I planted ‘Therador’ garlic last December. I’ve taken one up and found it hasn’t separated into cloves. I’m worried they’ll all be like that and won’t store. Is this likely and what’s the cause?
Wait a bit longer. What you’ve pulled up sounds like some very healthy green or “wet” garlic, when the whole bulb is like an onion. I bet clove initiation has happened, but the papery skin between each one hasn’t hardened yet; this happens in the last few weeks of ripening.
You planted the garlic a little late. Garlic planting season is the end of October into November and again in January/February, depending on the variety. This doesn’t matter; it just means your garlic will be ready more likely towards mid August than now.
Garlic needs 30 nights at less than 10C over the winter for the cloves to develop properly. If this doesn’t happen, then you do just get one fat onion-like bulb. You can plant specifically for this in March so that you can harvest wet garlic, which is mild and tastes absolutely delicious, particularly if grilled. You can still store wet garlic well into around early December, as long as they hang somewhere cool, dry and frost-free.
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