When to harvest winter garlic in a year. When to harvest winter garlic: terms of digging from the garden for storage

Get your harvest of winter garlic at suburban area won't be too difficult.
As you probably know, there are two ways to plant garlic: spring and winter.
Spring involves planting cloves in the ground in spring and harvesting in autumn, and winter garlic- planting in the fall, and growing and harvesting in the summer.

I would like to immediately clarify that there are two fundamentally different varieties of varieties:

Shooting garlic.
Most often it is a large head with large teeth correct form in quantities from 5 to 7 pieces. All teeth are arranged in one row around the bearing stem. Exceptions are extremely rare.
Non-shooting garlic.
As a rule, it has a much smaller head, bearing many small onions (cloves), from 10 to 30 pieces, which are arranged spirally around the stem in 2-3 tiers.

For winter planting arrow varieties are more suitable, as they give a larger yield. Same indisputable advantage is that their large cloves are convenient for processing when canning vegetables, which begins just after the harvest of winter garlic. And one more important point: winter garlic is more “vigorous” due to the increased content of glycosides, this affects not only taste, but also medicinal properties.
Among the shortcomings, I would like to note that garlic planted before winter is not stored for long - until next summer it loses moisture, shrinks and dries up. But all autumn and winter it will delight you and your whole family with rich taste and aroma.

Most the right way to distinguish between spring and winter garlic is the size and shape of the bulb. The photo below shows typical differences.

When to plant

The time of planting garlic depends on the region and the characteristics of climatic conditions. The basic rule is this: it is necessary to plant garlic a month and a half before the onset of stable cold weather. In this case, the soil temperature should drop to 10-15 °C. During the time remaining before frost, the cloves will take root and will be able to endure even severe frosts well.

Many sources write that winter garlic should be planted from mid-September to mid-October. I repeat once again: the terms are calculated individually - have your head on your shoulders.
I'll give an example:
For the past few years, I have been planting garlic in early November and have had no difficulty getting a harvest. Considering what surprises the weather brings us and how it changes from year to year. For example, last year the first snow and frost came just before January, and almost until mid-December we picked mushrooms in the forest. If I had planted garlic at the end of September, I would have lost the entire plantation, since by this time it would have sprouted and developed good socket leaves, and here, bam and -15 ° C.

Important! If, nevertheless, in the fall you saw how your winter garlic began to grow, and green shoots appeared above the surface of the earth, do not despair. Try to carefully cover the beds with a thick layer of mulch: corn stalks, branches big flowers or other material. This will protect the seedlings from the first frosts and cold winds, and the first snow will cover the plantings and protect them completely.

Bed preparation

The place for planting garlic should be well lit and ventilated, but not to such an extent that snow is blown off this area in winter, and also dry enough so that water does not stagnate there for a long time during the spring flood. In the beds where onions or garlic used to grow, these crops cannot be grown again for another 4 to 5 years.

Garlic feels best in beds where legumes, white and cauliflower, greens, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins and tomatoes grew before. The only limitation is potatoes, after which it is better not to plant onions. But after garlic, you can plant anything, as it performs phytosanitary functions, disinfecting the soil from diseases left after tomatoes or cucumbers.

Doesn't like garlic acidic soils, so it is better to choose a site with neutral or slightly alkaline indicators. If this is not possible, then the soil will first have to be deoxidized.
According to the structure, sandy, light loamy or chernozem soils, rich in organic matter. Although it doesn't really matter.

If you are a supporter organic farming and your garden always has loose and well-breathable soil, then no pre-treatment and preparation is needed. Otherwise, a couple of weeks before planting, it is better to loosen the beds with pitchforks to a depth of 10 cm, adding well-rotted manure. If there is no rotted manure, but only fresh, then it’s better not to add anything, otherwise you will only make it worse. If the soil is very dry, water it well.

Planting material preparation

You can only use harvested garlic current year. It is necessary to select the most healthy and beautiful heads, well dried. It is advisable to check at least one of them: clean it from scales and look at the condition of the clove. The color should be uniform, the surface is smooth, without dents and yellowing.

Important! So that the garlic bulbs do not grow ahead of time, they must be well dried. Sprouted bulbs are not suitable for winter planting, they will have to be eaten.

