When to harvest winter garlic: the timing of digging from the garden for storage

There are several signs when to harvest winter garlic. Terms largely depend on weather conditions and on the peculiarities of caring for vegetables. Most often, harvest begins in mid-July, but no later than the first days of August. You should not keep a ripe vegetable for a long time in the beds, as all useful properties and taste are lost.

When to harvest a spicy vegetable

There is no definite time and date for harvesting winter garlic. Winter garlic should be planted in the fall, most often in late September, early October. They have much larger cloves than spring garlic.

The best days for harvesting winter garlic also depend on the variety chosen. It will be possible to dig up garlic with early ripening terms already after 85 days from the moment of germination. Late-ripening varieties are dug out a little later, after 100 days. Even if the variety is unknown, it is possible to determine by appearance that the vegetable is ripening.

Tip: Before harvesting, find out how ripe it is. How to determine that you can start cleaning? There are signs of ripening winter garlic. It was at this time that the harvesting of winter garlic is considered the most favorable and successful.

The main sign of maturity is the yellowing of the upper leaves of the tops and the drying of the lower leaves. Leaves fall down.
Gardeners are advised to remove not all arrows from each bush. It is by the remaining arrows that you can determine the maturity of the vegetable. Dig out when the remaining arrows become elastic, and the inflorescences begin to crack.
To understand that it is time to start harvesting, you can by the head of garlic. It becomes dense, the cloves easily separate from each other.
When the vegetable is finally ripe, the husk is easily separated from the slices.
You can determine the ripeness by cracking the soil in the beds where the vegetable grows.

Some growers who have planted winter garlic prefer to remove arrowheads from each root. It is noticed that this technique accelerates the ripening process, and increases productivity. But not all varieties of winter garlic feel good after removing the arrows.

The quality of the harvest and the duration of storage will depend on the degree of maturity. Before harvesting, you need to taste 2-3 heads to the touch, consider the condition of the husk and study the taste. Garlic is well stored, the cloves of which are covered with three layers of husks.

If you overexpose the ripened crop in the ground, then the heads will take root even more, compact. Those who harvest ahead of time will notice that the slices are loose, soft, without aroma and juicy taste. The harvested vegetable will not last long.

When to dig up winter garlic, timing and tips

If the care was correct, the weather pleased with warm days and moderate rains, then the harvesting dates fall on the second half of summer (July 20th). If the weather was hot and without rain, then the harvesting time shifts slightly. It is recommended to harvest garlic planted in autumn before August 2.

So, if three layers of dense scales have formed on the cloves, the leaves have turned yellow and dried up, you can start digging. There are recommendations on how to properly dig vegetables.

Before removing garlic from the garden, arrows are removed a few days before the procedure.
Then each bulb is dug up a little and pulled out by hand. You should not pull out a vegetable without the help of a shovel or pitchfork. The rhizomes are very powerful and you can simply pick the tops. Care must be taken when excavating, deepening the shovel to avoid damaging the head, otherwise it will not be stored.
From each head, you need to shake off excess soil and distribute the entire crop on a flat surface to dry. You can also dry in a shelter, but the first days are best left to dry by wind and sun. It will take about two weeks for the vegetables to dry completely.
Then, leaves and tops are cut from each head, leaving a stump of about 10 mm. The roots are cut, you need to leave about 4 mm. You can weave braids from the leaves and tie them up in a shed for further storage.
When harvesting, it is recommended to sort the heads. For storage, you need to choose large, he althy bulbs.Small garlic does not keep well, so it should be chosen for cooking in the first place. Damaged and diseased heads are also selected. At the same stage, seed material is separated for the next year.
The harvest of winter garlic is stacked in containers with holes so that air can freely pass inside from all sides. The harvested crop is well stored in wicker baskets.

There is no difficulty in harvesting ripe crops. The procedure must be carried out in dry, warm weather. If the bulbs are wet, the drying time of the vegetables will increase and the shelf life may be reduced.

There are rules regarding the storage of crops. You can store the harvested crop at room temperature, but it is better in a basement or cellar with good ventilation. At the same time, air humidity should not be higher than 80%, otherwise the vegetables will rot and germinate.The crop does not tolerate high temperatures, it is better to be cool (air temperature 3-4 degrees). Store in a dark place.

It's better to dig garlic a few days earlier than to be late with the deadlines. Ripening is possible even if you leave the dug out bulbs in the garden under the sun. All the nutrients that are stored in the tops will get into the garlic head for several more days. “Due to heavy rains, they harvested the crop earlier and left it to ripen in the barn, hanging it by the tops. The heads ended up being dense and stored for a long time.”

When to harvest based on the phases of the moon

Timely planting of garlic affects its quality, and the correct date of harvest affects the storage of the harvested crop. Some vegetable growers prefer to focus not only on external signs, but also on certain lunar phases. From the reviews: “In recent years, we have been planting garlic only according to the phases of the moon.The harvest is good, we also dig it according to the lucky days in the calendar. The vegetable keeps for a long time.”

Garlic according to the lunar calendar in 2022-2023 is advised to collect in the following terms.

In July, you should clean on the following lucky days: from the 5th to the 7th, from 18 to 21, 23-24.
It is better to harvest garlic in August at such favorable times: from 1-4, from 11-13, from 15-17, from 29-30 of the month.

Before you can dig up a spicy vegetable, you need to take a number of actions.

25 days before harvesting, the soil around each bulb must be loosened. The best days for these jobs according to the lunar calendar in July will be the 3rd, 4th, 8th, 30th and 31st.
Tying arrows is considered a useful procedure. Good days in July will be the 19th and 20th. After that, all the forces and nutrients from the soil will be directed to the development of the bulb. Leaf growth stops and stops growing.
A month before the expected harvest, the arrows break off, leaving a couple of pieces. The following actions include reducing watering to prevent rotting heads. In July 2022-2023, the best days for the procedure are the 1st, 2nd, 10th.

After harvesting the garlic, begin preparing the beds for a new planting. All necessary fertilizers are applied to the soil and dug up. Tomatoes and root crops are considered good predecessors.