Garlic didn't come up

14 years ago

For the past two years our garlic crop has been a disaster. We plant in late October, unpeeled cloves, 2-3 inches deep, then mulch over it with swamp hay. It's the same garden and manner we've always planted, with great success until the last two years. Haven't changed a thing. This year, less than 20% of over 200 cloves came up. Last year, even less. We dug up in the blank rows and found nothing. We planted eight varieties this year, from three different sources. Any ideas anyone?

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Comments (4)

promethean_spark
14 years ago
This winter was particularly cold (so say my relatives in MN). Could be that you have a garlic attacking pest/pathogen in your soil too. Do you rotate your beds?
kristincarol
14 years ago
If it was California I'd suggest gophers as the pests, but don't know about the nasty pests you have in MN.

Also, I have grown in the same in raised beds for 10 years and do not rotate and have had no trouble with disease. Of course, the mix I use is nearly dirt-less which might make a difference.

So sorry for your disappointing loss.
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vic01
14 years ago
Planning to grow garlic this fall but I know MN seems to be cold LOL Anyway there are two types of garlic, softneck and hardneck..we need the hardneck I believe. That might be the problem, that you planted a variety that can't survive MN winters. JMO as I haven't grown any garlic yet.
wcthomas
14 years ago
Have you checked the soil pH? It can drift over time.

TomNJ