When to harvest garlic

[Peter1142]

This is my garlic harvest this year. As you can see, the bulbs are a decent size and the plants are still quite green.

I know from pulling up rotters, that the bulbs enlarge rapidly as the scapes start coming up.

Could they have gotten a bit bigger? Maybe... but there are a lot of risks, including rotting and splitting. I can say in my soil, when the plants start to brown, they are telling me they are in danger and I should pull them.

There are a lot of types of garlic though, and growing conditions, and my experience is limited to porcelains and rocamboles, over a few years.

[applestar]

Looks great @peter1142


Something else to consider -- I've been told by garlic growing enthusiasts that they do acclimate to your location if you keep saving the biggest, best cloves and plant them for the following year. So if these were grown from the purchased seed cloves of garlic, be sure to cure them properly -- bunch and hang in well ventilated spot, up a fan on them if humidity is high. Don't cut off roots and stalks until completely dried -- then plant about a month before the ground freezes or around last average frost !! This is in the north with coldest winter temps below mid-20's. I believe you are supposed to plant earlier in the south.

Your seed cloves might not have been the biggest, too. You don't know if you were planting big cloves for that variety or not unless you bought from a source that prices them by size.

[applestar]

Btw I just harvested the new to me variety that was SUPPOSED to be the earliest to mature. Tzan Turban.

My others don't look ready yet. Elephant garlic doesn't seem to want to mature all at once at the same time -- they are all over the place in terms of indicators.

[jal_ut]

Garlic was hit and miss for me until I decided one year to plant a bit of everything I could get my hands on. Out of that experiment one variety excelled, so I have been propagating that one since. (Lost the name of it) For me garlic is planted in the fall before snowfall, and harvested about first week of July.

[6sparkpug6]

I got my garlic from a local farm. It seemed to do a lot better than last year's garlic from what I've seen of it so far (especially in one of the beds). It's interesting how much larger the ones in the other bed got.

[jal_ut]

I plant garlic in the fall. By July 1 it is ready. I find that if you leave it in the ground too long the bulbs fall apart and you end up with a bunch of individual cloves instead of a nice large bulb with several cloves. Hey we are about there. I am going to start pulling some this weekend.

[KitchenGardener]

I look forward to what you pull up, James. Its a little like a treasure hunt. Hope it pays off well. As for me, you all have convinced me to try my hand at it for next year.

[rainbowgardener]

I look forward to what you pull up, James. Its a little like a treasure hunt. Hope it pays off well. As for me, you all have convinced me to try my hand at it for next year.

Absolutely! I've only been growing garlic for maybe five years now, but I love it! So easy! Takes up little room in the garden, helps keep pests away from your veggies, and what a wonderful thing to harvest!

I'm really missing it that I have none in my garden now -- I moved to a new state, last Sept and did not have things set up in time to plant garlic. Looking forward to planting it this fall!

[Vanisle_BC]

Something I really love about garlic is that if I plant 200 cloves in September I can probably count on getting at least 195 bulbs come July. I don't think I grow anything else that's so reliable.

[Taiji]

Great discussion! I tried some garlic ( just something from the grocery store)last fall for the first time just for fun. It's just about ready; I pulled one just to see; looks like it's doing well. I like the idea of pest control. This fall I'm gonna try it here and there throughout the garden instead of all in one spot.

That's interesting about choosing the larger cloves. With onions, choosing the smallest bulbs is what you do to get the best big onions, right?

[Vanisle_BC]

This fall I'm gonna try it here and there throughout the garden instead of all in one spot.

I've always been an all-in-one spot guy and harvest-all-at-once too (did it yesterday). After following this thread I'm going to try - next year - being more selective about timing the harvest for individual varieties. Maybe about watering too although my drip-tape layout makes it difficult to vary that from one area to another.

[Vanisle_BC]

Hi Annalkona,

Where in BC are you? Here in Port Alberni we get very little winter sun - often seems like none - but garlic grows well. Mine, planted September, is usually up before winter and survives right through. It's not a "real cold" season here but even in years when there was significant frost that hasn't been a problem.

I'm no expert but have been raising garlic for many years. Never in containers so I know NOthing about that.

[jal_ut]

KitchenGardener, sorry to be so long in replying to this...............

[jal_ut]

Always save the biggest and best for planting. Try a bit of several varieties. You may find one that excels in your conditions? Plant in the Fall. Good luck!

[ColleenWater]

KitchenGardener, sorry to be so long in replying to this...............

Awesome looks like you got some real big ones too!. We got about 30 bulbs of garlic this year which should last us a while. It's so easy to grow and I love garlic.

