When to remove winter garlic from the garden so that it has better and longer shelf life? How do I determine the degree of ripeness of fruits by type

The correctly chosen harvesting period directly affects the storage duration of the vegetable. If unripe garlic is removed from the ground, chances are high that it will only last a couple of months. Thin fragile skin is not able to become a reliable barrier to infection.

I had to remove overripe garlic, the heads of which crumbled into chives during harvesting. Many of the garlic were rotted, others were lost in the ground.

Cleaning times

The growing season of winter garlic to technical ripeness is a little over 3 months. The approximate period of its excavation is from mid-July to the end of August.

Several factors affect the complete biological ripeness of garlic:

· Grade;

· Climate and the established summer weather;

· Agricultural technology.

The vegetable ripens faster in hot and dry weather if it grows on light, well-drained soil. Rains provoke growth to the detriment of ripening, the heads are large, but the skin remains fragile for a long time.

Observing the tops of garlic and selectively digging 3-4 heads from different edges of the garden helps me to accurately determine the time of harvesting.

Signs of ripeness

Winter garlic forms arrows on which air bulbs - seeds are formed. In order not to weaken the plant, it is customary to remove the arrows (they can be used for food). But it is the ripening of the bulbs that signals the readiness of the crop for harvesting.

I leave a few garlic arrows untrimmed and observe their condition. As soon as the cover on the "head" bursts, and the bulbs appear, it's time to do a trial dig.

A trial digging of garlic is needed to inspect the heads and determine the final harvest date. I dig in the garlic from different ends of the garden and disassemble the head into cloves.

Garlic ready for digging has the following characteristics:

· The head is covered with dry "parchment" skin of the color inherent in the variety;

· Cloves are poured, each is enclosed in a dense shell;

· Garlic cloves tightly to the stem, are separated with effort.

An unripe vegetable has a damp thin skin, the teeth are tender and soft. The taste of young garlic is not so pungent, the smell is not pronounced.

Sometimes I have to harvest the winter garlic before ripening due to the weather. If rain is predicted, I see no problem to remove the garlic 8-12 days earlier.

I carefully dig up the plants and, tying them into bunches, hang them in the shed for ripening. I don’t cut the roots and stems. 2-3 weeks in a dry and ventilated room is enough for garlic to strengthen the cover.

The skin becomes denser, the vegetable is protected from diseases during storage.