Growing Garlic

What a great picture! I had no idea how things worked at this point. I've never really grown garlic for harvesting.

Yes, the scapes are really good. I tossed them in the compost for years before I discovered that they are edible.

Great picture! Thanks for the reminder, I'll check again to see if we missed any. Alex is leaving 1 or 2 to compare with those we remove to see if it's true that the scape left on, reduces the size of the bulb.

Would love to know when you harvest and what did the best for you given this year's weather. I pulled 25 Chinese Pink heads that are drying now... smaller than normal but I picked earlier that normal too. Needed the space.

I don't have any of those scapes this time. Is that because of the varieties I planted?

Gwen, only the hard-neck varieties will have a flower stalk (scape). You probably planted only soft-neck varieties. Yours will be good for braiding, if you want to do that with them, once you let the stems dry down. Do you know the names of your varieties?

Ladybug, I did that same experiment with leaving the stalk on a few years ago, and I didn't notice any significant difference in bulb size. I had also read that leaving the stalk on longer will improve length of storage and wanted to check that out. It didn't seem to make much difference in that either. I didn't do a very large experimental or control group so could not draw firm scientific conclusions, but for my own purposes I decided to take my scapes off and cook with them.

I just found 2 great pesto recipes using garlic scapes. Wish I had planted the hard neck kind now. www.abushelofwhat.com/2009/06/garlic-scape-pesto-two-ways.html

MHF, I kinda thought that would be the case. I like to cook with them but my son wants to "see" for himself. We don't have a big enough group for any scientific conclusions...just something to experiment with.

Bee, we'll try your recipes for pesto! Kids are always looking for something to make from the garden.

Thanks for the recipes Bee. I made some tonight. Yumm.

It's great that your son is doing this experiment, Ladybug. There is nothing like checking something out for yourself.

I have been harvesting Music and Chinese Pink for the past couple of weeks -- just in time for when I ran out of the last bit of last years harvest!

I haven't harvested anything yet. I think mine is all still too 'green.'

I just pulled my Italian Late garlic from Territorial Seed and was disappointed at how small the bulbs are. It's supposed to be a pungent, flavorful variety, which is why I chose it, but I was hoping to get some larger bulbs. Maybe it was just the type.

Hi greenhouse_gal
If it's a late variety, perhaps you are just pulling it a bit soon? How many green leafs remain on your plants?

The best guide to when to pick your garlic is to look at the leaves. The base of the leaves will form the layers wrapped around the garlic head once picked. So the number of green leaves remaining indicates how many layers on your garlic. To few and your garlic will not keep well.

The leaves will gradually brown and die off. If you harvest too early, the garlic will not be ready. If you leave it too late and too many leaves have died off then your garlic and it will not store well. I usually wait until there are about 3 - 4 green leaves remaining and don't harvest sooner than that.

EP, there were only about three or four green leaves left on the stalks, which is why I figured I'd better pull them. Interesting about the layers, though. I didn't know that.

Here in the very wet Northwest (extraordinarily wet this year) my garlic frequently has fully formed bulbs when there are still 5 green leaves on the plant. I am harvesting some of my varieties now. The later varieties are not usually ready for harvest until the second week of July, though this can depend somewhat on the time of planting (Fall or Spring) or overall climate conditions. My plants are not drying down normally this year because the weather has refused to let them be dry for any length of time.

For me, the size of the bulb depends on the overall size of the plant, although some varieties are simply smaller to begin with (like Chinese Pink). If the plants have enough room, full sun, good soil and came from a decent sized clove to begin with, they grow to be big plants. I do get carried away and plant some of the smaller cloves, which yield small bulbs (but taste just as good as their bigger brothers and sisters).

Ditto the info about each leaf corresponding to a wrapper layer around the bulb. If you wait to harvest until all the leaves have died back, the bulb wrappers will be pretty well disintegrated or very sparse. This is what causes poor storage, and sometimes the bulb will have split open. Harvesting too early can cause poor storage too, and also mean your bulbs are not fully formed.