[jal_ut]

When planting garlic, I like to separate the cloves and plant individual cloves about every six inches in a row. Like I always say, give a plant some room and enough room and it will do well. When to pull it? If planted in the fall, by July you should be able to grab some as you need it. When it looks ready pull the whole bunch. If left in the ground too long the outer covering of the bulb deteriorates and the clump falls apart into individual cloves. These are still OK for eating or cooking, but not what you might want for selling at a Farmer's Market.

[Dirt Man]

If I plant my garlic late Oct it is ready to harvest in July. If I plant in Sept it is ready to harvest in June. Sept to June is best there are fewer hot weather days over 80 degrees. If I leave them in the ground until the tops are totally dried out heads fall apart. If I harvest when plants are starting to yellow and die I get solid garlic head. I let the garlic dry outside for a week then put it in a plastic mesh grapefruit bag, we keep them in the kitchen pantry.

I made Enchilada sauce a few days ago, 6 un pealed garlic cloves, 1/2 small onion, 2 cups water, 3 tablespoons of chili powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, 2 teaspoons fresh garden oregano, 2 tablespoons of flour. Optional 1 teaspoon red pepper if you like it a little bit spicy hot. 3 minutes in kitchen blender on high then bring to a boil until thick about 5 minutes. Garlic skins cook up no need to remove skins not even from grocery store garlic. I use to spend a lot of time removing skins Oriental lady said, 'no remove skins they cook good you eat."

[imafan26]

I have some leftover garlic in the refrigerator from last year that are sprouting. I am eating the ones that are not rotting. Should I throw the rest away and get new ones or how can I keep them? They are also getting soft. I know I can't plant them, they will only shrink.

[pepperhead212]

When last year's harvest is starting to dry up, sprout, or just getting old, I take the worst cloves and use them to make plant sprays, with other natural ingredients. Ones that are drying out a little, I mince them, then cook them in oil to make Thai crispy garlic, and nam prik pao - two things that older garlic won't really be noticed in. Nam prik pao is something that I always have in my fridge - a paste of 4 oz shallots, 2 oz garlic, and 1 1/2 oz dried peppers, all minced up with 1-1 1/4 c oil, and cooked to 290°, to crispen and caramelize the ingredients.

[wisconsindead]

I have some leftover garlic in the refrigerator from last year that are sprouting. I am eating the ones that are not rotting. Should I throw the rest away and get new ones or how can I keep them? They are also getting soft. I know I can't plant them, they will only shrink.

Don't refrigerate garlic. There is no need and it only tells the plant to begin sprouting. Keep garlic on your counter/in the pantry.

[jal_ut]

Sorry about the pics. Seems Photobucket has went bonkers. Time to look for a new photo hosting site?

Hmmmm...... here it is a year later. About time to harvest the garlic?

[Gary350]

I have some leftover garlic in the refrigerator from last year that are sprouting. I am eating the ones that are not rotting. Should I throw the rest away and get new ones or how can I keep them? They are also getting soft. I know I can't plant them, they will only shrink.

The garlic you have in the refrigerator are what you need to plant. I keep garlic in the refrigerator 3 months before planting it. This makes garlic think winter is over now it is time to grow. There is new information online about onions & garlic the old belief of planting short day plants in the south and long day plants in the north is wrong. There are growers that grow long day garlic & onions in Texas. They have learned onions & garlic both need to grow below 80 degrees. When I lived in Arizona I planted garlic in November and harvested it in April when weather was 85 degrees, that was best garlic I ever grew. My garlic is in the refrigerator now soon as our weather gets below 80 degrees I am going to plant garlic.

[thanrose]

Garlic skins cook up no need to remove skins not even from grocery store garlic. I use to spend a lot of time removing skins Oriental lady said, 'no remove skins they cook good you eat."

Holy guacamole! My last sixty years I've been living a lie! This is excellent news. It is not the case with onion skins for sure. I hate those little papery bits. I can deal with celery strings and whole peppercorns, but always peel onions completely, save for the roots.

And now that I think on it, I no longer trim the tiny little root end off of garlic cloves unless I want something really smooth like a garlic aioli or a cream sauce.

[imafan26]

I learned the hard way about the different types of garlic. I tried to grow elephant garlic one year and ended up with a clove half the size of the original. I did a little better with the shallots; and came out about even. My garlic does not make scapes. I love the Dixondale site because I learned about growing onions in the South (Hawaii too). I found equally good advice about the nuances of growing garlic from different sites. For the southern growers the greyduckgarlic farm was the most insightful for me

https://www.southernexposure.com/blog/20 ... m-a-clove/
https://www.garlicfarm.ca/growing-garlic.html
https://greyduckgarlic.com/Southern_Garl ... Guide.html
https://organicgrowersschool.org/wp-cont ... dout-1.pdf

In General
You need to plant a variety suitable for your climate. Hardnecks in the North and Softnecks do better in the South.

