Help! Garlic leaves going yellow

[zazen999]

lol... such memorable images of life in Farnham and Gloucester! I hardly like to reintroduce yellow garlic leaves coz seems a bit boring by comparison but….

The outermost leaf (only) of all my Lautrec Wight has gone yellow but the adjacent bed of Solent Wight garlic (both lots purchased from seed merchants) is, at the moment anyway, fine and dandy. Fearing the white rot symptoms described here I yanked one out to see if there was any white fluffy stuff around the roots and no, no white fluffy stuff, the roots are sound, in the fact the roots are the healthiest bit. What isn’t so clever is the outer layer of the stem at the point it emerges from the soil is soggy/slimy - no unpleasant smell but doesn’t seem right…. Looking through ‘garlic diseases’ the one that most accurately fits it is “neck rot” but none of the other symptoms (such as most common just before harvesting) seem to fit… Then I read that as the single planted clove is consumed as food for the creation of a new bulb it inevitably goes soggy…. - at which point I was well confused! Anyone any idea what this one is, please and how to treat it if treatment needed? White rot in disguise? I’m inclined to burn all the Lautrec Wights in an attempt to save the other bed but am not particularly optimistic.

Any ideas? Then we can get back to the interesting stuff! b.

The original clove rots down and the new cloves are part of the healthy stem.
They will grow outwards in time....but won't be able to if you burn them all!

[selfraising]

I think we are going toi-let the thread go where it wants

That's almost as bad as mine Do you think if I peed on them despite the neighbours, I would have squatters rights??

Thanks for all the advice. Still not 100% sure what the answer is but they don't seem to be getting any worse at the moment. Just don't want to lose the whole crop as its the first time I've grown it. Fiona H has kindly offered some chicken pellets, to save my dignity!! So will try these and see if it makes a difference

[selfraising]

In the interim I have decided to give the garlic a seaweed feed. I hope to post some piccies later (once the camera has charged up!)

[maytreefrannie]

Looking forward to your pics, selfraising - I'll be comparing your yellows to mine!

[selfraising]

Right here goes with the piccies! Apologies if the quality is poor I'm not really a David Bailey and haven't uploaded piccies on here before so hope they come out okay. The shorter leafed plants inbetween the garlic are my onions and carrots.

[womble]

They look fine to me.

[selfraising]

You may be right and I hope you are. The leaf in the right-hand piccie shows the yellowing at the tip best and they virtually all have it. I could understand it if I had planted them in the autumn and they were nearly ready to harvest but they haven't been in the ground that long

[Jenegade]

Right here goes with the piccies! Apologies if the quality is poor I'm not really a David Bailey and haven't uploaded piccies on here before so hope they come out okay. The shorter leafed plants inbetween the garlic are my onions and carrots.

Your Garlic looks great SR, I wouldn't be worried!

[selfraising]

Thanks Jenegade and everyone else! I'm so relieved. As I said I've never grown it before and suddenly saw the yellow and thought they were dying.

[Snadger]

There is a disease called 'white tip disease' of alliums . Affects all alliums and is a fungal disease as is white rot which is a totally different fungal problem.

Linked to high rainfall (which we had in autumn)

Here's some info but if you google it you should find loads more!

Allium Crop Science: Recent Advances - Google Book Search

[selfraising]

Thanks Snadger, I'll take a look!

[lyndap]

My garlic in pots look the same.I'm going to sprinkle some chicken pellets around them.Sorry to lower the tone again,but I thought urine had to be from the male of the species,cos female urine has to many hormones in it!!!??? confused!!!

[selfraising]

My garlic in pots look the same.I'm going to sprinkle some chicken pellets around them.Sorry to lower the tone again,but I thought urine had to be from the male of the species,cos female urine has to many hormones in it!!!??? confused!!!

I think I might have got my pee mixed up

[DexR]

possible remedy

Hi, I have been advised by my local jedi that mine need a dose of epsom salts as the ones I recently planted look slight more yellow than the pics show...app they are lacking magnesium.
Dex

[Demeter]

My garlic in pots look the same.I'm going to sprinkle some chicken pellets around them.Sorry to lower the tone again,but I thought urine had to be from the male of the species,cos female urine has to many hormones in it!!!??? confused!!!

Sounds like a myth to me.
I googled this and although there are some people on forums here and there suggesting that male urine is superior (due to lower acidity and higher urea content, plus concerns about "female hormones"*) there did not seem to be any proper evidence of this i.e. no scientific studies or authoritative sources cited by anyone.
(*but males have hormones in their urine too!!)

When you think about it, most of the farmyard manure and chicken manure we hold so dear comes from female animals / birds, doesn't it?

I suspect the true answer is that it doesn't make a lot of difference, although men do have the anatomy to dispense with a bucket which must be very convenient for them!

I also found one charming blog post on the subject of pee and, relevantly, whether female dog pee is worse than male dog pee when it comes to ruining lawns. Adds nothing to the conversation but someone else might enjoy it too...TrentonKat: Pee