Start with what you dug up. A head with normal cloves that's only small is a size problem. A single solid bulb with no cloves is called a round. Rounds usually come from small cloves, spring planting, or a short . Bulbs that are small, soft, and off-smelling, from plants that yellowed and stunted early, may have aster yellows, a disease spread by leafhpers. k back over the season, too: when the cloves went in, whether the scapes were cut, and how dry late spring was.
Planting time is the biggest factor. Garlic needs a cold period, and it grows its leaves in fall and early spring before longer days trigger bulbing. Bulb size depends on how much leaf the plant grew before bulbing starts. Cloves planted in spring, or late in fall, have less time to grow leaves and tend to make small heads or rounds. Clove size comes next. The largest cloves produce the largest bulbs, and the small inner cloves of a head tend to produce small heads.
Several other things take a bite out of size. Hardneck garlic left with its scapes on puts energy into the flower stalk, and one extension source puts the loss at around 30 percent of bulb size. Dry soil during bulbing in late spring and early summer gives smaller bulbs. Weeds compete hard with garlic's thin leaves. Digging too early also leaves bulbs small and poor for storage. Hardneck types can struggle in mild-winter climates without enough cold, so softnecks are usually the better choice in zone 7 and warmer. Grocery-store garlic may be a variety grown for a different climate, and it can carry disease.
This year's small heads are good to eat, so cure them and use them first, because small bulbs tend not to store as long. Rounds are edible too. A round planted in fall tends to divide into a normal head the following year. If you suspect aster yellows, don't save cloves from those plants for planting, because the disease can carry over in the cloves.
For next season, buy seed garlic suited to your region, or keep your biggest heads for planting. Plant only the largest cloves, about 2 inches deep and 6 inches apart, in fall a couple of weeks after your first frost. with straw once the soil cools. In spring, feed lightly as growth resumes, keep the bed weeded, and water about an inch a week through bulbing. Snap off hardneck scapes as they curl. Harvest when the lower third to half of the leaves have browned.
- Blossom DropFlowers fall before setting fruit, often during temperature extremes or after weather stress.
- Corn Earworm / Tomato FruitwormCaterpillars eating corn kernels from the tip; same species bores into tomato and pepper fruit. Often called 'tomato fruitworm' when found on tomato.
- Southern BlightWhite cottony mycelium and small round sclerotia at the stem base, with rapid plant collapse in warm, moist soil.
- Carrot Rust FlyRusty tunnels through carrot and parsnip roots made by small white maggots feeding inside the root.
- Fruit CrackingTomatoes crack at the stem end or shoulder, cabbage heads split, and carrots split lengthwise — usually after heavy rain follows dry weather.
- How do I know when to harvest garlic?Harvest garlic when roughly the lower third to half of the leaves have turned brown and dried — this corresponds to the bulb having formed its full complement of papery wrapper layers.
- When should I harvest my onions?Harvest onions when about half the tops have fallen over naturally — don't bend them down by hand, and give the rest 1–2 more weeks before pulling.
- What does drought stress actually look like, and how do I know when to water versus when something else is wrong?Drought stress progresses from midday wilting to all-day wilting, leaf curl, and eventually aborted fruit and flowers — the key is catching it before the plant has been dry long enough to abort reproductive structures.
- Should I use fertilizer or compost — what's the difference?Compost improves soil structure and feeds slowly over the long term; fertilizer delivers specific nutrients quickly — most productive gardens benefit from both, used for different purposes.