Garlic growth is dependent on daylength and temperature so you in the South garlic needs to be vernalized a minimum of 6-8 weeks before planting, but up to 12 weeks may be better. Keep the garlic in a paper bag in the frig.

Stages of garlic growth
We have no control over when garlic starts to make bulbs, only over how large and healthy the leaves are when bulbing
starts, and how large the final bulbs can be.
Bulbs start forming once day-length exceeds 13 hours. Air temperatures above 68°F (20°C) and soil temperatures over 60°F
(15.5°C) are secondary triggers - no more leaf growth!!
12 hours of daylight = spring equinox. Northern latitudes reach 13 hours of daylight before southern ones, but garlic does
not start bulbing there then because it’s too cold. Temperatures cause harvest dates to be earlier in warmer zones than in
cooler areas at the same latitude.
It is important to establish garlic in good time so roots and leaf growth are as big as possible before the plants start making
bulbs. Small plants on the trigger date only make small bulbs!

Best planting time is in the fall between Labor day and Halloween. In the tropics. I plant the last week of October

In warm climates it is best to refrigerate longer 8-12 weeks. Mulch to keep soil cool with compost. Hay can cause fungal diseases in humid climates.

You have to have good top growth to get big bulbs - more nitrogen in the early stages of growth and less later.

If you want big garlic only plant big cloves- eat the small ones. If you plant the smaller cloves you will get smaller bulbs.

Harvesting garlic in early Summer. For the tropics and the south May-July, for northern growers after the fourth of July.
Keep a record of when you plant so you know the time your garlic variety is likely to mature.
Avoid watering before harvesting so the bulbs are dry. Nothing worse than pulling muddy bulbs!
You have a window of opportunity to harvest. Too soon and it will look like an onion (the segments and papery wrapper will not yet be formed). Too late and the cloves will grow and expand so much the outer tissue paper-like wrapper will split, which will reduce bulb quality and storage life.
As a guideline, harvest hard neck garlic when roughly 1/3 – 1/2 the leaves are brown and wilted. Harvest soft neck varieties when the bottom few leaves start dying off or the garlic falls over. If you’re not sure, pull out one bulb to test it is fully formed before harvesting the whole crop.

[applestar]

Great summary. Lots of details relevant for my area, too. Thanks @imafan!

[jal_ut]

Plant garlic in the fall. By July you can begin to harvest. If you leave it in the ground too long the outer covering of the bulb tends to deteriorate then when you dig them you get a bunch of individual cloves. Have fun.

[jal_ut]

Sorry, since Photobucket dumped us on our heads, my pics don't show up anymore. Time to look for a new photo server?

[MariaDigsGardening]

A friend of mine who is really into garlic told me to harvest garlic when half of the leaves have turned brown. Harvest too early, and the plants might not be as big. But if you harvest too late, the bulbs can outgrow their papery coverings and that reduces your ability to store them.

It's garlic planting this time of year where I live. I wrote this post on 6 Steps to Growing Amazing Garlic recently and share it here in case it is helpful: https://lifeplusnature.com/2018/09/24/h ... ow-garlic/

[Toxic1979]

First year trying to grow Garlic. Purchase garlic bulbs from Vesseys in Canada. For those interested, I live in Labrador City, NL, Canada.

Plant late September in 2017.

Winter is usually heavy frost, with massive amounts of snow. A typical Spring thaw starts in mid April and lasts until mid May.

Once the ground thawed in May, we started to see growth from the garlic. All 72 sprouted up within that week. We had a fairly late start to summer this year, and even had a few light snowfalls and frosts in June.

Started harvesting some garlic around August, just to see how it was doing. 3-4 bulbs. Roughly Medium sized.

Its October, and I just removed the remaining bulbs. No new bulbs, but their sizes did increase. Harvested the scapes back in early mid August.

Questions:

1. Can I leave the garlic in the ground, for another winter and expect to see it start growing again in the Spring of 2019?

2. Garlic was the only thing in my garden that absolutely no pest bothered... no insects, birds, slugs, ... nothing. Does it have any known pests? Can planting heavy amontnts of it around the garden deter other insects from bothering other vegetables?

3. I'm are pumped that we got 3-4 cloves on each garlic. Over the moon impressed. It was like Christmas in our garden when we started pulling them up... lol. Is there any way to ensure that next years crop produces even more bulbs per plant?