If you are already harvesting, it is important to give each plant enough air flow around it so that they can dry and cure. A cool, dry, shaded location is ideal..... without fluctuations in humidity ....Hah, try to find those specifications around here this year.... just too wet. I lay garlic out on newspaper over the living room carpet, turn on the overhead fan and close the blinds, or stand it up against the wall, kind of spread out- if it is a hardneck type, or park them in the kitchen chairs. The house is usually taken over.

This is a picture of garlic in the kitchen chairs from last year.

I'm so nervous about when to harvest. Mine are all soft-necked types, and I think they all have several leaves dried up at the base. I keep wanting to pull one up, but then I chicken out. hehe. I didn't get a lot planted, so I don't want to mess up the few I have by harvesting too early. Or too late. Ack!

What variety did you plant, Pony? It may well be a mid season or late garlic and you are still fine letting it wait a bit longer. You can dig down next to the bulb with you fingertip to feel how the bulb is doing.

This message was edited Jul 2, 2010 10:50 PM

This is a picture from last year also. When you do harvest, you want to keep the bulbs out of the sun. My method is to pull up the plants, peel off a dry leaf layer (which gets some of the dirt off too), and place them so the bulb is in the shade of the neighboring garden bed and the leaves can be in the sun to get a head start on the drying.

Some people form a windrow with the garlic leaves of newly harvested plants placed to cover up and shade the bulbs of those harvested just before. Some just pull them up and get them inside as quickly as possible.

I planted Applegate Giant and Chet's Italian.

Those bulbs look gorgeous! I'll have to strip off one of the outer leaves, too; I was wondering how you got them so clean! It's funny to see them sitting on your chairs. Do you know anything about Italian Late Garlic? That's what I've got, and I'm wondering if that's one of the smaller-bulb varieties.

I can't remember what I planted. I got them from someone on this forum, tho. I have it written downsomewhere. Should have put it on the computer.....

Holly, that is a LOT of great-looking garlic! Do you save some to replant? Or do you always buy new starter bulbs?

This is Music a hardneck I planted last fall. I harvested it with mostly plants that had all green leaves but I test yanked 5 plants and 2 of them had very advanced bulbs.I decided to harvest it all and found 3 more very advanced plants.I am pretty sure I did the right thing.

This is California Early I think. It is a softneck and it was planted i the fall and I don't see much difference when I plant in early spring.

Those all look wonderful compared to my puny little bulbs! What would you recommend I try for next year if I want larger cloves - any thoughts?

Eweed, those look great!! I think you are right about checking the garlic to see if the bulb is ready rather than waiting for more leaves to dry down in this year of never-ending wetness.

Pony, I looked up Chet's Italian, and it looks like it is an earlier maturing garlic, which means it may be time to harvest. If you want to be more sure, dig down next to the bulb with your finger (not a hard tool that might damage the bulb) and see if you can tell if the bulb has rounded out. You can also harvest a test bulb, though this is hard to decide on if you don't have very many. I don't know about Applegate. You could ask the company or person you got it from to be more certain of its growth habits.

GHG, I have planted Early Red Italian, which had pretty large bulbs and is harvestable about this time in the yea. I don't have direct experience with Late Italian, but my guess is it should be similar. I wonder if it didn't get enough sun or had some other difficulty?? How big were the cloves you planted? Clove size always makes a difference in the final size of the plant and ultimately the bulb. My naturally smaller varieties are the very early maturing kinds, like Chinese Xian.

Gwen, I have always saved my own bulbs to plant the next year, though I have bought new varieties to try or been given new types by friends. This year will be different, since I am dealing with this fungus, and I may have to start all over.

MHF, some of the cloves were very small. When I planted them I didn't realize that would make a difference. Maybe I'll try saving some of the largest cloves for next year. The plants got full sun in the garden, so that wasn't the problem.

