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17-04-2003, 04:44 PM

(simy1) wrote in message . com...
(Mark) wrote in message . com...
I dug up one of my garlic bulbs today (couldn't help myself...too
impatient).

The bulb was, of course, small and not well-formed, but the thing that
struck me was that it appeared wrinkly and not full-fleshed. It was
kind of soft.

Does this have anything to do with my watering habits? I only water
the garlic infrequently since I'm wary of making the ground so soggy
that it would tend toward rotting the bulbs.

Mark

Leave that garlic alone until July at least.

But it's just so tempting to pull one now and again to see how things
are going! Of course, I did that last year with the carrots and
finally wound up with about 5 of them reaching maturity...

I'm in zone 6, the temps are averaging in the 70's during the day,
50's at night. Not that much rain lately, but we got a nice slow
soaker last night.

Regarding the harvest: I'm growing elephant garlic and Polish
hardneck. When will I know it's time to pull them up? I plan to cut
off any heads before they try to flower. Is there a set length of
time after that I should wait before harvest? I have read conflicting
advice about waiting until the stalks/foliage starts to turn brown or
fall over...any advice?

Mark