When to harvest garlic - terms for spring and winter varieties. Correct timing when to harvest garlic in central Russia How to determine that garlic can be harvested

Work such as harvesting onions and garlic must be carried out on time. Correctly and on time harvested will be stored until next season.

You need to know that the timing of harvesting a given crop depends on its type. Garlic is divided into:

  • spring (also called summer or autumn) - planted in early spring, has excellent keeping quality;
  • winter (also commonly called winter) - planted in the fall, produces a larger harvest, but is less long-lasting than spring.

Harvesting time for spring garlic

This period usually falls at the end of August - beginning of September. Garlic harvesting in the Urals and northern regions can last until the end of the month if the weather was cool during ripening. Climatic conditions may affect the ripening time, so garlic is harvested in the Moscow region a little earlier: from August 20 to September 10.

Harvesting time for winter garlic

Approximately, winter garlic is harvested at the end of July. If, when planting it, you wrote down the date of the first shoots, then the period is determined after 100-110 days. More exact time harvesting garlic middle lane Russia - from July 25 to August 5.

Signs of ripening and harvesting of winter garlic

The following visible signs will help determine when to harvest garlic:

  • most of the leaves dried out, turned yellow and lay down, and the false stem softened;
  • the inflorescences began to crack;
  • The head of garlic is quite dense;
  • it has at least three strong scales;
  • the cloves easily move away from each other, and the film can be easily removed from them.

To better assess the state of garlic maturity, you need to dig up the head or simply scrape away the soil from it and examine the scales. It is better to do this in several different places beds.

You should not leave garlic in the garden to overripe, as it will not store well. If not collected on time, it has the following symptoms:

  • the scales covering the heads burst;
  • they become loose;
  • the cloves begin to crumble;
  • the bulb gives new roots and begins to grow.

Garlic acquires these characteristics after being overripe for only 3-5 days. Therefore, you should promptly inspect and evaluate the maturity of the bulbs so that the garlic is harvested on time and stored for a long time.

Harvesting garlic

It is better to carry it out in dry and clear weather. The procedure itself is carried out in the following way:

  • the heads of garlic are dug up with a shovel (or better yet, a garden fork) and removed from the ground (you cannot pull them out, as the roots can be damaged, which will open up infection);
  • the soil is carefully removed from the roots with your hands (you cannot shake it off and knock it off by hitting the surface of the instrument - damage to the teeth will begin to rot over time);
  • The arrows and dry leaves are not removed (this will improve the quality of the garlic).

Garlic cleaning and storage photo

The dug up garlic is placed on burlap and dried on beds for 4-5 days. This procedure during harvesting of garlic and onions will increase the resistance of the heads to diseases. IN southern regions they should be covered with leaves of other plants so that they do not get sunburn.

At night, the crop must be removed under a canopy. After 5 days, it is dried in a warm (25°C), well-ventilated area for another 2 weeks. Garlic harvested in rainy weather is immediately sent to storage.

10 days after collecting and drying, you can start pruning:

  • stems - leave a stump 6-10 cm high;
  • roots - maintained up to 3 mm.

Storage

After drying, the largest and strongest heads are selected - they will retain their properties the longest.

For storage use:

  • braided braids (in this case, the stems are not cut when drying);
  • mesh bags;
  • boxes, carton boxes(layer no more than 15 cm);
  • wicker baskets (provide good ventilation and dryness).

Winter garlic is stored at a temperature of 2-4°C in a cellar or refrigerator, while summer garlic is stored at 16-20°C in a cool room.

Bottom line

Harvesting and storing garlic is quite a responsible task. The most important thing is to prevent it from overripening and start harvesting on time. Harvesting garlic in 2016 can be planned in advance; the Lunar Sowing Calendar for August 2016 will help you with this, and following the recommendations for drying and storage will ensure that your garlic is preserved for a long period.

Many novice gardeners believe that the main thing is to follow the planting technology and the rules of agricultural technology when growing a crop such as garlic. But in fact, it is extremely important to determine the right time and harvest summer garlic on time. We will tell you in this article when it needs to be removed from the garden.

Summer garlic is distinguished by its rapid ripening, so it must be harvested strictly. set time: unripe bulbs will not have time to fully acquire the necessary taste and nutritional qualities, while overripe bulbs, on the contrary, will lose them and also lose the necessary keeping quality.

You need to harvest spring garlic a little later than the one that was planted before winter: when you plant cloves in the spring, they need additional time to take root, while winter varieties manage to do this during the cold season, and with the arrival of warmth they begin to actively develop.