I just pulled a few up. The first Chet's Italian was gorgeous and big- the one right next to it was tiny.

The Applegate Giants were totally puny.

I guess I'll wait a while before pulling any more.

Okay, this is just bizarre. I went out to see if I could read any markers to see what kind of garlic I had. At least 1/4 of it is gone! I mean completely gone. No holes in the ground to show where it had been. Leaves gone. I dig down, no bulbs.

This area is 100% fenced. Deer can get in if they can get in past the property deer fencing (occasionally they do), but deer don't eat garlic. Plus, there would be hoof prints.

What would eat garlic?

In a few cases, I can see a dried and shriveled leaf stalk laying on the ground but mostly it's just a completely blank bed.

In one of the rows, I dug down and found some very small round purplish bulbs. Eweed, did you send me shallots as well as garlic? (Also, do you remember what kind of garlic you sent me? I cannot find my list and the tags have all faded.)

I checked around some of the bulbs that are still there and they don't appear to be ready. I also noticed that I have one row that has the curly cue scape thingies. This is the first time I've noticed those! So I think my garlic is quite a bit behing schedule. I'm going to go back out and cut the scapes off later.

Eweed, above you mentioned: "If you can't keep garlic in the kitchen untill at least june and have it perfectly useable you have picked the wrong garlic to save or the bulbs were not properly dried."

How long do you have to leave it sitting out to dry? A couple times I've purchased garlic braids and they didn't even last 2 months before the garlic started getting soft and moldy.

I'm determined to get this garlic thing down! We use a lot of it and my goal is to grow enough to last until the next harvest and to have it turn out decently.

Gwen, that is just too weird about the garlic disappearing. I have never had any creature eat my garlic. Nobody touches it, and I've had deer, coons, voles, crows, mice, and even trapped a rat that ventured over from the neighbor's chicken barn. The ravens do pull up the plant markers, so I now use a row of small stones between varieties and keep a map of the layout with names.

I cure my garlic for several weeks to a month before braiding, though the exact time is variable depending mostly on the thickness of the garlic stalks. Those that are an inch or more in diameter take a while to dry down. It has to be just right to braid, pretty well dried, but still pliable enough to braid. I don't trim off the roots until they are completely dried. I leave my hard-necks with the stem on until the are totally cured, and even then, you really don't have to cut it off unless you want to store them in a mesh bag or something like that. I usually trim off the taller part of the stem, cut back the leaves to about 5 inches long each after the whole thing is dry. This way, they can make a nice gift "herb bouquet" when I go to a friend's home for dinner. Pick some rosemary and thyme, dried lavender, and tie them around the garlic stem with a ribbon.

Gwen, you must have an Italian Gopher.

Pony, very funny!

Holly, so you just leave the garlic sitting out in your home for 3-4 weeks, as shown in the photos, and nothing else?

Why could you not braid them while the stems are still green and pliable? And then hang them up somewhere to dry?

Is there a reason you have them propped up on chairs as opposed to laying flat on a surface, say a dining room table? (We keep our dining room doors closed most of the time and it stays nice and cool, is fairly dark, and the table surface is handy for projects like this.)

How do you store the majority of yours, do you use the mesh bags?

Gwen I don't remember sending you Garlic for sure because I send a lot of stuff but I kinda do. And yes very likely I sent a few shallots to.Seems like I sent some at the end of rhe season. Are you having trouble telling them apart?

I'm having trouble finding the list I made, so I have no idea what I have at all. I haven't harvested any yet. I did get it in late. Probably end of November. I can't remember. I think you sent me 6 different varieties.

Actually, I just went back and looked at my dmails and it was from Ladybugfan! I'm sorry for mixing you up!

LBug, do you remember what you sent me? I guess either I did not use my good garden marker or else it doesn't hold up over winter because my little white taggy thingies are bleached and I can't read them. And I did write down what I planted but cannot find that now!

