Is there anything I can do to help my garlic this late in spring?

13 years ago

This is my second year growing garlic, and we had some weird weather that I think damaged them. I live in Central Texas, and we had a mild winter, so they were growing just fine, until this cold spell in February where it didn't get above freezing for three days.

Ever since then my garlic has been looking kinda ugly. Last year I had a wonderful garlic harvest, but I'm afraid this year they won't do as well. The ends of most of the leaves are yellow/brown and shriveled up. Last year at this time they were much more lush and pretty. It's been a couple of months since the big freeze, and I kept hoping they would bounce back, but so far no.

I've been trying to keep them well-watered, which is a struggle in this drought, but other than that I'm not sure what else to do to help them along between now and harvest time in May - June. Maybe a bit of nitrogen? Or is it just too late for them to bounce back?

I also noticed a difference between varieties. The hardnecks are looking much better than the softnecks (I'm growing lots of different varieties of garlic). That's the opposite of last year when the softnecks did much better. I guess that just shows that it's good to grow different kinds. At least if you live in Texas and have unpredictable weather.

Comments (3)

garlicstonefarm
13 years ago
The ends of your leaves are probably suffering from a little frost damage. That alone is not a big deal.

If you think they really need a boost I would hit them with one feeding of liquid fish emulsion. Fertilization is NOT recommended for the last month or so of growing, so you are kind of cutting it close but in your case I bet you'd be better off using it.

It's neat that you are in a place where you can grow both kinds of garlic--always good to hedge your bets.
luke_oh
13 years ago
Ditto on the fish emulsion both as a foliar spray and soil additive. I usually just pour it from a watering can, enough to drench the plant and soak the soil. I live in Ohio and my garlic is subjected to freeze-thaw temps and they thrive. They are the hardneck varieties.
neohippie
Original Author
13 years ago
Ok, I'll pick up some fish emulsion and see if that helps.

I'm glad I gave some of these hardnecks a second chance after last year when they were FAR outdone by the artichokes. Now the artichoke varieties look the worst, and I'm relying on mostly hardnecks to get a good crop this year.