In addition, the timing of crop ripening is also affected by weather conditions: when there is a rainy summer, the ripening process occurs much faster. Therefore, in addition to the standard calendar dates, be sure to take into account other factors and carefully monitor the crop: the garlic itself will tell you when to harvest it.

Video “How to store”

From the video you will learn how to store garlic until the next harvest.

Ripening garlic

There are several visual signs that eloquently indicate that it’s time to harvest the garlic:


To accurately determine the time when the crop needs to be harvested from the beds, you will have to dig up several heads and conduct an inspection. If the signs persist for all bulbs, then harvest time has come.

When to clean

And yet, when the moment comes, the best way suitable for cleaning?

As a rule, spring garlic has time to fully ripen between August 20 and September 10. But, as stated above, the harvest time can shift in one or the other direction: a lot depends on the weather conditions during this agricultural season.

Therefore, you should focus on the specified time frame, but do not forget to carefully monitor the condition of the garlic bed.

In addition, there are several rules for correct harvesting:

  • when you notice the first signs of ripening, try to partially free the bulbs from the soil so that they can prepare for the upcoming extraction;
  • a week before the intended harvest, you need to stop watering so that the soil dries out;
  • Harvest on a dry, similar day, preferably in the morning or evening.

How to store

When the harvest is harvested, the garlic heads must be dried: otherwise they will not be able to be stored for long. It's best to do this while cleaning. If the day turns out to be dry, the garlic heads are simply laid out in an even layer right there in the garden bed. At night, you can cover the bulbs with polyethylene.

It takes about half a month to completely dry, after which the crop can be removed for permanent storage.

Proper storage conditions will allow you to enjoy delicious and juicy garlic cloves throughout the long winter:

  • The closet or pantry in which the vegetable will be stored must be well ventilated. This protects the crop from moisture and the development of pathogenic microorganisms;
  • Temperature fluctuations should not be allowed - it should be either low (2-4 degrees) or quite high (about +20), but always constant;
  • The method of laying the heads is also not least important - each of them should receive a sufficient amount fresh air. It is best to tie garlic bulbs in braids the old fashioned way and hang them on the walls. Or you can use containers that allow air to pass through well, for example, wicker baskets;
  • if for certain reasons you are forced to store the harvest in plastic or glass containers, try sprinkling the heads with any natural moisture absorber: for example, ordinary rock salt.

Follow these simple tips, and your harvest will always be safe, and you will be able to enjoy excellent taste throughout the winter.

Video “Storage at home”

From the video you will learn how you can preserve garlic at home or in your apartment.

By mid-summer, many summer residents dig up large heads of winter garlic, and by the beginning of September, spring varieties of the crop also ripen. How to properly harvest elastic bulbs in order to keep them fresh until next summer, storing them for long-term storage in a vegetable storehouse or cellar?

Experienced summer residents, from the Onion family for many years, nicknamed “the royal seasoning for food” back in the time of Pythagoras, are happy to reveal their secrets for harvesting garlic. Compliance with the simple and easy to follow rules given below will allow even a novice vegetable grower, gardener and summer resident to preserve the garlic harvest.

Garlic harvesting time

One of the main rules, the strict implementation of which guarantees high shelf life of the bulbs at , is the timely digging of the bulbs.

  • Unripe heads, with teeth that are not fully formed and have not gained a sufficient mass of pulp, can be used for culinary purposes immediately, but they are not suitable for storing for saving, nor as planting material.
  • And here keeping the garlic in the ground even for several days, you can end up harvesting bulbs with cracked outer scales and cloves falling apart in different directions. Such garlic is also not suitable for storage or as planting material for winter or early spring sowing, and can only be used in the next 40-50 days for food or preservation.

How to determine the optimal time for harvesting garlic?

Let's start with winter bolting varieties. At the beginning of summer, this type of crop throws out an arrow - a peduncle twisted into a spiral, at the end of which, by the end of the growing season, aerial bulbs or bulbs ripen.

Ripe aerated garlic bulbs or bulbs

It is by the appearance of the spherical inflorescence with bulbs that you can determine the readiness of the plants for harvesting. They start digging up the heads when the thin film covering the spherical inflorescence begins to crack, and the bulbs fall out or fly in different directions with gusts of wind (zealous owners specially tie the “balls” with gauze in advance to keep the seed material intact).

Many summer residents break out arrows that have grown more than ten centimeters in height. This procedure is done in order to prevent unnecessary expenditure of energy by the plant on the formation of peduncles and to interrupt the outflow nutrients from bulbs to inflorescences.

As experience shows, it is still worth leaving 2-3 of the most powerful plants with arrows in each bed. Such seedlings are also popularly called “signal” seedlings, that is, giving a signal about the time of harvest. In addition, aerial bulbs collected from such seedlings can be used to update the garlic variety by planting them according to the usual method before winter and obtaining strong and healthy one-toothed bulbs the following year.

