What's going on with garlic?

[no_hypocrisy]

Up until about a month ago, the bulbs were large and white.

Now the bulbs are half the size, kinda purplish. And they don't take as garlicky.

Was there a blight I didn't hear about?

[markodochartaigh]

1. Do you mean at the grocery store?

Different types of garlic have different storage qualities. Maybe the purplish ones you're seeing are ones with a longer storage life, since garlic is normally harvested in the fall in the Northern Hemisphere.

[dem4decades]

2. I'm looking out the window at my garlic right now, the scapes have been cut

And the garlic will be harvested next month. My wife doesn't think those bulbs look big either, we'll know in a bit.

[ShepKat]

3. will be harvesting ours in a month

store bought ? euw

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Probably just different cultivars. Store may have switched suppliers.

The last garlic I bought went bad unbelievably quickly. It was one of the purplish varieties.

[Retrograde]

5. Where are you?

There are a lot of different garlic cultivars, and they ripen at different times. Here in California, near one of the places known for its garlic, one of the purple-skinned soft-necked varieties is the most common, although in off-season we get white-skinned bulbs from ???? Back East you can sometime.s find hard-necked varieties, which don't do well out here.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. New Jersey

For the longest time, we had Porcelain Garlic. (Big, white bulbs. Fragrant)

We now have Purple Stripe. 2/3 the size of Porcelain Garlic, if not smaller. Cloves are not as easy to handle, to chop/mince, etc.

A lot of the grocery/supermarkets are selling the latter.

https://garlicseed.ca/blogs/growing-garlic/17526553-garlic-varieties-for-canada

[kozar]

7. Im a nature guy,

Grew up on my grandfather's farm, eating raw wheat,
Raw garlic, I've planted it s few times , the weather, from season to season, changes, flavor.
I love to cook with garlic, so, I just buy jarred chopped garlic. The flavor is consistent.
And yes, i still stop by a farmer market , and I pay, for their samples. The flavors of fresh produce changes, from season to season..
Taste that purple bulb, purple garlic , is not as sharp as the white bulbs, , the purple color, is sugar, it will have a bit of a sweeter taste.
What is the cost of a garlic bulb? 25 cents?
Just taste, ,,,,
Nature.
Internet won't help ya.