see when to harvest garlic to get the big and tastiest garlic bulbs .
Bob Modersohn
Garlic does most of itsgrowing underground , which can make it hard to know exactly when to reap garlic bulbs . blame garlic too early and you ’ll end up with small clove , but pick ail too late and you may lose your garlic harvest home to decay . If you ’re fresh to growing Allium sativum , timing your harvest can feel like a reconciliation routine , but these garlic harvesting tip will help you nail the consummate metre to harvest garlic bulbs and garlic scapes .
Credit:Bob Modersohn
When to Harvest Garlic
As the saying go , “ good things take time , ” and that ’s decidedly true if you want to grow garlic . Compared to other food crops , garlic is a relatively slow - growing plant and it takes about 8 to 9 months for bulbs to growlarge enough to harvest . Most agriculturist plant seed garlic in fall and harvest ripe incandescent lamp the undermentioned summer in July or August ; however , garlic may be quick to reap a bit before in warm climates .
If you growhardneck garlic motley , you’re able to harvestedible garlic scapeswhile you look for your garlic bulbs to mature . Scapes are ordinarily reap in June when their stems lengthen and begin to writhe into coils and coiling shapes . But if the garlic scape stem set about to tidy out after coiling , they ’re past their prime !
Garlic bulbs are harvested about one calendar month after garlic scapes seem , but dissimilar varieties of garlic mature at dissimilar rates and softneck garlic varieties do n’t produce flower stalk at all . This variability can make it grueling to judge if garlic is quick to harvest , but there are a few signs that will let you know that your garlic crop is mature .
Credit:Dean Schoeppner
How to Tell When Garlic Bulbs Are Ready to Harvest
Like Allium cepa , garlic leaf will start to yellow and browned as bulbs achieve due date . When these edible plants have two utter leaves at their base and a third leaf is start to yellow , block water your garlic plant and give up the soil to dry out . await a few days and then dig up a test garlic plant or two to see how the bulb is develop .
If the test Allium sativum has a well - formed electric-light bulb with garlic cloves that fill out their papery skins , it ’s time to harvest the rest of the Allium sativum from your culinary gardens . But if the test garlic plant life has small and poorly developed clove tree , you may want to wait a bit longer before harvest the ease of your crop . Regardless of garlic clove size , garlic plant life should be harvested by the time ½ of their leave-taking turn brownish as cloves can mishandle if they ’re go out in the earth too long .
While browning leaves are a sign that garlic bulbs are reaching matureness , brown or yellowing leaf tips can also be mark of a nitrogen insufficiency . If your plant are developing discolour leaf hint early in the season , your garlic craw may postulate more fertilizer .
Dean Schoeppner
How to Harvest Garlic
While it can be tempting to simply pull garlic flora up by their leaves , garlic leaf are not that stout and they ’ll normally snap off the bulb if you tug on them . A best option is to apply a shovel or gardening branching to untie the soil around your plants before countermand the medulla free from the earth . Just be careful to debar damaging garlic with your shovel as cut or bruised garlic does n’t last long in memory board .
If possible , harvest home garlic during juiceless weather condition and computer memory dug garlic plants in a shady office until you canbring them indoors . As you comprehend up your garlic , get out the garlic leaves and roots attached to the electric-light bulb and simply sway away extra dirt . Too much sun or wet can cause garlic harvesting to spoil and lose their smack fast , so debar wash your clove with water !
Any garlic cloves that are damaged during harvest should be used right away to prevent spoilage , but the rest of your garlic harvest can be eaten fresh or stored for later use . Just keep in thinker that if you desire to store ail in your buttery or root cellar , you ’ll require to cure your garlic bulbs first .
How to Cure Garlic Bulbs
cure is n’t necessary if you intend to block , can , or feed garlic fresh , but it is recommended if you desire tostore garlic bulbsat room temperature or in a root cellar . This cognitive process works well on both hardneck and softneck ail and it help to reduce supernumerary wet in garlic cloves so they last longer .
Garlic is normally cure in a fond , wry , sheltered spot with good air flow and minimal ignitor . Keep the leaves and roots impound to your garlic bulb and circulate your Allium sativum harvest out in a individual bed on a flat surface or slackly bundle garlic plants in bunches and hang them upside down with a bit of twine . If you ’re into DIY , you’re able to make a simple ail drying rack by staple engagement to a wooden frame and dry out your garlic on the interlocking screen .
Garlic should be cure for about 3 to 4 week until the lightbulb skins are perfectly dry and papery , the roots are hard and bristly , and the garlic leaves are dark-brown and brittle to the touch . After cure , crop the garlic leaves off hardneck garlic varieties and store the medulla in mesh bag , or gadget softneck ail leave behind into twist for hanging . If your garlic harvest is very muddy , you canremove the outmost layerof papery garlic pelt , but do n’t remove so many skin that your garlic cloves are exposed .
How to Store Garlic
After curing , garlic electric-light bulb can be put in at room temperature , but they ’ll last longer if they ’re kept in a cool , dark place with right air flow and low humidness . Refrigerators are not ideal for storing garlic since they have relatively mellow humidity level . But if you go on to have adry root cellaror basement that last out around 32 ° F to 40 ° degree Fahrenheit , that ’s a perfect storage spot for garlic .
When right put in , softneck garlic will commonly stay fresh for about 6 to 8 month , while hardneck garlic will last about 3 to 4 month . To assure your garlic live through the winter , curb your crop from fourth dimension to time and move out anysoft or sprouted clovesas soon as you see them .
If you do n’t want to store Allium sativum in a root wine cellar , garlic cloves can be frozen whole or chopped and freeze in Methedrine cube trays . garlic clove can also be dehydrate and grind into garlic powder , or garlic clove can be pickle or canned . However , as ail is a low acid food , it will need to be canned with acetum or apressure cannerfor food safety gadget .
Storing garlic through the wintertime can provide your kitchen with all the delicious Allium sativum you need for your favorite garlic recipes . But do n’t blank out to economise some ail for planting too . Select the largest garlic clove from your largest garlic bulb and store them in a cool , dark spot until you ’re ready to imbed them .
Frequently Asked Questions
No , you do n’t necessarily demand to heal Allium sativum before eating it , but curing help garlic last longer in repositing . That said , if you just want somegarlic for cooking , sense gratis to use freshly dug Allium sativum correctly out of your garden .
Most agriculturist recommend harvesting garlic shaft even if you do n’t desire to eat them . When scapes are left on the plant , they run out energy away from garlic medulla oblongata and cause garlic cloves to be a bit smaller . However , scapes will finally turn over into garlic flowers andgarlic seed .
Some gardenersleave a individual garlic flower stalk in their culinary gardens to let them have a go at it when their garlic bulbs are ready to harvest . When garlic flower stalk are mature , they have coiled or spiral stem , but the stems on older garlic scape will eventually straighten out . When this occurs , it ’s a sign that the garlic scape are too hard to eat , but the garlic bulbs beneath the soil are quick to harvest .