Maury---Your garlic is absolutely beautiful! I am so jealous. The pic of it drying on the kitchen chairs made me laugh. What we do for our garlic, huh?
Eweed, yours is gorgeous too.
I dry mine in the back of my greenhouse on large screens supported by 5 gallon buckets. The back of my GH is dark yet airy and warm, because it is an A-frame structure with the front sloping south with poly carb panels and the back (north) is wood with garden tool storage along its hi wall. A long table down the center shades the garlic set-up. I leave them on the screens until the onions are ready for harvest and then they get the same treatment as the garlic. My garlic this year is pathetic, though. We won't have any trouble finishing off this years harvest. LOL I have had to pickle my garlic in the past along about April so that I can preserve it before it grows shoots. Has anyone else pickled garlic?

I haven't specifically pickled garlic, but I have put several cloves into jars of pickles or dilly beans.

Beebonnet, the screens are a great idea for a place to cure your garlic.

Gwen, I don't purposely plan to have garlic in the kitchen chairs for a month, but I have (in the past) run out of room on available floor space. I like to lay the soft-necks out flat. The hard-necks can stand up, so they take up less horizontal area. I know people who tie their garlic in bundles and hang it to dry in a garage or shed. It is easier for me to have them in the house where I can gradually get all the roots snipped off.

I did buy a length of mesh stuff to make into storage bags which I used a few years ago. It was just extra bother though, and I find it easier to store my garlic in a corner of the back bedroom which I keep cool through the Winter except when I have a guest. That way if I happen to have a bulb that goes bad in storage, I can remove it easily and it was not in direct contact with any of the others. Besides, I like storing them with the stems still on so I can make garlic bouquets, as described in a post above. You have to take the stems off for mesh bag storage. It would save space to do it that way though.

About where to cure your garlic:
Everybody's situation is different. Where is your best dry, shaded location that you do not mind being taken over by garlic for a time? The garage? Storage shed? Unfrequented room in the house? Mine is the dining room floor. I don't actually have a table in there because we eat in the kitchen, and when I put the shades down in that room there is no direct sunlight on the bulbs. Also, it is the only room in the house with an overhead fan if I wish to get a little more air flow going on a humid day. In the Winter, I have some chairs in there by the pellet stove and a clothes drying rack. Those move out at garlic drying time.

Gwen, your dining room table sounds like the perfect place. You could put some towels on the table to soften the surface the garlic bulbs rest on. Then cover those with newspaper to catch any drying dirt that falls from the roots.

About when to braid:
If you braid your garlic right after harvest while the stems are still green, two unfortunate things could happen. One is that the stems would be more likely to mold because the green, moist stems and leaves are massed together. The second is that your braid will become loose as the stems dry and shrink.

Also, the stems are actually less flexible right now, when I have just harvested them because they are still a strong plant with a lot of moisture in the leaves and stems. Think about a nice strong leaf on an appropriately watered plant and a limp, flexible leaf on a wilted plant.

You have to be observant to catch the ideal braiding window, which means dry enough, but not too dry.

I just took up the rest of mine. The Chet's Italian looks great, the Applegate Giant is kind of puny. I have them drying in the garage.

This was a fun thing to try, but I don't know if I'll bother again- I'd need waaaay more space than I have available to grow enough to last us any amount of time, the way we go through garlic around here. ;)

But now I have an empty planter box to fill... hmmm...

It's not too late for zucchini or even cucumbers. You would have a late crop, but I bet we have a long fall ----always my theory if we have a late spring---so you have plenty of time to enjoy your veggies. Also, all shades of green lettuce with red kinds intermixed. Have fun.

What about broccoli, still time for that?

Those of you who grow a lot of garlic to store for the year, how many do you plant? Trying to figure out how many I should plan to put in for next year. I have the room.

Also, since my garlic isn't big enough yet to pull, should I continue to water it so it'll grow? I'm turning the irrigation on today, so I can either leave it hooked up to the garlic bed or I can cap that one off so it doesn't get water.