I harvested my garlic today and most of it looks good. A couple of bulbs look like this. Was it in the ground too long? Or not long enough?


Thanks,

Karen

Nothing to worry about: if the cloves haven't developed properly it's because those bulbs didn't get enough chill weather. They were probably in the part of the patch that got the most Sun: garlic bulbs need at least 30 nights below 10°C/50F to develop properly, otherwise they will either develop like you saw or will get a big onion-like garlic with no cloves.
The trick is generally to plant early (to get as many chilly nights as possible): if the ground is not frozen late December/early January is usually the best time to plant garlic.

Thank you. We did have an unusually warm winter, but an unusually cool spring.

Karen

You should try a garlic cultivar requiring little "vernalization" (cold weather to the uninitiated). Thermadrone (French) and Lorz (Italian) do well even in mild Winters and Bogatyr (Russian) and all so called Siberians were selected to be planted in the Spring after the ground has thawed. Bogatyr can actually be planted and will do reasonably well even in hot Summer weather so it may be worth a try.

Our winters are usually very cold! I grow garlic every year. We were in Florida for 5 weeks but the neighbors said the weather here was warmer than normal. This year was an abberation.

Also this batch of elephant garlic was planted next to the foundation of the house which might have kept it warmer. Most were fine, only two bulbs had the issue. The Romanian red planted in the back of the yard had none like this.

Karen

You can also put the bulbs in the fridge for a few weeks before planting to simulate cold weather without actually needing it.