I'm finding that with little care for all my garlic, the Romanian reds, and the German reds are ending up to be the most resistant to the winters, have a strong taste, and produce large bulbs.

Romanian red produces tiny bulbils while German red produces huge bulbils, but they seem to both be superior species to Music which grows closer to wild garlic.

I would think that as long as the separated cloves are covered with a wrapper (maybe peel is a better word) and not completely exposed (as in what a peeled clove looks like), then they should be fine for planting.

Decided to add a visual. If your separated cloves look like the clove on the left they should be fine to plant as opposed to the clove on the right:
{{gwi:365255}}

Rodney

This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Wed, Jul 24, 13 at 11:13

I have had Pink music growing now for a few years here in zone 5a and do well. They are in a raised bed) I have not harvested any but let them keep growing (they were from very small seeds) But they getting larger and produce scapes

You have already provided the clue as why some of your garlics opened up: i.e. HIGH HUMIDITY.

simply put , they did not dry fast enough. In a way it has been somewhat like harvesting too late, that tops (and their continuation in the ground stay soft and the cloves bust out.

That is why, curing just in the shade/shed was not enough, THERE HAD TO BE SOME AIR CIRCULATION so the wraps/tops dry faster. .

Seysonn, thanks for the info. I did have a box fan running on a timer so it was blowing across where they were hanging about 12 hours per day.

Ev

hello Ev, are you able to upload some photos of the bulbs that have separated alongside your regular bulbs for comparison. If the bulbs are otherwise healthy, there should not be any reason not to replant your largest cloves as normal, since the primary reason that separated cloves are undesirable is that the bulbs don't store as long. I have planted cloves from separated hardneck bulbs without any problems, however I am more diligent in checking them for any signs of disease - I'll peel one or two of the smaller cloves on each bulb to check for blemishes and set it aside for eating if in doubt.

This post was edited by zqnmegan on Mon, Jul 29, 13 at 16:03

I grow music as well, and had this happen to me this season with one batch I left out in the shade - and it was rained on.

I fully intend to plant the ones I don't eat.

And I often plant cloves that have lost their skin, they do just fine.

Heck, I peel gobs of garlic sitting out under a tree using a plastic roller thingie and a bread board, and sometimes the peeled garlic cloves slip off and are lost in the grass. And sprout the next year.

@ exmar,

If even with a fan running 12hr/day that happened , then the only factor left is that MAYBE you harvested them too late.

But, what happened, is not a total loss. You plant some of them. and use the rest in the kitchen. You can search and find out how to store cleaned cloves in jar(s), like they are sold in Chinese supermarkets.