Why Didn't My Garlic Developed Healthy Bulbs?

Have the bulbs rotted in the ground, black, poppy-seed sized sclerotia are present on garlic neck?

Are the bulbs small and soft and the roots pinkish or shriveled?

Do the bulbs have blue mold, often with a watery soft spot and purplish-red margin?

Are there water-soaked, tan lesions all over the infected cloves?

Are there charcoal-colored flecks over the surface of the outer garlic bulb skins?

Do the bulbs have thick necks that do not cure well?

Does the whole plant look stunted and yellow, bulbs and roots have lesions on them?

Is the plant vigor slowed, stands are reduced, cloves have small feeding wounds?

Are there any yellow to reddish-brown, slender, tough-bodied, segmented worms in the soil?

White rot disease causes onion bulbs to rot. Destroy infected plants. Don’t compost them. Prevent problems by providing good drainage and presoaking seeds in compost tea.

If roots and bulbs are pinkish, the plant has Pink root disease. Roots infected with this fungal disease shrivel and die. Destroy infected plants. Prevent problems by ensuring good drainage and adding ample organic matter to the soil.

Vegetable rot only occurs on garlic when bulbs have been compromised by mechanical damage or another disease. Vegetable rot almost always sets in sooner or later when there is damage to the cloves. Be careful when cultivating around the garlic to avoid damage.

Fusarium bulb rot displays a speckling of water-soaked, tan lesions all over the clove. Fusarium fungus lives in practically all soils and should be managed by roguing of diseased plants and planting of vigorous cloves. Prevent problems by ensuring good drainage and adding ample organic matter to the soil.

Skin blotch is mostly a cosmetic blemish consisting of a diffuse coating of charcoal-colored flecks over the surface of the outer garlic bulb skins. Symptoms are more pronounced on white-skinned cultivars than on red-skinned ones and can be removed by peeling off a few wrappers. Skin blotch rarely causes harm to the cloves but will reduce consumer appeal.

These symptoms usually indicate either Potassium deficiency or seed stalk formation. Confirm deficiency with a soil test and amend the soil as needed before planting. Garlic forms seed stalks after any dormant period. Improperly stored sets or cultivars not suited to the day length in your area may go to seed before forming bulbs. Fluctuating temperatures or drying and wetting of soil may cause seed stalk formation.

Stunted and yellowed plants with bulbs and roots that have lesions on them are caused by Bulb Nematodes. They can be managed by planting a disease-free seed, crop rotation with non-susceptible crops allowing three years before replanting garlic, planting bio-fumigants such as brown mustard and sudangrass as cover crops, and carefully removing all garlic plant debris from the field after harvest.

Likely cause for these symptoms is Bulb mites. These, almost microscopic insects feed on plants' corms and bulbs. Severely infested bulbs should be dug up and destroyed. Don't replant cloves in infested soil. To destroy bulb mites in infested bulbs, dip them into 120°F hot water for a few minutes.

Yellow to reddish-brown, slender, tough-bodied, segmented worms feeding on roots and bulbs are wireworms. Adults are dark-colored, elongated click beetles. Apply parasitic nematodes to the soil before planting to control them.

If the bulbs have sunken, dry, brown to black areas around the neck the cause is a fungal disease - Neck rot. This disease usually appears near the harvest or in storage. Destroy infected bulbs. To prevent problems, cut back on watering as garlic begin to mature, especially near harvest. Be careful not to injure bulbs while weeding or harvesting.