If it grows in your garden non-shooting winter or spring garlic(by the way, spring varieties of plants are not bolting), then you can determine the readiness of the bulbs for harvesting by the appearance of the tops, which clearly signals the end of the season in the garden, and the bulbs themselves.

Harvesting spring garlic

When the lower leaves turn yellow and dry out, and the tops (stem and leaf blades) begin to die en masse, then you should start digging up the garlic. Do not forget to first remove 1-2 bushes from the ground in order to visually inspect the bulbs for ripening. They should have clearly formed and clearly visible teeth, tightly adjacent to each other and covered with dense integumentary scales, already slightly thinned, unlike unripe garlic.

Drying garlic is the key to good shelf life

It is recommended to dig up garlic seedlings with a shovel, rather than pull them out, leaving torn roots in the ground, or pull them by the central stem. Extra mechanical damage a root system that has not yet dried out can provoke development, the pathogens of which penetrate into the heads through open wounds.

The dug up garlic bushes along with the stem are left directly on the garden bed for several days to dry in the open sun, of course, if no rainfall is expected in the near future.

Next, the entire plants are transferred under a canopy, to a terrace, veranda, attic or any other place with good air circulation, laid out in one layer on paper or canvas and drying continues for 2-3 weeks.

And only after this the tops are trimmed. Then they continue to dry the already cut heads in a well-ventilated place, for example in an attic or outside under a canopy, for another 3-4 weeks, after which the largest specimens are selected as planting material. The roots of the remaining garlic are carefully trimmed or burned and the vegetable is stored for long-term storage in a warm (+18°C) or cold (0-+2°C) way in rooms where the humidity is in the range of 70-75%.

If you plan to store garlic in braids or bundles, then there is no need to trim the stems, since they will be woven into a wreath with a base made of strong twine; it is enough to shorten them slightly to the desired length.

To store garlic in bunches suspended from the ceiling or on the walls in a barn, basement, entryway or cellar, leave stumps about 20 cm long. For bulbs that will be stored in boxes, it is advisable to keep the height of the stumps about 5 cm, but not less than 2 cm .

Planting material, which uses selected healthy heads, as well as aerial bulbs, is stored in the same conditions as the entire harvest, only separately. Before planting, the bulbs are carefully inspected, discarding shrunken, rotten, spots and dents. Winter varieties are planted before winter until early November, and spring varieties - in March-April of the next season.

How do you harvest garlic? Share yours practical recommendations in the comments below so that every reader can put your useful and invaluable experience into practice. May you be blessed with strong, healthy garlic bulbs at the end of the season every year!

Garlic harvesting must be carried out competently and in a timely manner. After all, this process is decisive for the further storage of the bulbs, as well as the complete and correct completion of their growth process.

The most best time For harvesting garlic, these are warm days without rain. However, cleaning must be done correctly. The possibility of long-term storage directly depends on this. In order to determine when to harvest garlic, it is necessary to know the time of its planting and some signs indicating ripening.

How to determine whether the crop can be harvested

Signs for removing spring garlic are as follows: external manifestations, How:

  • the initial stage of the tops adhering to the ground;
  • leaves are yellow in color.

This happens mainly in the second half of August, closer to the beginning of autumn.

Winter garlic begins to be harvested in mid or late July. Most often on the 12th on the Feast of Peter and Paul. It is at this time that the bulbs reach the required mass.

Characteristic signs of ripening winter garlic are:

  • acquisition of a yellowish tint by the lower leaves;
  • cracking of the arrow (inflorescence);
  • thinning the skin of the heads to a dry state.

The following signs indicate the timeliness of harvesting spring and winter garlic:

  • dense head;
  • the cloves are easily separated from each other;
  • The film can be easily removed.

If the garlic is not ripe, it will be too soft. Overripe - completely unsuitable for long-term storage. It should also be taken into account that if the summer is rainy, the harvest time will be earlier.

Ideally ripe summer and winter garlic has 3 scales. There are two ways to check this.

  1. Dig up a few heads and evaluate them.
  2. Rake off the soil from 2-3 bulbs and look at the condition of the scales.

How to clean properly

One to two weeks before harvesting, it is recommended to rake the soil away from the bulbs. This trick contributes to faster and better ripening of the bulbs. Before harvesting garlic, you must completely stop watering it and let the soil dry thoroughly.

Harvesting should not be extended over time. Cleaning should be done as quickly as possible short time. This should be done in dry weather in the morning or evening.