It is necessary to separate the cloves from the bulb only before direct planting, otherwise the rhizomes detached from the mother liquor will quickly dry out and will be unusable.

Carefully remove the cloves from the stem and inspect for integrity. We reject double teeth, with cracks on the bottom, with two tips and sick ones. Bulbs with 2 - 3 cloves are also not suitable for cultivation, as this is a degenerate variety. The bottom should be even and have strong covering scales.

To protect against the appearance of fungal and bacterial diseases teeth can be soaked in "Fitosporin" for 5 - 6 minutes, then planted in the ground without washing.
You can soak in saline or potassium permanganate, but all these precautions are optional.

Landing in the ground

On the appointed day, we have already agreed on the terms above, we are preparing the beds for planting. We make rows using a flat cutter or sap to a depth of 12 cm. At the same time, the bottom of the trench should not be too tight, this will stop the growth of garlic roots, but too loose is also bad.

Important! The most optimal direction of the rows is from north to south. This way they will warm up better.

Between the rows we make a distance of 20 - 25 cm. We plant the teeth with the heel down to a depth of 5 to 12 cm. This depends on climatic conditions and soil properties. In some years, I planted 15 cm deep - the harvest was excellent. A shallow planting of winter garlic threatens with freezing, and too deep - with a long "swing" before growth starts.

The distance between the teeth is better to do 10 - 15 cm to enable the development and formation of large heads.

After all the teeth are planted, we level the soil on the beds. On top of the planting, we mulch with peat or rotted manure, or compost with a layer of 2–5 cm. From above, we cover with corn stalks or stems of other tall plants. This will keep the snow on the beds and allow the garlic to not freeze even in the most severe frosts. In our region, the temperature in winter reaches - 25 - 30 ° C, with sufficient deepening and mulching, the plantings winter well.

Important! It is impossible to water the beds after planting winter garlic!

Everything, you can leave the garden until the very spring, do not worry and wait for the snow to melt.

Cultivation by joint planting and care

When the weather is relatively warm in the spring, the snow melts, we remove the corn stalks from the beds with garlic, giving access to the sun, which will warm the soil and meet the green shoots.

As soon as the soil warms up to +5 +10 ° C, the beds with winter garlic must be loosened to a depth of 5 cm. If the spring is dry, garlic will have to be watered at least once a week.

As you know, winter garlic is harvested in the middle of summer. So that the garden is not empty, there is good decision- sow bush beans in the aisle. Thus:

we will reduce the landing area by using it compactly;
beans will pull up nitrogen from the deep subsoil layers, which garlic can feed on;
plants will shade and protect each other from wind and drying of the topsoil.

I sow beans in a checkerboard pattern. In the aisles of garlic, I make holes with a small spatula to a depth of no more than 5 cm so that they are located between the shoots of garlic. I skip one pair and make a hole again. In the next row, I place holes with an offset: where I did not sow in the first row.

I throw two grains of bush beans into each hole, fill it with water and cover it with soil. Next, I water at the same time as the garlic. In a week, the first shoots will appear, it will be seen where the earth can be loosened so as not to damage the plants.

When the beans grow up, I weed the beds and spud the bean plants so that they do not fall. Then I regularly water and loosen the soil. I combine weeding with loosening.

Growing winter garlic is a matter that does not require many gestures. But if necessary, garlic plants can be fed. organic fertilizer right under the root. Although if you have mulched it with humus since the fall, and sowed beans in the aisles in the spring, there will be no such need.

In June, arrows will appear on the shoots of garlic. When they reach 10 - 12 cm, they must be removed. By the way, garlic arrows are very tasty, they can be used as food by preparing dressing for mashed potatoes, meat dishes or others. Stores well on the bottom shelf in the refrigerator.

Important! On one or two plants, arrows can be left until ripening. For two reasons: the first is that when they ripen and the bulbs begin to fall asleep, this will be a signal that the garlic is fully formed and can be harvested, the second is that the bulbs can be harvested and used as planting material to refresh the grade of already existing garlic.

If you do not remove the arrows from the garlic plants, a full-fledged bulb will not be formed, since the plant will throw all its forces into the maturation of the seed fund.

Harvesting

In Ukraine there is vowel rule: to collect winter garlic for the feast of Peter and Paul, i.e. July, 12. By this time, it will be fully formed and ready for cleaning and storage.

