read.
Softneck varieties have smaller cloves, have a mellow flavor & do better in mild climates.
Hardneck varieties have larger cloves, are spicier and thrive in colder climates.
Elephant garlic is not really garlic, but is actually a type of leek. It is very mild and has limited storage ability compared to garlic.
From the Nov 2015 issue of Sunset magazine.

[jal_ut]

I don't know squat about garlic.

[Peter1142]

I have never seen garlic labelled as long day or short day. Only onions and shallots. Can you provide a source?

[jal_ut]

"Can you provide a source?"

NO, so I amended my post.

[imafan26]

Garlic is not "labeled" unfortunately. Hardnec varieties ad elephant garlic are usually planted in the north usually around 6 weeks before frost or in the early spring in some places. The tops will grow and then die off when it freezes, mulch heavily, it comes back again in the spring. Remove the mulch in the spring when the threat of frost has passed. Softneck varieties do better in the south but require vernalization (about 6 weeks in a brown paper bag in the crisper of the refrigerator. Planting in the sout is from about September - November.

Garlic likes a lot of compost and manure but only nitrogen at the beginning. The cool days of the fall will grow the tops and as the days lenghthen the bulbs start to grow. Water and do not let the soil dry out when the greens are growing.
When the first couple of leaves start drying reduce watering and let the bulbs form up. It takes about 5 months from planting to harvest in the South. Somewhere between May -June.

[Mr green]

Why you wanna remove the mulch in spring imafan26? Couple of years since i grew garlic, and i always left the mulch, the garlic greens grow up straight threw it with no hassle (straight threw half broken down leaves and everything im in my moist climate and didnt have any problem with it. I do however lack alot of your tropical heat.) This way i never had to water them either, very nice. Other than that i did as imafan26 says and planting may vary from oktober - early december here depending on the weather that year. I also often sow old cloves of garlic to harvest the greens for sallads, very good usage for the extra cloves that might gone a bit soft and to old for consumption.

I understand that growing conditions vary, but nature grows with the mulch on 24/7 all year around with the exception for errosion and such things, that is often due to human influence tho. I have also seen numerous hawaiian gardeners on youtube that practice mulching in different forms. This is not a rant, its just my quriosity.

[Gary350]

I once had a growing guide link to all the different types of garlic but this link is all i can find now. http://www.greenmountaingarlic.com/garlic-types/

Do google search for garlic types and growing guide.

Elephant ear has a terrible flavor I do not like.

I do not remember all the different garlic types but I do remember what we get in the grocery store is what grows best for most geographical locations. I buy grocery store garlic and plant it in Sept. Nitrogen makes it grow large. My garlic will be ready to harvest very soon probably June. Soft neck garlic lasts longer than hard neck garlic. Add organic material and sand to soften soil for the garlic roots to grow better.

[jasonvanorder]

A little update I thought it might have been from not getting enough water so I upped the amount I watered and mother nature has been helping quite a bit with it too but leaves are still pretty yellow. I took a pic last week but havent had time to upload it till today. Pay no attention to the weeds took the pic before i could get to them. Any ideas as to what the issue is would be great

[applestar]

I think garlic is mostly grouped by winter temperatures they can survive, and less hardy ones are grown in the south with result that they have acclimated to shorter days. I'm growing one less hardy turban-type that is marginal in my zone, but the supplier thought they would make it if I planted deep and mulched... And it seems as though they did. They should mature ahead of the other varieties.

I'm just starting to explore different varieties of garlic -- I've only grown Music and Elephant because these two varieties are very reliable for the most part -- so maybe my garlic-sense is not educated enough, but I like the milder flavor of the elephant garlic in some dishes, and they certainly LOOK impressive in the garden.

LEFT - Left: Tzan Turban, Middle: Russian Giant Marble Purple Stripe, Right: Georgian Crystal Porcelain

RIGHT - Elephant and Music with Russian Giant Marble Purple Stripe on near and far ends

Like onions, garlic seems to need more nutrients than you might think. So it's a good idea to side dress with fertilizer a couple of times as they are growing, and mulch well to keep the roots cool and maintain even soil moisture so as not to trigger them into finishing up too quickly.