In order to achieve one hundred percent harvest of garlic and minimize damage to the bulbs, you need to know the technique of this process. It is quite simple, but it is more convenient if two people participate in the procedure.

  1. The arrows are cut off.
  2. A row of garlic is dug up with a garden fork or shovel pointed vertically into the ground, a few centimeters from the bulb.
  3. If the tops are strong, then you can gently pull them. If not, then you need to disassemble the soil with your hands (it is recommended to wear gloves for this).
  4. Bulbs should not be thrown into a pile as they may be damaged by impacts. They are neatly placed in one place.
  5. After part or all of the harvest has been harvested, the garlic is carefully sorted out. Remove the remaining soil from the heads, remove the top layers from the scales, clean the bottom and roots, and set aside the damaged bulbs.

However, the cleaning process does not end there. The garlic must be dried properly. This is done to ensure that it is as suitable for storage as possible.

How to dry garlic

If the weather permits - the days are sunny and hot, then you can do this outside. If it rains or the humidity is high, the crops are stored under sheds or in rooms with good ventilation. Some experts recommend drying garlic outside during the day and moving it indoors in the evening.

If harvesting was carried out in rainy weather, then the bulbs must be dried in special actively ventilated apparatus. This process takes about 10 days. The temperature in such dryers must be increased gradually. Starting at 25 degrees and going up to 40.

Garlic should be dried together with the tops, which cover the heads, to avoid sun burns. This allows you to further increase the mass of the bulbs and nutritional quality garlic After all, during drying, some of the nutrients from the leaves pass into the heads. This process lasts about two weeks.

After the heads reach a condition suitable for sending the crop for storage, its roots and tops need to be trimmed. The stem is left at least 2 centimeters, but no more than 10 (although sometimes the tops are not cut off at all, and the garlic is then woven into braids).

After this, the bulbs must be sorted again:

  • send beautiful and intact heads for long-term storage;
  • Set aside damaged, rotten bulbs for use in the near future.

What are the consequences of untimely cleaning?

If garlic (both summer and winter) is not dug up on time, the results of the delay will be quite disastrous for its appearance, taste and long-term storage.

  1. The scales covering the bulbs will crack.
  2. The head will break up into individual cloves.
  3. Rooting of parts of the bulb and re-growth will occur.

Delay may even result in the crop becoming completely unsuitable for use. Therefore, experts advise gardeners to treat the process of harvesting garlic no less responsibly than planting, watering or caring for it during growth.

Compliance with the timing of harvesting winter and spring varieties, as well as their proper processing and drying, guarantees the possibility of long-term storage in winter, one hundred percent preservation of the taste and nutritional qualities of a healthy product, which has become an indispensable ingredient for many dishes and medicines.

Most summer residents prefer to plant winter garlic before winter, spring - in early spring. When to remove garlic from the garden? When should I dig it up for storage? How to determine the timing of garlic harvesting? Let's look into it in more detail. After all, this healthy and piquant-tasting vegetable can be found in almost every garden. It is extremely undesirable to keep garlic in the ground: it may begin to grow again, overripe heads will disintegrate into individual cloves, and long-term storage of such a crop will be a big question. If you remove garlic from the soil ahead of time, it will be soft, unripe and loose. The keeping quality of this vegetable directly depends on the degree of its ripening and proper drying, so you should remember a few simple rules, which I will tell you about in this article.

Drying garlic (photo by Anna Nepetrovskaya from Novokubansk)

Signs of garlic ripening: when to harvest?


Garlic is ready for harvesting - the lower leaves have turned yellow

How to determine the ripeness of garlic? The surest signal is drying out and yellowing. lower leaves plants. This process, of course, is affected by air temperature ( sunny summer or rainy), the variety of garlic, as well as the territorial location of your site (region). Among other things, gardeners have their own “signs” indicating the ripening of the crop. Someone in the process of growing garlic does not cut off all the arrows, but leaves a couple of pieces on individual plants. When the initially curly arrow becomes even, this is a sure sign that the garlic can be dug up.


The arrows have straightened - you can remove the garlic

Another summer resident looks at the flower heads: if they begin to burst and show “bulbs,” it means it’s time to harvest.


The box with bulbs burst - a sign of ripening garlic

There are a couple of techniques (folk) for enlarging the onion and cloves:

  • When you break off the arrows on garlic, stick a burnt match in their place (at gas stove pick up the rest). A burnt match stops the secretion of juice - the teeth become juicier and larger.
  • the greens from the garlic (feathers) after tearing off the arrows, tie them in a knot - the head of garlic will form faster and become larger.

