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Garlic Rust
Hi Charles
My garlic has a bad attack of garlic rust so have lifted the bulbs which seem good so I am thinking of curing and storing in the usual way disposing of the leaves so that they do not contaminate anything else.
Will they store just as well as non-infected garlic and can I use some of the cloves for next year's crop or should I buy new cloves in the autumn?
Thanks
Big D
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Rust is not especially infectious and is more a result of stress from dry weather - well it was dry enough here in the hot weather of late May to bring it on here! Some varieties are more susceptible than others and I have more rust on garlic planted early October than on a late October planting.
But is has all grown well and at this time of year I am in no rush to harvest unless plants are really yellow. Yours sounds fine and it should dry and keep as well as normal. I have planted cloves from rusty garlic and had wonderful harvests, and I compost the leaves as well.
Thanks Charles. Sounds like my garlic harvest will be okay and I am pleased to learn that I can save cloves for next year.
I did read somewhere else that low light levels and high rainfall causes garlic rust but you seem to be saying dryness during the growing season.
Big D
Usually I have found rust to spread quickly on garlic as soil dries in late April and May. This year my garlic leaves grew orange quite quickly in the briefly dry winds of late May and I was not too worried, but the difference since then was the rust being turned to rot by relentless moisture on all leaves. All my garlic is now harvested and drying, having stopped growing early, but it is mostly alright, about 5% lost its outer sheaths to rot. Solent Wight was indeed badly affected and is on the small side.
Leeks are currently looking good with no rust!
hi, i have had rust on my garlic this year in extremely wet conditions. the very expensive 'white solent' variety succumbed first, but now the supermarket garlic is too. it's good to know it's not that harmful, the permaculture forum people seemed very upset about it!