Growing garlic in Manitoba Canada

[M Jones 1]

Hi folks very happy to be on the Gardening Forum but need some help with our garlic. Wife and I planted a 70 foot row of garlic last fall and it came up beautifully this spring but by around the beginning of June the leaves started to turn yellow. I pulled up one of the plants and found there to be a thick slime on the bulb, not sure what is the problem and would appreciate any input. Thanks from M Jones 1

 

[Meadowlark]

Welcome @M Jones 1. Happy to have you join us.

First, I need to report I'm a soft neck garlic grower and hence not as knowledgeable on hard neck garlic.

Having said that, the condition you describe sounds like waxy breakdown which is a physiological disease that affects garlic when it is exposed to high temps while growing or in storage.

You might want to do some research on that condition...and be cautious about using that garlic.

I'll flag @smitty55 and @Ruderunner who both are growers of hard neck garlic in hopes they may have experience with this.

 

[M Jones 1]

Thanks Meadowlark much appreciated

 

[M Jones 1]

Welcome @M Jones 1. Happy to have you join us.

First, I need to report I'm a soft neck garlic grower and hence not as knowledgeable on hard neck garlic.

Having said that, the condition you describe sounds like waxy breakdown which is a physiological disease that affects garlic when it is exposed to high temps while growing or in storage.

You might want to do some research on that condition...and be cautious about using that garlic.

I'll flag @smitty55 and @Ruderunner who both are growers of hard neck garlic in hopes they may have experience with this.

Welcome @M Jones 1. Happy to have you join us.

First, I need to report I'm a soft neck garlic grower and hence not as knowledgeable on hard neck garlic.

Having said that, the condition you describe sounds like waxy breakdown which is a physiological disease that affects garlic when it is exposed to high temps while growing or in storage.

You might want to do some research on that condition...and be cautious about using that garlic.

I'll flag @smitty55 and @Ruderunner who both are growers of hard neck garlic in hopes they may have experience with this.

Thanks Meadowlark much appreciated, I'm not very good with computers so hope I'm doing things right

 

[M Jones 1]

Welcome @M Jones 1. Happy to have you join us.

First, I need to report I'm a soft neck garlic grower and hence not as knowledgeable on hard neck garlic.

Having said that, the condition you describe sounds like waxy breakdown which is a physiological disease that affects garlic when it is exposed to high temps while growing or in storage.

You might want to do some research on that condition...and be cautious about using that garlic.

I'll flag @smitty55 and @Ruderunner who both are growers of hard neck garlic in hopes they may have experience with this.

Welcome @M Jones 1. Happy to have you join us.

First, I need to report I'm a soft neck garlic grower and hence not as knowledgeable on hard neck garlic.

Having said that, the condition you describe sounds like waxy breakdown which is a physiological disease that affects garlic when it is exposed to high temps while growing or in storage.

You might want to do some research on that condition...and be cautious about using that garlic.

I'll flag @smitty55 and @Ruderunner who both are growers of hard neck garlic in hopes they may have experience with this

Hey Meadowlark I looked up waxy breakdown and the symptoms they describe are not what I experienced, my bulb looked completely normal other then the slime.

 

[DiggersJo]

It sounds to me like it might have actually been ready for a while and is starting to break down. Do you get to solid cloves if you scrape away the slime? A picture of a bulb would help (click the little picture above when replying and drag a picture to the box you get).

 

[M Jones 1]

It sounds to me like it might have actually been ready for a while and is starting to break down. Do you get to solid cloves if you scrape away the slime? A picture of a bulb would help (click the little picture above when replying and drag a picture to the box you get).

Hey Diggersjo when I removed the slime there was a perfectly formed clove but the dark skin wiped off easily. Thought maybe onion maggots but there was no damage and when I cut clove in half a nice garlic smell was present and no bore holes. I haven't pulled up anymore plants, i fertilized a little and am waiting to see if they perk up a bit. We have had a few days of rain and was thinking maybe that had something to do with the slime but things have dried up some. I have to figure out how to get picture from phone to tablet then I can post a pic, I can turn my tablet on but that's about it. Doing this forum thing is way over my head, I've composed this and hope I can successfully send it Thanks Diggersjo for your response

 

[M Jones 1]

Gmorning gary350 going out to foliar feed garden

 

[DiggersJo]

Sounds like you need to harvest your garlic not feed it. Just doing ours now and our cloves go straight into the freezer.

 

[M Jones 1]

Sounds like you need to harvest your garlic not feed it. Just doing ours now and our cloves go straight into the freezer.

Gmorning Diggersjo our garlics just popped through the soil in early to mid April this spring so I'm thinking it's a little soon to harvest, the one I pulled out had a bulb about 3/8" in Dia. just a little bigger than the stem

 

[DiggersJo]

Mmmm , just when in the fall did you plant them? I've just had a look at the type of temperatures you have in Manitoba, they vary a lot!

 

[M Jones 1]

Mmmm , just when in the fall did you plant them? I've just had a look at the type of temperatures you have in Manitoba, they vary a lot!

We planted Oct. 27 of 2024 and they sat under 3' of snow for about 4 months

 

[DiggersJo]

Odd, can only be down to the weather. We planted 09Nov24 and our garlic is most definitely ready, granted they are 2-3 weeks early this year, but we had a very mild winter and good spring. What I've found over the years is the scapes come on the garlic and after we've cut them off we have 1-2 weeks before they start looking ripe i.e. lighter in colour and some falling over. If we leave them too long the bulbs start to break open into the cloves - still okay to use, but more awkward to harvest. I no longer work in inches , so had to go measure one and it came out as just over 2", but a couple are half that size. I would keep checking on yours by digging one up.

 

[M Jones 1]

Odd, can only be down to the weather. We planted 09Nov24 and our garlic is most definitely ready, granted they are 2-3 weeks early this year, but we had a very mild winter and good spring. What I've found over the years is the scapes come on the garlic and after we've cut them off we have 1-2 weeks before they start looking ripe i.e. lighter in colour and some falling over. If we leave them too long the bulbs start to break open into the cloves - still okay to use, but more awkward to harvest. I no longer work in inches , so had to go measure one and it came out as just over 2", but a couple are half that size. I would keep checking on yours by digging one up.

2" is a nice size I think ours was that or just under that last year. I usually go out and dig down beside one of ours and leave roots intact to check on size and condition Thanks Diggersjo we'll just keep watching ours and hoping for the best

 

[smitty55]

Hi folks very happy to be on the Gardening Forum but need some help with our garlic. Wife and I planted a 70 foot row of garlic last fall and it came up beautifully this spring but by around the beginning of June the leaves started to turn yellow. I pulled up one of the plants and found there to be a thick slime on the bulb, not sure what is the problem and would appreciate any input. Thanks from M Jones 1

I've been growing hardneck for 25 years now and I can't say I've ever had that issue. I'm in 5A and planted mine in November and they are just starting to push some scapes on some of the plants so within a week or so I should start harvesting them once they've made a full curl. I have no yellow leaves yet at all, not even the small bottom ones that do change first. My garlic are always planted in raised beds that have good drainage so they never sit in wet soil which as a guess could cause some rot like you've experienced. It's also possible your plants are suffering from a nutrient deficiency of some sort. I've found that garlic loves lots of calcium, my beds get bone meal, gypsum and hardwood ashes at planting time on top of my regular fertilizers like alfalfa and sheep manure along with some compost. They also get an extra dose of wood ashes in early June along with a dose of manure tea I make from chicken manure pellets. here's what they look like now.