From experience I can say that this rule has never failed. But if in doubt, harvest when the lower leaves turn yellow, or use the advice from the previous section - leave a couple of arrows until fully ripe, see for yourself.

Important! It is necessary to collect winter garlic only in dry weather. If the soil is wet, it will lead to rotting of the entire crop. So it is better to wait for favorable weather and do not rush. It is better to postpone and overdo than to lose the entire crop.

It is better to dig up the garlic so as not to damage the roots too much. To do this, pry the bulb with a garden spatula or fork and carefully pull it out. At the same time, it is not necessary to dig up the entire bed, we try to make sure that the layers of the earth are not turned over.

Gently shake off the soil from the plants and lay out or hang in a dry, cool, dark place to dry.

Important! Do not cut the roots and stems of garlic immediately after harvesting. Only after it is completely dry. The fact is that after excavation from the ground useful material continue to flow from the stem and roots into the bulb.

When the garlic dries, we cut the roots and part of the stem, leaving 10 - 15 cm. It is not necessary to cut the stem, it is only convenient for storage.

Storage

You can store winter garlic both in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf and on the balcony. It is best to put the garlic in a basket that is ventilated and put it on the loggia, where the temperature does not drop below 0 ° C in winter.

Garlic can be stored room temperature: also in a basket or tied in pigtails, always in a dark pantry, only in this case it will not begin to lose moisture earlier.

You can enjoy winter garlic until the beginning of summer at most, or even until mid-spring, since it is not stored for a long time. But at the same time, it is not at all demanding in planting and care.
By the way, after picking garlic, the beans remain in the beds until they are fully ripe and are harvested in late August or early September, after which the bed should be sown

Head maturation signs

Garlic ripens very evenly. The signs of maturation are:

yellowing of the lower leaves;
drying of the outer films and their acquisition of a color characteristic of the variety;
easy separation of cloves;
straightening arrows, previously folded into rings, in arrowing varieties;
cracking boxes with bulbs;
leaf lodging.

These signs are an indicator of technical maturity, when the processes of bulb formation are not yet completed and end after harvesting.

Cracking heads (physiological maturity) indicates that the cloves are ready to germinate and the crop needs to be harvested urgently. But this is not always a sign of maturity. Often, even unripe heads crack when planting garlic after potatoes.

Harvesting time for garlic

Harvesting time depends on the way the crop is grown.

The cleaning time is affected by weather conditions. In a cold, damp summer, the ripening of the crop is delayed for 5-10 days.
You can not harvest garlic early, as it will not store well. With late harvesting, the heads crumble into individual cloves. Optimal time comes when the arrows straighten out, and the inflorescence box begins to open. If there are no arrows, then they are guided by the tops: when it falls down, they start harvesting.

The ripening time of the heads of garlic can be increased or decreased using various agricultural practices.

Pre-harvest measures to improve crop quality

2 weeks before technical maturity, the arrows straighten out, the garlic stops growing, and the bulbs begin to pour. At this time, the leaves are crushed or tied in a knot to enhance the outflow of nutrients from the stems and leaves to the heads. At the same time, the ripening period is increased by 10-14 days. If the summer is very rainy, then this technique is not used, since the long stay of the heads in the wet ground leads to the defeat of their fungal diseases.

When the inflorescences begin to straighten up, the ground from the bulbs is raked in half so that there is air access to the cloves. This is especially important in wet weather. If this is not done, then due to the increased moisture content in the soil, the penetration of air to the roots is difficult. The teeth begin to experience oxygen starvation and die as a result. This phenomenon is called wetting. Raking the earth contributes to the normal respiration of the bulbs and accelerates their formation by 3-5 days.

When to remove garlic from the garden, drying garlic

When the tops lie down and begin to dry, the plants are dug up. Harvesting should not be delayed, as ripe garlic sprouts easily. Do not harvest garlic after rain. It is unacceptable to pull plants out of the ground, as this can damage the bulb. The dug heads are left for 5-6 hours in the air so that they are ventilated and dried. At night, the harvest is removed to the barn.

Garlic is dried along with the tops for 12-15 days in sheds or attics, laying it out in 1-2 layers. In sunny, dry weather, the boxes are taken out into the open air.

