Improve the soil for next season with compost/manure. Do not let the scapes get too long before you cut them. And you should stop fertilizing after mid may or so.

I harvested a couple more Transylvanians tonight. I will say that the garlic looks firm and healthy, just a tad small. This fall I will definitely compost more, and I'll also try spacing them a little farther apart.

I really expected them not to be ready for another three weeks, but whatever.

I just harvested Transylvanian and Lorz Italian, my husband and I are happy with the size. I'll try to post photos this weekend.

I use Plantea (no MiracleGro) and had lasagna-layered the beds in fall 2005.

After just having read your posting i went out to my garlic bed and dug 3 plants up. mine are sort of on the small side also but they look fine otherwise. I think? The plants had fallen over, i wasnt going to dig ANY until the 4th, just for whatever reason, i had planned on digging mine later in the month also. i know for one thing i will be amending my next garlic bed with more organics, i was a little sketchy with watering and fertilizing i think also. you cant blame me for not trying! Oh, i had put in one pound of "Spanish Roja" which i happened across at a local feed store last fall, thats what started it all! iam planning on putting in 15 pounds of various kinds this fall.

My Italian Red and Lotus were of a nice size, though I left some of them in the ground too long, the cloves have already started to open. THe Silver White and Shatili are not quite ready to pull ( not much browning of leaves yet). Last November when we planted, I didn't add any organic matter, but added some bone meal and failed to apply fertilizer this spring, like pepbob1, I was a bit confused as to the watering and fertilizing. Next year we'll be on top of it. Wow... what a great forum.
Mary Ann

lilacs_of_may,

i looked at your garlic patch photo from your other post. i don't think increasing the area between your garlic will help with your size issue. you need only about 4-5" of space between your garlic... on all sides.

there are many folks here who are more knowledgable than i, but i have been growing my own garlic for about 6 years and have had good results. i would suggest to you that there may be a few smaller issues that, when resolved, would result in a harvest you're happier with.

1) most importantly... amend your soil with plenty of aged compost. you should get that done soon for the fall plantings.
2) plant your garlic where it will get more direct sunshine. from your other posts, it sounds like they are planted in a partly shady area.
3) sometime in early spring,(april-ish) after your garlic shoots are coming out of the ground 6 inches or so, give them a boost of fertilizer. I use fish emulsion diluted in my watering can.
4) cut off the scapes when they start curling.
5) harvest your garlic when there are three or four green leaves left.

you will most likely get other opinions, but this is what works for me.

best of luck with your 2008 crop.

gary

Thanks Gary those are great growing tips! I guess iam one of those guys that cant "keep it simple," seeing as how it was my first time planting/growing garlic i wanted to doeverything as perfectly as i could....ya right! Ha Ha Ha . i dug a few more garlic this morning, iam satisfied with them for a first try although as i said in my earlier posts they are a little smaller than i thought or hoped they would be. Anway, iam hooked on growing my own garlic, there, ive admitted it...

I agree with Gary's points, nice post!

Here are a couple of photos from Sunday, each bulb is at least 2" wide. I forgot to check their tags (for which variety) though.

{{gwi:364751}}

Beautiful garlic, penguin!!!
Mary Ann

I had the same issue with my Music: the first three bulbs I pulled were rather small (but each one larger than the last.) But today I pulled three more, ones that grew right on top of each other due to my dog paying excessive interest to the newly planted garlic in Oct. These three were more than twice the size of the others, probably almost as large as the parents they came from. I was quite surprised because I had to pull all three together, the roots were so intertwined. The rest of the patch should be ready within the week, and I anticipate decent sized bulbs based on what has already come out.

Thanks, Gary. Your points are well taken.

I planted them where it was partly shady in the afternoon because those were the only beds available when I moved into this house last year. Next year I may plant some in a sunnier area and some in an adjacent bed to where they were this year. I ordered a bunch for this fall.

Now I have to figure out what to do with them. I got some glass spice jars yesterday. I'm going to pickle some of them.

Thanks Mary Ann!

Now the challenge for me is where to cure. We have a small row townhome in an urban area, and the best place I've found for curing is at one particular spot on my porch, by the porch steps.

We seem to have hit critical mass at 40 bulbs for curing. We currently have about 45 and my husband says that he has to hold his breath going in and out of the front door now. Either that or it's the Vekak Czeck that I last harvested. Oops? (LOL)