Garlic is a popular vegetable crop among the peoples of many countries of the world. This is due to its composition. The plant has many useful and healing properties. When growing a crop, it is very important to identify the signs of ripening winter garlic and remove it in time. This will be discussed in this article.
Historical information
Even in antiquity, the Aryans brought garlic to India, where it began to be massively grown. The Indians used the plant only for healing, but did not use it for food. Obviously, they did not like the pungent, unpleasant smell. Garlic began to be cultivated 50 centuries ago. In the ancient period, it was very popular, grown by the Romans and Greeks, Assyrians and Arabs, Egyptians and Jews.
According to the earliest sources known to scientists, garlic was included in the daily diet of the Egyptians. Medicines (800 items) are included in the manuscripts of this people, for the manufacture of 22 of them garlic was used. It was also part of the diet of workers who did very hard work, such as building the pyramids.
Origin
Garlic is from Central Asia. Its cultivation took place in countries such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan. The progenitor of garlic was long-pointed onions, the place of growth of which are the gorges of the mountains of Turkmenistan, the Pamir-Alai, the Tien Shan, and not their slopes, but the very bottom. According to scientists, these two plants are indistinguishable by genetic indicators.
When to harvest garlic?
Timely cleaning is the most important agricultural activity. When growing garlic, it should be borne in mind that this culture is spring (it does not shoot), and winter (it is planted in the fall), some varieties of which form arrows, while others do not.
When pulling out winter garlic depends on a number of factors. For example, crop varieties or growing conditions can affect harvesting time. Harvesting time for winter garlic with an exact date differs in regions with different climates. But, following the general recommendations, winter garlic should be removed 100-110 days after the first shoots appear.
The period is determined when it is necessary to pull out winter garlic, regardless of the conditions associated with the territorial division. This is the end of July or the beginning of August. The exception is the northern regions. Here harvesting is carried out two to three weeks later. When digging garlic in the middle lane, for example, Peter and Paul’s day, which falls on the 12th day, can serve as a guideline.
The term when pulling out winter garlic also depends on the period of its ripening. In order for the crop to be of high quality, one should not rush, otherwise you can dig up an unripe vegetable or overexposed soil.
Signs of Overriding
When to pull out winter garlic? It is important not to delay the collection dates. Otherwise, the quality of the crop will decrease, and its storage will bring a lot of trouble. In order not to be mistaken when to pull out winter garlic, it is important to know the signs of its overriding:
- If the scales covering the bulb burst. In this case, the teeth are exposed, which leads to their rapid drying or decay. Such garlic does not last even until January.
- When the heads break up into separate cloves, which negatively affects the shelf life.
- New roots appear on the very bottom of the head, due to which garlic will begin to grow again.
If the question arises when to remove garlic, the secrets of summer residents will not be superfluous. They recommend to be careful and prevent overripe bulbs, as the germination rate of planted cloves will decrease by 30-50%.
Signs of ripening
When to harvest winter garlic? It is important to know that winter varieties throw arrows with seed bolls at the ends, which contain many small bulbs. If the purpose of growing the crop is not to get seeds, the arrows are cut off. This way heads will be formed better.
The ripening of garlic can be determined by the following signs:
- If the lower leaves turn yellow or dry. When to remove winter garlic in this case? It should be remembered that the stems of winter varieties do not lie, therefore, in this case, this sign should not be guided.
- If the arrows topped with bulbs are left on individual plants, it will be noticeable that the shell cracked on them. Small bulbs are clearly visible under it.
- The scales should be strong and dry with purple streaks. This is easy to verify if a piece of the head is chopped off.
- If the teeth are separated, and the scales are removed easily. This can be checked periodically by digging one head at a time.
Cleaning technology
So that the vegetables have a pleasant taste and large size, they are watered all summer. Garlic is different. When about three weeks remain before harvesting, watering is completely stopped. This is necessary in order to prepare the vegetable for storage.
A day for harvesting garlic should be dry and sunny. It is better to do this early in the morning, before the sun rises, or late in the evening, when it has already set. Garlic has a developed root system, thanks to which the plant is firmly fixed in the ground, therefore it is strictly forbidden to pull it out of the ground, otherwise the roots will be damaged or part of the bulb will break off.
When you need to pull out winter garlic, experienced summer residents recommend using a shovel, and preferably a pitchfork. With a garden tool, you need to carefully dig up the plant and pull it out of the soil. After digging, the garlic needs to be dried. Excessive earth is shaken from the roots and heads, but the roots and leaves are left so that the vegetable does not lose its beneficial properties.
For drying, garlic is laid out on a bed for a period of five days. Important: this must be done on clear days. If the weather does not allow it - under a canopy with good ventilation. It happens that suddenly it starts to rain and wet the garlic. In this case, you need to tie it into sheaves and hang it upside down for drying. When it dries, the roots should be trimmed at 3 mm from the base of the head, and the stems - 10 cm.
When to pull out winter garlic on the lunar calendar?
There are biological rhythms of nature. Adhering to them, you can get a plentiful harvest with high quality cultivated crops. Science has proven that the celestial body (moon) has an effect on plant growth. The lunar calendar exists for various works related to plants. It is also made for harvesting garlic, determining the timing of its ripening. It indicates favorable days on which it is recommended to carry out some agricultural work.
Some gardeners to determine the timing of cleaning refer to the lunar calendar. Those who trust the lunar phases should not forget to monitor the ripening of bulbs, focusing on the external signs of plants.
Useful Tips
Growing garlic, you should stock up on certain knowledge in this area. The recommendations of experienced gardeners are very helpful.
- Premature harvesting of garlic is undesirable, as this will affect the condition of the cloves: they will become soft. If the heads are properly dried, they will ripen. But you should not count on getting smooth lobules, they will be shriveled.
- Experienced gardeners recommend leaving a few arrows in order to determine if garlic has ripened or not.
- The best time to harvest garlic is morning. This is especially important for regions with unstable climates. In case it rains by evening, the garlic will have time to dry in a day.
- Better stored heads, which in three layers is covered with films.
- If drought lasts a long time, the soil needs to be moistened before harvesting. Shaking off dry lumps of soil, you can tear out the bottom together with the roots.
- When the garlic has ripened, do not store it in the garden. Overexposed vegetable quickly deteriorates during storage.
- After digging up the garlic, the heads can be washed, but they should be very well dried before storage.
Subject to all the rules and recommendations, harvesting garlic will not be difficult. It remains to make a little effort to preserve the crop without loss until spring.