Plants dry very well and quickly in a greenhouse, where there are ideal conditions for drying. Crates with a crop are placed in a greenhouse and left for 8-10 days. Plants are turned over from time to time so that the lower heads are at the top. The greenhouse is left open even at night. In properly dried garlic, the stem is elastic, bends well, but does not break.

Plants with arrows are left on the ridges for 7-10 days after harvesting the main crop. When the peduncles begin to turn yellow, they are cut, tied in bunches and dried in the shade for 20-25 days. During this time, the bulbs will fill up, become much larger and acquire a color corresponding to the variety.

Preparing for storage

At the end of drying, the bulbs are cleaned from the ground, the roots and stems are cut off and put away for storage.

Land clearing consists in removing 1-2 layers of integumentary scales. Should not be removed large quantity layers, because they protect the head of garlic during storage from excessive evaporation of moisture. If you remove too many scales, then after 1-2 months the cloves will begin to dry.

Root pruning. The roots are cut at a distance of 2-5 mm from the bottom, and the remaining tips are set on fire. This prevents the sprouting of cloves during storage and damage to the heads by barn pests. In seed material, the roots are not burned.

haulm trimming. Dry tops are cut off, leaving a neck of 2-3 cm. If garlic is stored in braids, then 30-40 cm of the stem is left, if in bunches, then 15-20 cm.

Peduncles with air bulbs are tied into bundles and stored separately.

General rules for storing garlic

Ideally dry bulbs are removed for storage. Store them in a dark place at a temperature of 3 to 22°C and a humidity of no more than 70% in places where there is no strong air circulation.

Ways to preserve the crop in a private house and in a city apartment are different. Garlic is best stored at low positive temperatures (3-6°C) in a cellar or attic where conditions are close to optimal.

In apartments, the crop is well preserved at 18-22 ° C in closed space without drafts. Do not store bulbs in rooms with high humidity (kitchens, bathrooms) and in places where the air temperature is above 22 ° C (near batteries, on cabinets, mezzanines). Most suitable place are the lower shelves of cabinets in the hallway or pantry, where the temperature and humidity are not too high.

It will not be possible to store garlic in the refrigerator with all the desire, because there is very high humidity. The heads quickly become damp and rot or mold. The maximum shelf life of garlic in the refrigerator is 7-10 days.

Cracked heads will last no more than a month. Since the denticles are not protected by a common integumentary scale, the process of respiration and evaporation is very intensive, and they quickly dry out. They must be used first.

The shelf life of winter garlic is 6-8 months (depending on the variety), spring - 8-10 months. During this period, the bulbs are immersed in a state of natural biological dormancy. At the end of the dormant period, metabolic processes in the cloves intensify, preparations are underway for the beginning of the growing season. Therefore, the greatest difficulties arise in the second half of the crop storage period. At this time, the heads are stored either at a temperature of 0-2°C (garlic sprouts at +3°C), or at +20°C and above (if too high temperature germination slows down).

How to store garlic

There are several ways to preserve garlic:

in braids, wreaths, bunches;
in nets and baskets;
in linen bags;
in boxes, boxes;
in banks.

It is good to store garlic in braids, bundles, baskets, nets if there is a barn, attic, or at least a dry basement. Storage in banks is suitable for an apartment. The remaining storage methods are suitable for both a private house and an apartment.

Storage of garlic in braids.

This is the most common way to preserve garlic. Braids take up little space, and spoilage is easier to control with this method of storage.
When stored in braids after drying, 30-40 cm of tops are left. To weave a braid, you need a strong thin rope, twine or flexible wire.

Braid weaving technique.

Take 3 heads and tie them at the base with a rope. It turns out four ends: three stems and a rope, which, when weaving, should always be intertwined with one of the stems.
Make an initial binding.
Then, after each weave, a new head is added to the braid.

Braids should not be very long, otherwise they will break under their own weight. You can braid the garlic like a wreath by wrapping the stem around the neck of the previous head. Braids and wreaths are stored in sheds at a temperature of 3-6 ° C or in the closet of an apartment (at 18-22 ° C). But in the apartment, garlic braided into braids is not stored for long. So that braids and wreaths do not crumble, the heads are not pulled out together with the tops, but cut off, then the stem remains inside and the braid does not fall apart.

You can simply tie the heads into a bundle of 15-20 pieces and hang them in a shed or in the attic. In the kitchen, you can’t hang braids for long-term storage.