“Tied” garlic - the cloves become juicier and increase in size

You should know that only winter varieties produce shoots, spring varieties do not shoot, a rare exception is the “Gulliver” variety.

Winter and spring varieties, photo:


Winter garlic in the garden (photo by Anna Nepetrovskaya from Novokubansk)
Winter garlic after harvesting
Spring garlic

Winter garlic is planted in September or early October (in Kuban it is better to do this later, for example, in early November), spring garlic - at the end of March or April.

And the timing of garlic harvesting depends on how hot the summer is. Most often they vary between the 20th of July/the first week of August - this applies to winter varieties.

Spring varieties of garlic always ripen later than winter varieties because they require more time to germinate. Around the 20th of August/in the first half of September, you can start harvesting summer (spring) varieties.

In any case, when the above-described external signs of ripening appear, you can always carefully dig up a couple of heads and visually verify the degree of their ripening.

How do you know when garlic is ready to harvest? The ripe head is always dense to the touch, the film covering the teeth is easily removed, and the teeth themselves are easily separated.

There is another effective technique: to speed up the ripening of garlic, gardeners use one effective technique: approximately 5-7 days before the intended digging, they lightly rake the soil from the bulbs (top layer).

The harvest time for winter garlic in Kuban is approximately mid-July. Again, look for external signs of ripeness and be sure to consider the type of garlic. The fact is that different winter varieties will have different terms maturation. Often, gardeners confuse different varieties and plant them all together in one garden bed. To avoid confusion, always pay attention to the shade of the outer shell of the head, as well as the shape and number of teeth in it. Thus, representatives of individual varieties can be planted in separate beds.

I would also like to focus on a question that novice gardeners often ask - do you need to roll and trample the garlic before harvesting? This method is sometimes used when growing onions to speed up their ripening and stop the growth of feathers. As for garlic, you don't need to do this! In order for the heads to finally ripen, you should stop watering the beds about 10 days before harvesting - let the soil dry out.

How to dry garlic after harvesting so it can be stored well

Harvesting garlic should be done on a dry and sunny day. The plants should first be dug up, preferably with a fork-shaped tool, the heads should be carefully removed and shaken off the ground. Of course, it is better to spend more time and remove the soil by hand, so you will be sure that there is no damage on the heads and they are suitable for further storage. If during the harvesting process you accidentally damage the head, then put it aside or immediately use it for food. Next, place the garlic on clean paper or wooden table, located under a canopy - if you are going to dry the heads outside. A well-ventilated area is also suitable.

Drying garlic after harvesting lasts approximately 7-10 days. Some summer residents prefer to dry garlic directly in the garden bed, in the same place where the crop was dug up. You can do this too, but it’s better to remove the garlic at night. dry room, this could be an attic or a summer veranda. Complete and final drying of the heads is also carried out indoors (an additional 10 days), after which the remaining roots must be removed. The roots must be cut carefully so as not to injure the bottom! An interesting point is pruning garlic after harvesting, in which experienced gardeners strongly recommend leaving the stem and leaves intact.

The fact is that in the above-ground part of the plant there are many nutrients that “go” to the head during drying. It follows from this that uncut tops have a positive effect on preserving the healing qualities of garlic. By the way, one of the most useful ways storing this vegetable involves braiding braids, for which you will need the above-ground part of the plant that you did not cut off when harvesting the garlic. This ancient, but still relevant, method is successfully used today. One such bundle can contain up to 15 heads. A tight braid is woven from the stems, into which twine is woven for security, and a loop is made from it for further convenient hanging of the bundle. Leaves can be removed before weaving.

Garlic braided, photo:

In this form, garlic will be perfectly preserved even until the next harvest. Braids are hung in a dry, dark and cool room, they can also be used as decorative decoration in the kitchen. If you prefer a different storage method, then after complete drying, leave about 6-8 cm of the stem (cut off the rest), and then sort the heads by size and transfer to storage.

What can you plant after garlic?

To prevent the land from wasting away in vain, after harvesting the garlic, you can always sow greens. Parsley, cilantro, arugula, lettuce, dill, spinach grow quite quickly and especially well if their predecessor was garlic. Many gardeners successfully grow radishes, beets, radishes, and carrots - after garlic, they grow much faster, and their taste only gets better. Even early-ripening cucumbers can be planted in Kuban, and Chinese cabbage, as well as kohlrabi, generally grow well (they have a short growing season). It will also grow well after garlic black Eyed Peas and early ripening varieties of sugar snap peas.

Follow the rules of agricultural technology, watch appearance stems - no matter what region you live in, signs of ripening of this vegetable crop will always be the same. Now you know when to remove garlic from the garden, what is the best way to do it, and what to plant after harvesting it.