There may be too much Nitrogen for those garlic bulbs.

Did you have a good reliable soil test done?

How much organic matter is in that soil?

kimmq is kimmsr

Was the garlic planted in a newly tilled garden? It sounds like you definitely have enough fertilizer for the garlic and possibly too much. I think I would skip mulching with the goat manure and just use well shredded straw mixed with shredded leaves.

I have never grown German Red but if it has the genetics to consistently yield 1/4 lb. bulbs, I need to get me some!! I was kicking around the idea of expanding my garlic planting from around 400 to the 1500-2000 range but the logistics of harvest, curing, and cleaning that many made me rethink the idea. I actually decreased my garlic planting to a little over 200 this year.

Good luck with your stinking rose!

@kimmq

i did not have a soil test done unfortunately. I read that garlic loves nitrogen so I loaded up. There are a lot of old straw and dead weeds from last season.

The bags of manure and the bone meal said they won't burn plants. I think I have to worry about the blood meal but it should seep into the soil with no problem because winter is coming and should help dissipate the blood meal into the soil Im hoping.

@lonejack

the garden is not newly tilled but it was newly tilled last year. This past year I grew onions and garlic in it. Both alliums. I read that if you do not crop rotate you have to use compost or fertilizer. So I loaded up and hope things go well. I think I will skip the goat manure and put it into a heap to make compost for next year. German red is good it's 5-7 bulbs per pound but if you do proper growing and selection techniques you can turn them into German Giants which are 3-5 bulbs per pound! German red is the best tasting garlic too!

I might have to get some GR next year. I have read that it is somewhat prone to double cloves and has a tendency to rot if growing in too wet soil. Have you had any problems like these with the GR?

I already grow a few different Rocabole types - Spanish Roja, Russian Red, Yugoslavian. I need to limit the number of short storing varieties I plant or I end up scrambling to use them up by Thanksgiving. I just dehydrated a bunch and also pickled 3 half pint jars a couple weeks ago because some of the Spanish Roja was going south already.

I have noticed the better draining side of the garden has more bulbs growing. I limit watering too so that the bulbs don't get soggy and die. This year with all the manure it shouldn't need too much watering I hope. I need to learn how to dehydrate and pickle so I can sell in the off season

Garlic is a bulb, a root crop. Nitrogen promotes green growth, top growth. Everything I have on growing Garlic says N should be limited to about 1/2 pound per 1,000 square feet and the soil should be well endowed with organic matter.

Perhaps this article might be of some help.

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/grow_your_own_garlic_this_fall

kimmq is kimmsr

you will be fine, 12 lb is perhaps a bit wasteful but not a lot. I have posted in the cornucop forum recently about this, because I am consistently able to grow large garlic. my routine is far simpler than yours, just raised beds, mulch with leaves (or wood chips if I can get them), and one shot of nitrogen in early spring. I have alkaline clay. I do not add P even though the original soil was nearly P-free (though some P may have gotten there when rotating potatoes into the bed). I do have wood in the beds to promote fungi and repeated mulching over the years has enriched the soil some. I grow about 300 plants per year, for 3 families plus some for friends and replanting.

garlic is in fact able to thrive in low nutrient soils, one of the most resilient vegetables in that regard. Being a floor of the forest type of plant, it is one of the most fungi-friendly crops. If you have mycorrhizae it will get in symbiosis and thrive, the fungi will get nutrients for it. That is why I have rotten branches in the soil. It does need nitrogen but not a lot really. At any rate, much of your N will have leached away for when the plant really needs N (March). I no longer use blood meal, but I would apply it 2-4 weeks before strong growth, no more. Urea is even faster, one rainstorm and it is already working.

The fungi that form the mycorrhizal (mutually beneficial) relationship thrive best in a soil well endowed with organic matter. Different species of fungi form that relationship with different species of plants, the fungi that form a relationship with garlic will not do that with carrots or tomatoes. Soils with too little amounts of organic matter will not have these relationships form.

kimmq is kimmsr

I guess it's too late to add organic matter and fungi this year. I will put by compost barrel by the house so I can make more organic matter and so I can add myco grow to the garden when planting the garlic next year.

It is never too late to add organic matter to soil.

Purchasing something called mycorrhizal fungi is a waste of your money since you may not get what you need and the storage and shipping conditions may not be what they need to live.
Get the soil into a good healthy condition and the fungi that form that mycorrhizal relationship will show up with no more effort on your part.

kimmq is kimmsr

Cool! I have weed barrier down so it will be tough adding organic matter but I will make a compost heap to be ready by next planting season. I will us the fungi next planting season too. I think I will also do a cover crop after harvest as well. I have a lot of old eggs from the chickens. I think cracking them in the compost heap will be a good idea to add them. Does anyone know what cover crop is best for garlic??