Storage in baskets and nets

The bulbs are laid in 3-4 layers, if there is high humidity in the storage room, then they are sprinkled with onion peel. Baskets are placed in a dark place, nets are hung on the wall. In baskets, the harvest is preserved better than in nets.

Storage in linen bags

Garlic is placed in bags made of natural fabrics and sprinkled with salt to protect against moisture. The bags are placed on pallets or the lower shelves of boxes close to each other.

Storage in boxes and boxes

Boxes and crates should have holes to allow some air circulation. Garlic is laid out in 3-4 layers, in rooms with high humidity, each layer is sprinkled with salt. Upper layer heads are covered with salt for 1-2 cm. Salt absorbs excess moisture and prevents rotting and molding of the heads.

Storing garlic in a jar of salt.

Storage of garlic in jars

Unpeeled garlic is placed in glass jars. Small onions are placed whole, large ones are divided into cloves. The bank is closed thick paper or kapron perforated cover. This the best way preservation of garlic in a city apartment.

Bulb storage

If the sowing of seeds will be carried out in the spring, then the dried arrows with boxes are tied into bundles and stored in a barn at 2-4 ° C. In the apartment they can be stored on an insulated balcony. Gauze bags are put on the inflorescence so that the onions do not crumble. 2 months before planting, air bulbs are separated from the peduncle, cleaned of impurities and stored in bulk at a temperature of 12-15°C.

Additional means used to store garlic

In addition to the above, there are other ways to preserve the crop, but they are used relatively rarely due to their complexity.

Storage method	Description	Advantages	Flaws
In food film	The head is tightly wrapped in cling film. The rest of the stem is left open, the bulb breathes through it.	Prevents teeth from drying out.	Closer to spring, when breathing intensifies, rot may appear
in paraffin	The head is lowered into melted hot paraffin, then the excess liquid is allowed to drain, dried and put into boxes.	The film formed on the surface prevents the evaporation of moisture, the cloves do not dry out and remain fresh and juicy until spring. This method reliably protects the head from fungal diseases.	The method is very labor intensive.
in flour	Lay the garlic in layers, sprinkling each layer with flour	Flour absorbs excess moisture.	Very expensive way to store
in the ashes	The bulbs are laid in layers, sprinkling them with ashes. The top layer of heads is completely covered	Ash reliably protects against excessive moisture and does not impede the normal breathing of the bulbs.	Not every person dares to fall asleep garlic with ashes.

The main goal with any storage method is to keep the juiciness and freshness of the cloves for as long as possible and prevent damage to the crop.

Possible Problems with Garlic Storage

The main storage problems are:

mold and rotting heads;
drying of the teeth;
color change;
germination;
damage by granary pests (root and flour mites).

Mold and crop decay happens due to high humidity air. It is necessary to sort, remove the damaged bulbs, dry the rest for 5-6 days by the battery or on the mezzanine and put them in a dry room. If the air humidity is high, then sprinkle the remaining garlic with salt.

Drying out garlic cloves. In winter varieties, by the end of the storage period, natural drying occurs. It can be slowed down for a few weeks by wrapping the heads in cling film. If the garlic began to dry long before the end of the term, then the reason is too dry air. The heads can be placed in the refrigerator for several days, where the breathing processes slow down. But do not keep them there too long, otherwise they will become damp and rot. To prevent further drying, the bulbs are treated with paraffin or wrapped in cling film.

Changing the color of teeth at the base of yellow is an indicator of damage by a stem nematode. In summer, the pest lays eggs in the bottom of plants and the soil around them. Garlic infected with nematode eggs does not store well. It is sorted out, diseased heads are separated from healthy ones and burned. All seed material, even if no pest damage has been detected in it, must be treated with an insecticide, then dried and continued to be stored under the same conditions.

Germination. Beginning to germinate cloves are cleaned and poured vegetable oil. In this form, they can be stored for a very long time. You can make cauterization of the bottom with fire, but if the process has already begun, then it cannot be stopped. Sprouted cloves lose their firmness and elasticity and are unsuitable for human consumption.

