When to harvest garlic planted before winter?

The final stage of growing any vegetable crop is harvesting. And in the situation with the cultivation of garlic, the answer to the question is of particular importance, when exactly according to the rules to harvest it, if it was planted before winter? It is no secret that the quality and volume of the harvest directly depend on the timeliness of both planting and harvesting. This is also true for the duration of the shelf life of a popular vegetable. And in such a situation, it is important to correctly determine the most favorable days, taking into account a number of factors and indicators.

Signs of ripe garlic

Garlic is a vegetable that deserves record popularity and is indispensable on most tables. It is valued for its unique taste and bactericidal properties. But it is important to consider that it is not enough just to successfully grow the crop of this crop. Another key point is timely and proper cleaning. It is from this that the shelf life of garlic heads and their properties, including healing ones, will ultimately depend.

It is important to note that in the absence of significant adjustments made by weather conditions, the average duration of the growing season of the crop in question is from 3 to 4 months.

At the moment, farmers cultivate two types of garlic: winter and spring. In the first case, we will talk about the following important features:

1. vegetation from the appearance of the first shoots – from 80 to 100 days;
2. shelf life – from 6 to 8 months;
3. head – weight up to 50 g and consists of 4-6 cloves;
4. in the center there is a false stem.

The right time for harvesting will be the key to preserving the garlic crop throughout the winter. If you dig up unripe heads or, conversely, overexpose them in the beds, then rotting or early drying out is possible, respectively. When calculating the optimal time, it is recommended to take into account the following important points.

• Variety Features, the list of which includes the duration of the ripening period.
• Features of summer weather. Under heat conditions, the plant ripens faster, while prolonged rains slow down this process. It is important to note that in such cases, the deadlines are shifted by a maximum of 2 weeks.
• The location and configuration of the site and the beds themselves. We are talking, in particular, about the shading, because of which the garlic is dug up later.
• Compliance with the rules of care of culture. With the timely and competent application of fertilizing, irrigation and other agrotechnical measures, the growing season becomes longer. Consequently, the timing of the harvest is shifted, and the heads grow larger.
• Grade. Growing his variety from year to year, the gardener already knows in advance when the time will come to harvest it. When purchasing a new one, it is important to know the ripening period of the vegetable.

There are several main signs that it is time to dig or pull out winter garlic.

1. Yellowing, and sometimes complete drying of the lower leaf plates.
2. Cracking of the seed box, which is located on the control arrow. By the way, experienced gardeners advise leaving one such arrow on each bed during the growing process. As a result, it will serve as a kind of indicator of maturation.
3. The rhizomes of the heads look old when dug up.
4. The “shirt” of the fruit acquires a purple or lilac color.
5. The husks of the heads begin to crack.

To identify all of the listed signs, or, conversely, to make sure that they are absent, it will be enough to dig one control garlic in the garden.

If it turns out to be ripe, then it remains only to choose the most favorable day for harvesting. It must be dry and sunny. It is allowed to dig garlic in windy weather. It is best to harvest in the morning, and if it rained on the eve of the chosen date, then it is worth rescheduling the planned agrotechnical event.

It would be useful to pay attention to folk signs related to the harvesting of the described vegetable. In those days when the vegetation periods were not calculated, it was on them that the timing of the necessary work was determined. So, for example, in our days, many are trying to harvest on the site before July 12 (the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul). The belief looks quite logical, given that the middle of summer is the optimal time for harvesting winter crops.

Deadlines for different regions

As already noted, the most favorable periods for harvesting the described vegetable directly depend on the climatic characteristics of a particular region. It is worth recalling that spring garlic takes more time to ripen, and it is dug up approximately two weeks after winter.

By the way, the so-called “rule of 100 days” is relevant for modern farmers for the latter. It is this time period that in the vast majority of cases is necessary for the plant from the moment of emergence of seedlings to full maturation.

Analyzing the considered timing of agrotechnical measures, taking into account the climate and prevailing weather conditions, it is necessary to highlight the following important points for different regions of the country.

• In the south of Russia (Republic of Crimea, North Caucasus, Kuban) the season for summer residents and gardeners begins early. However, despite the warm climate, varieties of garlic planted before winter ripen only by July 5 or later. At the same time, early spring plants planted in open ground in the spring give a harvest already in the first ten days of August. A later variety is dug up, as a rule, 10 days later and even up to the beginning of the first month of autumn.
• For the regions of the Volga and Chernozem regions characterized, as you know, temperate continental climate. In this case, we are talking about cold winters and rather hot summers. The first harvest of the described vegetable, planted in winter, begins to be harvested here in the first decade of July. By the way, harvesting spring garlic in such conditions falls on the period from August 20 to September 20.
• Middle lane and Moscow region in terms of climate, they are very similar to the Volga and Chernozem regions. In these areas, harvesting of winter crops begins on the 15th day of the second summer month. Two weeks later, early varieties are harvested, and a week later they begin to dig up late species.
• Taking into account the peculiarities of the climate in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region the most favorable terms for the implementation of the considered agrotechnical measures are the first 10 days of August. This is primarily due to the fact that these regions are characterized by rainy summers. By the way, if, according to forecasts, prolonged precipitation is expected, then it is highly undesirable to postpone the harvesting of garlic. It is important to remember that excess accumulated moisture negatively affects the keeping quality of garlic heads and predictably leads to their rather rapid decay.
• In the Far East, the Urals and Siberia Harvesting of garlic begins not earlier than the end of July, but more often in early August. The key point here is that the northern regions are characterized by long winters. It is important for farmers to accurately record the time of sufficient warming up of the soil and the appearance of the first shoots. It is from these dates that the time intervals before harvesting are counted.