4. Is it true that you can acclimate your bulbs by re-planting them each year?

I'm trying 13 different varieties of garlic for next year. We have it all planted already. I'm basically taking some advice of members on this post, and trying to find out which ones do best in our area. Also trying a variety of suppliers.

Thanks in Advance.

[Vanisle_BC]

Hey, Toxic; it's great that you had such success with your garlic - congratulations. It's the one thing I grow that's practically guaranteed. A word about terminology - 'bulb' usually means the whole underground cluster. The individual segments - the bits you cook with - are called cloves.

1. Can I leave the garlic in the ground, for another winter and expect to see it start growing again in the Spring of 2019?

2. Garlic was the only thing in my garden that absolutely no pest bothered... no insects, birds, slugs, ... nothing. Does it have any known pests? Can planting heavy amontnts of it around the garden deter other insects from bothering other vegetables?

3. I'm are pumped that we got 3-4 cloves on each garlic. Over the moon impressed. It was like Christmas in our garden when we started pulling them up... lol. Is there any way to ensure that next years crop produces even more bulbs per plant?

4. Is it true that you can acclimate your bulbs by re-planting them each year?

1. I'm trying this (leaving in the ground) for the first time, just as an experiment. I cut the scapes as usual, but didn't harvest the bulbs. When the leaves died down I cut the stalk (hardneck) down close to ground level. Green shoots are now showing around the stumps. In the past I've also planted whole 4-clove bulbs spaced about 6". It saves space because each clove becomes a bulb - you get more bulbs in about the same space; but as far as I recall they tended to be smaller. Maybe got more lb total per square foot though.

2. I believe garlic can be hit by a disease - a blight? - and like with potatoes it can't be grown again in that ground for a number of years. I haven't seen insects bother with it, but I've had the growing leaves chewed by - cats? It didn't set the plant back much.

3. My regular practice is to re-plant individual cloves about 5 inches apart in September-October. All things being equal (are they ever?) next summer they produce a crop just as good as the one they came from. I'm also starting to grow from 'bulbils' but that's a whole other topic. Bulbils are mini-cloves that form on top if the plant is allowed to flower.

4. It's often said that plants improve by adapting to local conditions if seed is saved and re-planted year after year. I've not observed this with garlic - or convincingly with anything else; but that's just me.

A last observation (after I cut my finger in the kitchen): If you want to do roast garlic in the oven - where you cut the tops off the cluster of cloves & drizzle with oil - hardneck garlic is downright dangerous. That neck is HARD. I may go back to planting some softneck for that reason.

Glad you're having fun there. Do you grow tomatoes? I saw a clip on TV about a chap in Newfoundland who'd just discovered he could grow the Latah variety there, having tried & failed with several other tomatoes. I grow that one here and it's usually the first to fruit.

[imafan26]

I checked my garlic bulbs in the refrigerator and I guess I got them too early. Most of them have already shriveled. I don't usually get a great harvest anyway unless I plant it in the herb garden where it is very low in nitrogen. It is too late to chill another batch.

[applestar]

You do always want to dig up, separate cloves, then replant them individually with 5-6 inches of spacing. Otherwise, the whole bulbs will sprout the cloves and they will try try to grow in competition. This also gives you the opportunity to select the biggest cloves from the bulb to re-plant.

There are some garlic pests in the north. Most notably slugs and onion flies. I have had young rabbits at least try the garlic shoots in spring while in “try everything once” phase.

13 different varieties! That should be fun, but take it from me — be sure to use a sturdy marker that will stand up to your winter and through the next growing season. It’s a good idea to also draw up a map of your planting, even if just as a reminder of which row is which.

[Toxic1979]

So I'm growing mostly in raised beds. Were spacing 6 inch apart. I've placed the "cloves" (thanks for that) a little deeper to help with stand our heavy frosts. I also use the garden planner.org site to help me plan the garden and get a good overall visual of what I can grow. Great thing is I have 64 garlic cloves, of each type in 1 raised bed. Did this with 7 varieties at our local community garden. So each raised bed is a specific variety. I'll plant the other 6 varieties in my back yard raised beds, again in bunches of 64. If all grows well, I usually just donate a large portion it to our local community garden, for them to sell at the local farmers market (once a season... not what folks on here are used to). The money they raise helps pay for some of the maintenance costsat the community gardens, and the rest gets donated back to our community... usually to the local food bank, soI don't mind dumping off a plethora of veggies for them to sell.

I was really wondering about slugs... I was blown away that they did not touch my garlic. I was hoping it was their kryptonite... sigh.... lol.

So if left in the ground, without digging them up, the 4 cloves that may be in that bulb will all try to grow another bulb each?

