I do not intend to destroy the plants, I am resigned to keeping them with likely reduced yield.

My main question is, should I cut off all of the leaves that have rust? That will be basically everything except the new green shoots in the middle. The new growth may likely also have rust too but it is not showing yet. I usually harvest garlic about the last week of May or early June. Will cutting off virtually all leaves now kill the plants or is there time for them to regrow and recover?

Background information:

I am in Southern California. We do not have frost. I usually have leaves come up soon after planting in late October and continue to grow throughout the winter.

I have grown garlic for about 5 years. This is a new raised bed with new soil. It is about 20 feet from previous locations. I believe the rust is airborne.

I also had spider mites in November which likely weakened the plants.

I have tried spraying with a Neem oil based fungicide. I am also going to try spraying with a biological product that includes Bacillus pumilus and Trichoderma harzianum which might help with rust (found some references online). I have ordered the product and it arrives this week. I figured it can't hurt and I am willing to try it. It also contains Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus megaterium.

So what would you do? Cut off all leaves now before I spray?