Infestation by barn pests is extremely rare. Basically, garlic is affected by root and flour mites. Pests enter the clove through the bottom and feed on its juices. The bottom gradually becomes rotten and disappears. If there is a risk of infection, then the garlic is sprinkled with powdered chalk during storage. If infection is detected during storage, the heads are placed in an oven preheated to 100°C for 1-1.5 minutes. After that, the bulbs are sorted, the affected by mites are selected and burned.

There are several ways to store garlic. In this way, significant problems can be avoided and the best storage method can be determined.

Planting correctly is half the battle, you also need to know when to harvest winter garlic in 2019 so that it is on time. Owners of their own gardens plant garlic before winter without fail, almost without exception. This is due to the simplicity of winter sowing, the quantity and quality of the harvest from hardened seeds.

When to Dig Winter Garlic

This issue requires detailed study. After all, the answer to it depends on the variety of seeds planted, on the variety of garlic (shooting or non-shooting), on the climatic conditions in which it grew. Yes, and if in the course of cultivation, the crop was struck by garlic rust, read how to deal with it in the article

But if you stick to them thoughtlessly, you can get a poor-quality crop: unripe dairy or overripe bulbs that break up into cloves right in the ground.

In an endless series of garden chores: spud potatoes, water tomatoes, break through carrots, do not forget about winter garlic. Tops began to fade? Tie her in a knot, she will stop developing and give nutrients fruits. Around the beginning of July, rake the ground from the garlic heads, exposing them by a third. Thanks to warming up by the hot July sun, they will increase in size, and the keeping quality will increase.

It's great if you left arrows on several plants for control. They will be the first to signal readiness for cleaning. If the wrapper of the inflorescence begins to crack, and the lower leaves turn yellow, it's time to harvest. In the case of choosing non-shooting varieties for winter sowing, garlic in the garden is considered ripe when the neck of the stem has softened and the leaves have turned yellow.

A great way to determine when to harvest winter garlic is to visually check the condition of the bulbs. To be sure, from mid-July, dig 1 to 2 heads once a week. This method will not only help to accurately determine that it is time to remove the garlic from the garden, but also diversify the menu with young garlic cloves. In mature heads, the outer shell becomes thinner, the teeth are easily separated from each other, and their shell becomes leathery and thin.

Some summer residents prefer to dig winter garlic, adhering to biological rhythms nature, by lunar calendar. This method allows you to choose the most favorable date for the preservation of the harvested crop. In accordance with the phases of the moon, do not forget about the recommendations of experienced gardeners. Delay in the time of collection can lead to damage to some of the fruit.

How to remove garlic from the garden

If watering tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants is mandatory throughout the summer, then with garlic you can relax and stop watering already in early July, three weeks before harvesting it. This technique will improve the quality of the bulbs, prepare them for long-term storage. Remove winter garlic from the beds in dry cloudy weather in the evening or in the morning. It is advisable to complete the work within a week to avoid crop loss. They dig the bulbs with a shovel or a special garden fork, carefully remove them from the ground, trying not to damage the roots. Do not overdo it when you shake the earth from the heads and roots. If the bulbs are injured, they will lose their keeping quality.

Some vegetable growers advise thoroughly washing the heads taken out of the ground, removing the unusable husk, rinsing clean water. After this procedure, you need to dry the fruits well to prevent them from rotting. In no case do not cut the leaves and roots immediately after removing the garlic from the ground. During the drying process, the nutrients in them accumulate in the heads.

If possible, leave the garlic for initial drying right on the beds. Be sure to lightly shade it to sunburn did not reduce the quality of the fruit. Drying in moderate sun contributes to the destruction of mold fungi, mites, pathogenic bacteria, and increases resistance to diseases. Do not forget to monitor the weather and harvest under a canopy when it rains. No desire to leave a valuable product in the open? Then tie the plants into sheaves of 8 to 10 units each and hang them upside down to dry in a dry, ventilated area.

If harvesting was forced to take place in rainy weather, the only way to save the collected is to dry the heads in special dryers with forced ventilation. After 2 weeks of any type of drying, the garlic is prepared for winter storage.

How to prepare for storage

Before the final laying for the winter, the roots are first cut, leaving a maximum of 2 - 3 mm. You can cut them off completely, but be careful not to damage the bottom, such heads will quickly rot. In order for winter garlic to be stored without loss at room temperature, lightly singe the remnants of the roots on the bottom with the fire of a candle or lighter.

