Knowing when and how to harvest garlic is an important thing. Harvest time depends on when you plant so it is best to check upon your plants regularly. Once the tops of your garlic plants start to die back and you see the leaves starting to decline you know it’s time to harvest. Garlic can't be picked too early or too late, and since the bulbs are all underground, how can we really know when our garlic is ripe and ready?
In this post i guide you step by step how to successfully harvest your own garlic.
. How To Harvest Garlic .
Harvesting garlic too soon will result in smaller cloves that don’t store well and leaving the bulbs in the ground too long causes the cloves to burst out of their skins, making them unstorable and vulnerable to disease so you have to harvest your garlic when the tops begin to yellow and fall over, before they are completely dry.
When at least half of the leaves are brown and half are green. Stop watering for one week. This allows the soil to dry out a bit to prevent rot, and makes harvesting easier instead of wet and compressed soil.
Check upon your plants regularly. It’s a good idea to check up on one or two plants, to see if the bulbs are big enough. Just remove a bit of soil around the stalk to get a good look and when the bulb is big enough and you are satisfied with the size, you should proceed with the harvest. If not, then you can wait a bit more.
I recommend using a small spade to avoid accidentally spearing bulbs.
Dig up your garlic well away from the bulb.
Never try to pull it out of the ground, as the stalks can break and separate from the bulbs.
Do not wash your garlic or remove the bulb wrappers after harvesting. Carefully brush off the soil, and let them cure in an airy, shady, dry spot for two weeks.
. Watch Harvesting Garlic Video .
I hope these simple tips will help you to successfully harvest your own garlic.
Happy Organic Gardening!