Harvesting garlic doesn't need to be complicated. On the Internet there are methods for harvesting garlic from beds for winter storage, which contain a lot of unnecessary stuff. Cleaning can be done without unnecessary manipulation, saving time.
When to clean?
If garlic is planted in late April - early May, the estimated harvest time will be August 10. It is not necessary to maintain a period of 100 days, as indicated in many articles. There is also no need to delay cleaning or rush.
If harvesting is done ahead of schedule, then the heads that have not had time to form will simply dry out during storage. If you significantly delay harvesting, the heads, opening in the ground, will begin to sprout.
If you choose between two erroneous cleaning options (sooner or late), then it is better to be a little late with cleaning than to clean early.An unformed head of garlic is guaranteed to dry out, if not in the fall, then at the beginning of winter.
Do not be afraid that the garlic heads will open quickly in the ground. They can stay in the soil for quite a long time. Many of them do not open and germinate until the following spring. Even if the head has opened, but has not had time to germinate, it will be stored much longer than the immature one.
It is not necessary to wait for the stems to lodge. Large heads have stems, even yellowed ones, that can stand for a long time. Yellowing of the stems should not serve as a signal for harvesting. The tops of the stems may turn yellow at the beginning of summer due to extreme heat (this will not affect the yield).
Cleaning times depend on the following factors:
- 1. Planting time in spring. Warm spring allows you to plant garlic earlier, in mid-April, and it is not afraid of returning colds and frosts.
- 2. If the summer is hot, the garlic will ripen faster.
- 3. Heavy rains in summer speed up ripening.
Cleaning
You need to choose a sunny, hot day. It is more convenient to use a small spatula to dig up garlic. You won't be able to pull it out; the stems will tear. A large shovel is inconvenient to use. Using a small spatula, pry each head under the root and pull it out.
When all the garlic in the garden has been dug up, you can immediately trim off the stems and roots. There are many articles that recommend leaving the roots and stems. Dry the garlic with roots and stems for a week or 10 days, citing the fact that the nutrients will “transfer” from the uncut stems and roots to the head.
In fact, the head is already formed. Uncut stems and roots will not have any additional improving effect on the head itself. Unnecessary procedures will only take time.
Garlic will be stored perfectly if you immediately trim off all excess in the garden with scissors.You need to trim carefully, leaving a little (2 cm) of the stem and half a centimeter of roots. You shouldn’t cut it all the way down, especially the stem. The tops of the cloves may be damaged.
After the garlic is dug up, all excess is cut off from the heads, it should lie in the sun until the evening. This way it will dry completely.
In the evening (you can directly in the garden bed), the garlic is distributed over narrow long nets. It is necessary to separate the seed material from the garlic that will be used.
Storage
The main reason for the successful storage of garlic is that it is stored in a long and narrow net.
There is no need to tamp it tightly into the mesh; it should lie there freely so that air can circulate between the heads. In such nets, garlic can be stored for storage directly from the garden (after drying a little in the sun).
Garlic nets can be hung anywhere, as long as it is dry. Permanent storage places can be: home, basement, underground. Temporarily, until cold weather sets in, garlic can be placed in a barn or under a shed.
This method of cleaning and storage has been proven over decades of practice. You can store garlic directly from the garden. This eliminates unnecessary hassle, no hassle!
