I planted the cloves from two large garlic bulbs this spring and the summer was terrible - all rain and very cool temps. It was at least the middle of June or later when they actually started to send up any green shoots. Should I leave them in the ground and hope they will form cloves next spring or dig them up, let them dry out, and replant them next year?
If it was me, I 'd be digging them up to see what I got. Cool temperatures are not necessarily a bad thing for garlic. The bulbs actually form their cloves during the cool season and develop as many as they can before the heat of summer kicks in. If the heat of summer didn't kick in this year until very late (or not really at all), you may have been given a gift from the garden gods.
The bigger problem is that the garlic was planted in spring instead of autumn. If the temperatures weren't cold enough, long enough then that will have a far greater impact on the bulb's ability to form cloves than a lacklustre summer.
The only way to find out for certain whether the cloves formed properly is to dig up a few of the bulbs. If you see fully differentiated cloves, then harvest the rest as per usual. However, if there are no cloves or underdeveloped cloves then nix the harvest. After a trip through winter and another growing season, the bulbs will surely form cloves next year.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at vanessa@gardenmuse.ca.
Originally posted on October 28, 2011.
