Harvesting Garlic and Shallots

[ParmdeepMember]

I have just pulled up my autum planted garlic (purple wight) as I was worried about half of it being bent over and all of it yellowing. I pulled up the bended ones yesterday and this evening I decided to take up the rest. It seems like they have a very slight mouldiness on some of the bulbs. The yellowing leaves also have some black spots on them. Is this all just surface damage? The bulbs look the right shape and most are of a reasonable size (although I hoped they would be a little bigger). I don’t know how much dirt to take off them at this stage but I didn’t want to handle them too much without getting further advice. They are in the conservatory at the moment but I was thinking of moving them to the garage. Are they OK spread out on a bench or do they need to be hung?

The shallots are also all toppled over. I pulled up a couple of bunches but they don’t look big enough yet. Also concerned they might have a slight bit of mould. I pulled up another bunch which was totally rotten and threw it away. I had a few extra bulbs when I was planting and not enough space so I planted them in a trough, they also look totally gone. I am not sure whether to leave the remaining shallots in the ground to let them grow a little more?

I don’t know if these are problems or just normal. Is it perhaps to do with all the dry weather followed by lots of rain in the last couple of weeks? It is currently raining heavily again this evening in Nottingham after a dry day today. I’m new to growing veg, since I only moved to this house last year. However, I did successfully grow chantoney carrots and beetroot in the same spot as the garlic and shallots last year.

I find there is not so much information about harvesting in the books and magazines as there is about sowing and planting. After all those months in the ground I am hoping you won’t tell me all my shallots and garlic are ruined! I can send pictures if you want.

[charlesModerator]

 Thanks for these comments, you are so right that the harvesting bit is not covered enough, and alliums are hard to assess for ripeness… or mouldiness and disease.

The two possible diseases are white rot which is serious and terminal (bright white fungus around roots, tops having gone yellow quite rapidly – burn them rather than compost), and mildew of onion and shallot, after grey mould and yellowing of leaves, then bulbs are edible for a while but do not keep. It sounds like your shallots may have the latter, which often arrives with bulbs and sets that are offered to plant. For that reason I grow most of my onions and shallots from seed. Onions should still be growing now and full of green leaf until mid July, when their bulbs are swelling fast and harvesting becomes possible, normally end month or early August, governed by days shortening above all.

Garlic are different, more like leeks, prone to yellowing and rusty orange spots from lack of moisture in April and May, as this year. I watered my Purple Wight and it is still green and healthy, was more yellow in April. Other of my garlic now has orange rust, is yellow and needs harvesting, but with reasonable size bulbs. Once the leaves are half yellow you need to pull/dig them up as they then decay from the outside (losing skins) rather than grow.

My Winter Vegetables book has quite a bit on these and other harvests. Good luck and keep growing.

[GMLettsParticipant]

Anything that needs to be done to the soil after tossing the onions?

[charlesModerator]

 IF the disease is white rot (dramatic powdery white mildew around roots) the remedy is patience, chiefly, waiting at least four years before planting more alliums. Other vegetables are fine.

However I have found that the no dig approach is helpful by not moving soil around and keeping the fungal spores in one space, hopefully a small one. Also I find that building soil fertility with compost and manure has reduced my incidence of white rot.

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