Garlic behaving strangely

11 years ago

Few questions- is there such a thing as a hybrid between hardneck and softneck? i'm pretty positive i planted softneck from the grocery store. it was all white with no purple on it. I am getting hardnecks and some heads have purple and some are all white. i dug only a few out that had fallen over to check them out.

Another weird thing- the scape with the bulbils was very thick and popped right through a bunch of the garlic stems. the bulbils inside are popping out. is this due to some kind of deficiency that they popped out? they look healthy aside from this and the heads are looking good that i have dug up.

Featured Answer

LoneJack Zn 6a, KC

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

Actually reverting is probably the wrong word because I don't think they will actually change to hardnecks over a period of years. I believe it is caused by a fairly drastic change in the growing conditions like going from California to a climate that gets colder winters.

During the curing process the stems will dry down and the split in the stem where the bulbils popped out will slowly continue on down to the bulb wrappers. It probably won't happen on all of them but probably on some. Just use the ones that do split first and save the bulbs with intact wrappers to use last.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
11 years ago
It sounds to me like you have an artichoke type softneck that is 'reverting' to hardneck which is fairly common with some artichokes. Are the bulbils popping out of the stem just above the soil line or a couple inches above? The bulbils won't hurt anything and can be eaten or planted but in my experience it will cause some of the bulb wrappers to split open during the curing process.
ilodato
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Thanks Lone Jack. They are popping out above the soil line. a little bit up the stem.

And you are correct, it was an artichoke type soft neck. I remember distinctly because i had a ton of itsy bitsy cloves once i got to the middle that i was debating planting or not. (and i did plant them and they grew into smaller heads.)

Never knew about them being able to revert back to hard necks! Very neat and excited to see what i get.

Also, what do you mean about the bulb wrappers splitting open during the curing process? why would the bulbils make the bulb wrappers on the head/cloves below split open?
Related Professionals
Milwaukee Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Fort Smith Landscape Contractors · Sebring Landscape Contractors · Carbondale Landscape Contractors · Brainerd Landscape Contractors · Crestview General Contractors · Ocala General Contractors · Orlando General Contractors · Richmond General Contractors · New Orleans General Contractors · Dallas General Contractors · San Marcos General Contractors · Roanoke General Contractors · South Bend General Contractors · Queens General Contractors
ilodato
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago

they look like this. it's hard from the bulbils down. and the bulbils popping like that is what caused them to bend over.
ilodato
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you, this was extremely informative!! I would never have known where to start my search. And I bet you are right- it was supermarket garlic so possibly grown in a warm climate and I am in MA with a very brutal winter this year. I like these better than artichoke though. Larger cloves around the stem. no tiny ones to peel!
mav72
11 years ago
I grow what I like too.. I like my garlic with a strong flavor and hot, that holds it's own when I cook them.. Last year I had a Chinese softneck that had started to grow, what looked to be a tiny scape, but at the top looked like a long round chive-like leaf.. I didn't need to but I decided to grow the bulbils too. So I have little garlic plants growing in a small pot right now... I know my plants were stressed last year because I wasn't here to water them for two months..