harvest garlic

When to harvest garlic?

If it’s about stars in the kitchen, garlic is in a place of honor for the flavor profiles it brings to dishes. In addition, it is a species with a long list of benefits that can be used in areas such as health.

Its harvest is applied during the end of the cold season, when very few plants offer something to consume.This informs you that you will be able to dedicate all the time you deserve to enjoy a harvest of excellent characteristics and that is the topic to be discussed today.

How to know if the garlic is ready to harvest?

The garlic planting process goes through three highly relevant phases to ensure that the bulb is large and flavorful. These are: the cut of the flower, the knotting of the leaves and the harvest as such.

The knotting of the leaves is done between the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, depending on the time in which the plant has been planted. This technique encourages the plant to stop spending nutrients and energy on the aerial part and only concentrate on fattening the bulb.

Well, after knotting the plant will begin to dry out because the sap is prevented from flowing. When the drought becomes evident, then it is time to harvest. This will go from the bottom of the leaves to the top.

The waiting time between knotting and harvesting is usually about three or four weeks. Take into account that the plant must have dried out by 70 or 75% because if you let this condition progress much more, the teeth will start to separate.

And that situation, apart from negatively impacting the structure, could cause rot because the coating of each tooth will also be lost.

What steps must be followed to harvest garlic?

Garlic harvesting is a procedure that you must carry out very carefully because it is done practically blind. Ideally, you should have a shovel or other tool that you can dig into the ground and then lift up with force to propel the head of garlic to the surface.

Take into account that this leverage cannot be executed on the plant because you could break the bulb. You must consider an appropriate distance that ensures you will reach the bulb but without the risk of crashing. So the steps will be like this:

Avoid watering the garlic plant for two weeks before harvest to ensure they have the lowest possible humidity level.
It activates a kind of lever that takes the bulb from where it is buried to the surface.
Clean it with your hand from the remains of soil and roots, leaving only the leaves that are attached to it.
Place the heads of garlic in a tray and allow them to remain in a ventilated and sunny place so that they get rid of all the moisture they had from the earth. The amount of time is variable, between 2 and 5 days. Check them daily.
When the heads are dry, you will be able to remove the leaves that it has and that are surely dry and brown.

How to harvest garlic in a pot?

The harvest of garlic in a pot will follow an identical procedure to the one exposed to harvest the ones you plant in the garden.If the soil here is looser, you can check the condition of the garlic before taking it out, so you can wait for the right days to improve its size.

What experts recommend is to clean the base of the plant leaf with your fingers to discover the point of union with the bulb.When you see it, you can define if it meets the ideal characteristics for harvest: firm structure, bulky and tight.

In addition, it will be possible for you to see the curvature of the separation between the teeth, which indicates that it has been structured appropriately. Garlic harvesting is a relatively simple procedure that you can carry out without the need for help.

Keep in mind that a seed of a few heads will give you enough resources for many preparations, but you must plan well because a planted clove will produce a head.

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