Garlic and Tomatoes

The recent rain has done a number on my garlic. There are 10 leaves on a garlic plant. When 4-6 of them turn brown it’s time to harvest.

Well given the fact that I just cut the scapes on Monday and Wednesday (6/27 and6/29) on the stiff necks, it can’t possibly be time to harvest. Yet, there is definite browning on 4 leaves on nearly every plant. I harvested one Spanish Roja today.

#1 the outer wrappers are wet and this can lead to rot. I had to peel back 5 leaf sheaths (wrappers) to get to a clean bulb.

#2 the bulbs are not fully developed yet.

There is a dry, less humid spell coming up soon. If I remove the straw mulch and let them dry out, they will be in much better position to be stored without worry of mildew.

Learned some things about my tomatoes from the GardenWeb today.

Problem #1 Leaf curl - I have been having leaf curl on my “Big Early” and “Old German.” It turns out that inward leaf curl can happen when there is an imbalance between the amount of above ground plant and its root system. It does not damage performance and will adjust itself as the root system catches up.

Problem #2 Blossom drop- My heirlooms have been dropping blossoms. Apparently this can be caused by to much wet humid weather. It has been ONLY that for 5 days. A drop in humidity should help that problem.