Just finished the garlic harvest here, and I am noticing an odd trend. Some of the varieties I plant have red/purple skins others white or tan. And they go into the ground that way when I first plant them. Yet when I harvest them many if not most tend to having the red/purple wrapper coloring.
This last fall I planted a couple of soft neck varieties, one a red the other white. Very obviously different when I planted them. Yet at harvest time I could not really tell any difference between them, both were red. I see a similar trend towards red coloring on some of my hard neck varieties which are typically brown (German Extra Hardy).
I have no problem with these “off-colored” garlics, they grow, taste and keep just fine. But I am wondering if there is something about the soil or culture here which is pushing garlics to the red coloration? Anyone have any clues?
