Getting ready to plant my garlic and the cloves this year are not nice and white but tending to brown (though still firm) and some with spots. No holes; does not look like insect damage. Is this a disease, or did I harvest too late, or cure them improperly? They never had looked like this before.
I have been growing from my cloves I save each year. I started with some medium-sized heads another gardener gave to me about 10 years ago (a hardneck variety; don't know the name) and always have grown them organically with good compost. Each year I have saved the biggest and best for planting so the last 4-5 years I have been getting really nice large heads (and wonderful scapes in early summer!).
When I dig the garlic, I layer them (one layer deep) onto screens in my shed to cure. I leave the door open by day but close it at night. Now, this summer was super hot so I watered regularly until about 10 days before harvest. Could I have over-watered?
And then also I am wondering if they got too hot in the shed or if I left them out in the shed too long before cutting off the dried tops and taking them in to the cellar (where it is cool, about 68, and dark).
Anyone have an idea what is wrong? Do you think I should not plant these but start with entirely new cloves from a nursery?
Thanks in advance!