Harvest and storage of garlic

The harvest time of garlic should be determined according to the maturity. Harvest too early, garlic tissue is not substantial, high water content, easy to dry, not resistant to storage, low yield; too late harvest, garlic skin blackened, easy to loose, poor merchandise. Our experience of garlic farmers: when most of the garlic leaves are dry, the upper leaves slowly droop from fading to leaf tip drying, the plant is in a soft state, and the stem is not easy to break when the harvest is suitable.

After the garlic is harvested, it is dried on the spot and often turned in the sun. When turning the sun, you should put the garlic leaves in the back row on the garlic head in the front row, arrange them in turn, only dry the leaves, not the head, and dry them for 2-3 days. Do not put the garlic in the sun, otherwise the garlic cloves are easy to shrink, the outer layer is sticky, the garlic flavor is reduced, and the storage is easy to deteriorate and rot.

For garlic to be stored and planted, it is best to divide the leafy stems into three levels according to the size of the garlic, which are respectively braided into 50 heads and a braid, then the two braids are woven together into 100 heads, put in a dry and ventilated place, or tied into handfuls, with the head facing outward, the stems and leaves inward, the double rows stacked in a high dry place, and two sticks below to let the garlic hang in the air. If the storage capacity is large, garlic racks can be built in the open air and covered with plastic film or Reed mats to protect against both rain and sun.