Now it remains to choose a way to store the harvested and dried crop. Do you want to decorate your kitchen with scythes of garlic heads? Remove the leaves and shorten the false stem to 10 - 12 cm. Braid: attach each onion to the previous one by twisting the dry stem in a loop. The optimal number of bulbs for one braid is 15 pieces. beautiful and useful decoration ready for storage.

It is very difficult to find another such vegetable, which in quantity healing properties could compete with garlic. Its diuretic and anthelmintic qualities are recognized and actively used even in official medicine. But as much as this product is useful, it is just as demanding on the timing of cleaning. As you know, according to the method of cultivation, it is divided into two types - spring and winter. Let's find out when to remove the garlic related to each of these forms.

Determining the maturity of the garlic

The following signs will tell you when to harvest spring and winter-planted garlic:

the formation of new leaves has stopped on the plant;
upper leaves begin to turn yellow;
Important! However, it is not worth waiting for the complete yellowing of the foliage, since at this stage, being in the ground, the “shirt” of the bulb will also rot!
on arrowing garlic, “covers” with bulbs crack, on non-shooting garlic, the neck of the leaves becomes soft, and they begin to lie down;

the color of the shirt begins to change, and for each variety this trait will be individual;
the head of a ripe vegetable is dense;
slices are easily separated from each other;
the upper scales are removed easily.

On a note! If the garlic is unripe, then the bulb will be loose and soft, and the overripe vegetable begins to re-grow - its slices can be separated from the bottom without any effort. In addition, overripe bulbs are not suitable for long-term storage!

If you decide to determine the maturity of garlic by external signs, then you should not dig up the entire crop at once. First you need to remove a couple of bulbs from the soil - for testing. Rake the ground around 2-3 heads and inspect each of them. If the scales are strong, then the vegetable is ready for harvesting.

Harvesting dates for winter garlic

If we start from the timing, then winter garlic must be removed when about 100-110 days have passed from the moment of emergence of its seedlings. This period begins around the end of July.

It is not worth delaying the harvesting of garlic planted before winter, as the bulbs will begin to disintegrate into cloves and lose their keeping quality.

As described above, a sure sign of the ripeness of a culture is its leaves, which begin to turn yellow and dry. But not always the cleaning time winter garlic occurs in the last decade of July. If the summer turned out to be especially dry, then the third week of the second summer month becomes the right time for collection, and in the absence of a large number of hot days, the full ripening period will be postponed to the period from July 29 until August 1.

Advice! To choose the most right time to collect garlic, many gardeners recommend turning to the lunar calendar for help!

Harvesting dates for summer garlic

When to clean summer garlic? It ripens 3 weeks later than winter, that is, the approximate date is the beginning of August. The same foliage will tell you that the culture is ripe - the upper leaves should gradually turn yellow and fall en masse, the lower ones should dry out.

In most cases, the harvesting period for spring garlic begins at the end of August, and this period can last until the third decade of September - most often in the second and third decades of the first autumn month harvesting garlic is carried out in northern regions Russia.

Advice! To speed up the ripening of garlic, the soil from the bulbs needs to be raked a little!

We remove the garlic

So, when we figured out how to dig garlic, now it’s worth figuring out how to do it right.

Dry weather will be most suitable for harvesting - garlic can be harvested in the morning or in the evening.
The entire collection process should be carried out in a short time - no more than a week.
To avoid crop loss, harvesting should begin a little earlier than the deadline.
When harvesting, the bulbs are dug up with a shovel or pitchfork and, pulling them up by the tops, are removed from the ground.
You should not cut all the leaves at once, as there will be an outflow of assimilants and this will worsen the quality of the vegetable.
Harvesting garlic must be done carefully and try to damage the roots less.
Next, the ground from the bulbs must be cleaned and the vegetables laid out in rows. Remove clods of earth carefully so as not to damage the roots and heads, as bruised bulbs are poorly stored and quickly rot.
The excavated culture is covered lower leaves and leave to dry in the sun.
Important! Keep an eye on the weather - if rain is expected, then the bulbs will need to be brought into the room and hung by the tops!
In dry weather, vegetables spend 10-14 days outdoors, after which they are dried for a week in a well-ventilated area.
The bottom of the garlic must be cut off from excess roots - this will allow the onions to dry well and be better stored.
If you store garlic in boxes, then the tops can be removed.