Colleen, if it ain't their normal habit, it's the way they've been doing it here for the past two years! I just branched off into softnecks several years ago and was quite shocked when I looked one day and one variety had totally flopped. Thinking in terms of onions and their flopping habit, I left that garlic alone for probably 2 more weeks. That was when the leaves and stems began to die. Then I pulled them and they were fine. I'd say to leave them alone until a third or half of the leaves begin drying and then pull them. Right now, I've only had one of 6 or 7 softnecks flop and that was due more to inadequate watering rather than maturity. All others standing tall yet but subject to change very quickly.

Martin

Thanks, Martin. I've been reading your posts for awhile and it helps to know my softnecks are in such good company. All of the softnecks have now flopped, but I guess they'll be ready to pull soon anyway. (Dunno about the watering, I was so busy this year I left that to mother nature.)

Like Martin, I've only recently been seriously growing softnecks. And it seems to be the nature of the beast for them to flop over, like onions.

Unlike onions, however, I've been leaving them in the ground until the usual yellowing of the leaves. Seems to work just fine.

Oddly enough, despite all the reading I've done about growing garlic, I've never seen reference to this leaf flopping. The first year it happened I thought something was wrong. But the bulbs developed normally.

Yes, one of the signs that softnecks are forming bulbs and getting ready for the harvest is their habit to lean over. They don't normally form scapes, (which need to be cut off.) Once they have started to lean, I check the leaves and the location of the bulb. If it is close to the surface of the soil, there's a better chance it's ready for harvest. If it's deep, a couple of inches, it needs more time. Generally, softnecks should be pulled before all of the leaves turn yellow or brown. If you wait too long, there's a better chance the bulb will start breaking down underground. Try and gently check out the size and location of each bulb. I've been growing garlic for over 10 years, hard and soft. So have read a lot about both.

Ellen, that was good advice. I checked and pulled a number of the softnecks on Wednesday. One thing that was strange, as I looked closer, the top growth on some of the softnecks had just about disappeared. I had to search out the heads based on my planting grid. And as I would have expected, those heads were short on wrapping layers.

All my others look normal except for the tipping over part. I'll try to post what variety that was in case anyone has a suggestion why that might have happened.

Ellen
from past posts it seems softnecks dont survive half as well in z4 or 5 overwinter.
What are your observations and the varieties of softnecks that you have grown over the last 10 years?
Any hints as to getting good survival rates from cloves planted out in fall for the softnecks?

Colleen
I sometimes miss a few bulbs for the same reason and also leave a few(purposly leave a few in the ground to overwinter)so that the next spring i will have a few bunches of spring garlic from those bulbs I left untouched.I usually when I pull the spring garlic stick back a few of the biggest cloves and do get close to if not full sized bulbs from them that summer/early fall.
Bill

I am so glad I had a chance to read this! My brother gave me some softneck garlic to try in my garden this year, and yes, they are all falling over. Glad to know it's not something I did or did not do!

I am just pulling some now and they look great.

~Thalia

Thalia
1 thing I just relearned about the softnecks is that they do store longer than hardnecks.
Up north here they don't seem to overwinter after planting as well as hardnecks though.
You may want to add a few hardnecks this fall when you plant so you will have some to compare tastewise with the softnecks.
Bill

Thanks for the suggestion, Bill, I plan to try more types of garlic this fall. There are so many!

The softneck my brother gave me grew purple-ish on the outside for him, but mine are pretty much white. I wonder if that is environmental because he is in Seattle and I am in Southern California.

~Thalia

Thalia
Could be the bulb color is due to the climate change-they may go back to the original color in another few years if you plant cloves from those you pulled this year.They need a few years to acclimate.
How about wrappers?Did your bulbs still have the wrappers on when you pulled them?Did they come up to the size your brother snet you-maybe they weren't really ready yet.
Let us know what variety you have from your brother if you can,ok.
Bill

Bill,
Yes, the bulbs had nice wrappers, and several were the size of my brother's, most a little smaller. They had all fallen over and were mostly brown. They all formed cloves, too. I did ask what variety he had, but all he knew was it came from his farmer's market, sorry. He's not into names, like I am with tomatoes, it's just the only one he grew every year because he liked it. He just moved to Portland OR, so he can't go ask for the name of it.
Thanks for your help! I hope I didn't hijack this thread.
~Thalia

Thanks for your help! I hope I didn't hijack this thread.
~Thalia
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And thank you.Please keep posting,you may have a variety some of us dont have if you ever happen to get the name*and if not many of us new to garlic still like to try different types.I will be expanding into softnecks myself this fall I hope.
I dont see any hijacking in this thread,I think your post was justified,its not like posting about tomatoes or other veggies and you were right on subject.
Bill

Well, it's my thread :-) and I don't consider it hijacking, either. Anyway, I got the information I was looking for, so feel free to post whatever!