What is the danger of late cleaning?

As practice shows, in the situation with the described vegetable, it is highly undesirable to miss the exact time of harvesting.

It is important to remember that compliance with the terms stipulated by the rules of agricultural technology directly determines the duration and results of storing winter garlic.

It is worth assessing the possible consequences in situations with both prematurely harvested and over-aged crops in the ground. It has been proven by many years of practice that ripe garlic heads that have been in the ground for too long become loose. The structure of such fruits, as a rule, will be soft. Often in such situations, the heads are divided into segments (lobules), and the garlic will be able to give new shoots. However, this greatly increases the risk of negative effects of putrefactive bacteria, which, in turn, will reduce the shelf life of the vegetable.

It is equally important to avoid premature digging of winter garlic.. This will also adversely affect its condition and duration of storage. The main problem is that with early harvesting, full-fledged scales do not have time to form on the heads and slices. Because of this, garlic can begin to deteriorate rather quickly even under ideal conditions after harvesting.

Harvest recommendations

Regardless of the region and all other factors that somehow affect the timing of harvesting garlic planted before winter, it is strongly recommended to follow certain rules when performing this agrotechnical event. The most important in this case are the following points.

1. One month before winter garlic ripens and it can already be dug, it is necessary to stop watering. And this should be done regardless of when the plants were planted.
2. Two weeks before harvesting, soil raking is allowed, which will speed up the final maturation of the teeth.
3. Digging garlic is required immediately, as soon as signs of maturation of culture appeared. It is important to remember about the inadmissibility of delay, because otherwise the heads are quickly divided into separate segments (lobules). As a result, the very process of harvesting is significantly complicated, as well as its presentation worsens, and the shelf life is reduced.

In addition to the deadlines, it is also important to observe the cleaning technology.

1. Considered agrotechnical operations are recommended to be carried out in the absence of precipitation. The best weather option is if there is no rain for at least a few days after digging up the garlic. In this case, the heads can be well dried in the air without transferring them to the room. One of the essential elements of harvesting is fruit sorting, which allows selecting damaged specimens that are unsuitable for storage.
2. It is most convenient and safest to harvest the crop with a pitchfork.. Hand picking often results in the stems breaking off and the heads themselves remaining in the soil. If, nevertheless, a decision is made to pull out ripe garlic, then this must be done with the utmost care. Damaged heads and cloves should be eaten as soon as possible (before they begin to deteriorate), as they will not be stored.
3. If the weather allows, that is, it is dry and warm enough, then immediately after digging (pulling out), the crop can be left right on the beds to dry. But it is worth considering that prolonged exposure to direct sunlight is highly undesirable.
4. Removal of stems and rhizomes from the heads is carried out only after they have dried.. In this case, small (up to 2 cm) parts of the roots and about 5-10 cm of the stem should be left.
5. When harvesting, it is worth considering the method of future storage of garlic. If we are talking about the so-called braids, then only the roots are cut off.

In the process of digging, it will be useful to immediately sort the grown crop. And here the key criteria for selection and culling will be the size of the heads and their integrity. In parallel, at this stage, seed material is selected for planting next year.

Compliance with the listed simple rules for collecting ripe garlic will be the key to the longest possible storage of this popular vegetable. At the same time, the heads retain all their varietal qualities throughout the year, which allows them to be used, among other things, for planting in the next season. Unfortunately, quite often, having grown a rich and high-quality crop, gardeners, due to certain circumstances, incorrectly (untimely) collect it or prepare it for storage.

The consequences of such actions will be extremely negative. In this case, it is worth highlighting the following most common mistakes.

1. Watering garlic beds on the eve of harvesting. It is strongly recommended to exclude irrigation and fertilization from the list of activities at least two weeks before the described procedure. Under such conditions, the plant has time to form a full-fledged protective layer (scales), which in itself greatly facilitates the digging of ripe fruits.
2. Attempts to pull out (sharply and with excessive force to pull out) garlic from the ground. It is much better to dig up mature heads, otherwise it will be difficult to avoid damaging them.
3. Removing the leaves immediately after removing the garlic from the ground. The fact is that the leaf plates are still alive at the time of digging, and therefore they will be able to feed the heads for several days, which, in turn, contributes to the final formation of cloves.
4. Insufficient drying of the heads. Many years of practice proves that when harvesting and preparing garlic for further storage, it is better to dry the heads.
5. Harvesting in wet weather. And also do not perform such actions in the evening.

Naturally, one should not forget about the timeliness of cleaning, since it is precisely the failure to meet the deadlines that is one of the most serious mistakes. By following the key agrotechnical rules and avoiding basic miscalculations, you can dig up in time and save a good harvest of winter garlic for a long time.