Vanisie... The majority of the varieties that I'm trying this year are actually from BC. I ordered from Rasa Creek Farm. Service was fantastic. All the Bulbs were in good shape as well.

As for Tomatoes... I have grown them, with great success, in the greenhouse only. I tried outdoors, and had way more toms growing but they all stayed green. I also had to cover the raised beds every night around 10:00-11:00 pm when the sun went down, in order to keep some heat around them. If I had to grow them outside I would need much warmer evenings. I'm actually situated in Labrador, which quite a bit further north of the the island of Newfoundland. But still the same province. The island typically gets good summers, and much warmer weather, for longer periods.... and the final effects of all the hurricanes on the east sea board.

As well, the bulbils kind of interested me. I'm going to nail down the clove planting first though. I have to say, I had fun planting the garlic and harvesting it. SoFar, the best ones I grew last year were the Porcelain Music, and the Italian Hardneck, both from West Coast Seeds. As for the hardback... being hard.... found that out quick also. Hahaha... Had to use a serrated blade to make it a bit easier.

I'm a bit jealous of your summers out west... wish we could get that here!

Thanks again!

[Vanisle_BC]

Toxic: I was chopping with a freshly sharpened cleaver (my favourite kitchen utensil) and it bounced off the stem onto my finger - an Ouch!! but that's not actually what I exclaimed.

I grew Music for the first time this year; very successful with good big bulbs. Susan Delafield, Fishlake and Red Russian all do well for me. Also one for which I've lost the 'provenance'. I just call it Redneck.

The Latah tomato is (?) parthenocarpic, meaning - I think - it will set fruit in cold weather and without having to be fertilized by insects, wind action etc. But it sounds as though your season may be too short/late/cool anyway.

Congratulations for persevering in such a challenging climate.

[jal_ut]

"13 different varieties!"

I was having trouble growing garlic, so I planted a few of every type I could get hands on. Of the lot one excelled, so I have been propagating that one since.

I second what applestar says.

[Vanisle_BC]

Garlic I'm growing this year (all hardneck):
Susan Delafield
Fishlake 3
Red Russian
Redneck - my own name as I've forgotten the real one.
Music
- And a donated one with no name.
To date Delafield has been the most consistent producer. Recently introduced Music is also looking good.

Bulbils harvested this year are planted in wooden boxes and spaced 1.5 x 1.5". these will make 'year-1' rounds.

'Year-2' rounds ready for re-planting. The ones in the picture were grown crowded & neglected in an outdoor container. Note some are already mini-bulbs with 4 cloves. Others of the same 1-year batch, planted in a good bed, made bulbs big enough to use in the kitchen. All were grown from last year's 'year-1' marble-size rounds.

Setting out the main bed - cloves will be planted at 5 x 5" spacing to grow bulbs for the kitchen next year.

This shows the max difference in size of cloves being planted. I'll grade the cloves from largest to smallest in each row, to check my previous conclusion that the size of clove planted has little influence on the size of bulb that grows. (Apologies for the over-contrasty photo.)

[MariaDigsGardening]

We've had good luck with Susan Delafield here in Upper Michigan as well.

Also, this year I was planting my garlic in a slightly-mounded bed. I have a broadfork that I have not used much and consider selling from time to time, but it seemed like the perfect tool to slightly loosen the soil in preparation for putting the garlic into the ground. An unexpected bonus was that the tines from the fork were the perfect size and depth for planting-- I just put the broad fork in every 6 inches or so to loosen the soil. Then I put a clove a garlic in the hole produced by every other tine to get a 6" x 6" spacing. SUPER EASY!

[Toxic1979]

Harvesting a lot of my garlic varieties that I tried last year, real soon!

Will post results and pics soon!

[Foodgardenguy]

We have been successfully growing garlic for years. We wait for the outside leaves to turn brown and fall over. The tips of the other leaves will also start to turn brown and yellow as well.

To test, we dig out a couple of sample garlic plants whose leaves are most brown. The bulb should clearly show divided cloves. If they are one whole bulb without the clear vertical or longitudinal indents in them, then they are not ready yet. You can wait another week to test again.

When you have dug up 10 plants in succession and they all show clearly divided cloves on them, then your whole bed is essentially ready. You might get a few though that are not ready, and they will usually have still the most green leaves on them.

[Dissily Mordentroge]

Some very useful information here but I can’t find anything about Russian garlic. I’ve found this can be harvested anywhere from half way to full maturity to the point when flower heads are fully formed. To my taste though it’s not a garlic to use raw in salads but is wonderful in slow cooked sauces and casseroles.