One of the important products that improves the taste of meat dishes and salads is garlic, which in 2018 will probably have to be dug up later. This agricultural crop is grown both in the Moscow region and in the Vladimir, Ulyanovsk, Volgograd, Samara regions, and Bashkiria. In the northern regions of Russia, garlic is sown for the winter in late August; in the southern part it is planted until the end of October, which is why it ripens at different times.
The exact date of harvest depends on the climatic characteristics of the area, but both late and premature digging of the heads reduces shelf life.
Types of garlic
The culture is demanding of soil and light. It is grown on loam and sandy soil, in beds illuminated by the sun. The product, which is a natural antibiotic, contains many vitamins, organic acids and microelements. Spring garlic planted after the snow melts in April, in early May, when the earth warms up to 5 degrees. It is not afraid of frost, but reproduces only by cloves, which require additional days for germination.
Winter garlic must be put into the ground at a certain time. If planted early, it sprouts and may freeze; if planted late, the crop does not always have time to take root before the onset of frost. In order for the plant to withstand cold weather normally, the beds are mulched with peat, pine needles, sawdust or dry leaves, and if there is no snow, covered with plastic film.
Winter varieties reproduce not only by cloves, but also by bulbs that form on the shoots. This method of sowing allows you to update the material for planting and enlarge the heads, since they gradually become significantly smaller in size.
When to harvest garlic?
The harvesting time of a crop depends on its variety and climatic conditions. The weather accelerates or delays the ripening of bulbs. Winter species usually ripen by July:
- in the southern part - by 10–12;
- in the central regions - by the middle of the month;
- in the northern regions - in the last numbers.
Dry and hot summers slow down the development of this plant; rain promotes its growth. To know when to dig garlic, you need to look not only at the calendar, but also monitor the appearance of certain signs. Even if harvested 3 days later, the heads:
- They will fall apart into cloves.
- They will lose their garlic taste.
- Will not be stored.
Unripe bulbs have a dense skin and a thick neck. They lose their healing properties and dry out quickly.
When it is impossible to give an exact date for digging up garlic in the Saratov region, winter crops are usually harvested at the end of July, in Volgograd - a week earlier, in Samara, Ufa - a little later.
Harvesting begins when all the lower leaves have acquired a yellow tint and lie on the ground; the boxes on the arrows open, containing the seeds. The hard heads must be dug out before they fall apart into cloves, otherwise the bulbs will become loose, lose flavor, or sprout.
When to dig up spring garlic?
Signs that indicate that the bulbs are ripe should be known to all gardeners, regardless of the regions in which they grow this crop. Spring garlic, unlike winter varieties, does not have arrows and seed pods, which serve as one of the landmarks for preparing for harvest. The leaves can change color in unfavorable weather, and if they turn yellow below, but the top ones remain green, but lay down, it means the heads are ripe.
They should be hard, not fall apart in your hands, and the husks should be easy to separate.
The growing season of spring varieties ranges from 3 months to 120 days, but the cloves need time to germinate after planting, so spring garlic needs to be dug two weeks later than winter garlic. Varieties that are planted in the spring are stored better; they try to remove the heads before mid-September, and begin at the end of August.
Preparing and collecting bulbs
When you will have to dig garlic in 2018 - later or earlier depends on the weather, spring is late, it is not known what summer will be like. Winter varieties ripen no earlier than 100 days after the sprouts emerge from the ground.If there is excess moisture, the bulbs may rot and will not store well. Therefore, from the end of June, watering stops and the soil is raked. The harvesting process consists of several stages:
- The heads are dug up with a pitchfork or shovel and cleared of soil.
- The garlic is laid out in rows on an open terrace for 5 days.
- Some of the feathers are removed and they are used to cover the bulbs from the rays of the sun.
- The dried roots are cut off, leaving a couple of millimeters, and the ends are burned with fire.
- The heads are sorted by size, and the material for the next planting is selected from them.
Arrows with inflorescences are prepared a week before harvest and tied into bundles. The seeds in them quickly ripen and are planted the next season. Work on digging up bulbs is carried out in clear weather. It is advisable to do this in the morning or evening.
If possible, garlic should be dried in the sun. The bulbs will not get sick, but will die:
- nematodes;
- mites;
- fungi;
- microbes
To clean the dirt from the dug out heads, summer residents first wash them in water and remove the scales. This processing method is suitable for a small number of bulbs. After the water has drained, the garlic is laid out on burlap and air dried.
Storage methods
The crop is planted in different regions. Both Ufa and Penza can boast of new winter and spring varieties that are adapted to local climate conditions and produce high yields.
If the storage rules are followed, ripened, unpeeled heads of spring garlic do not dry out or rot until the next season.
The bulbs are placed in boxes or jars filled with sawdust, wood ash, sand or salt so that there is no free space left. Due to the lack of oxygen, neither fungi nor microbes grow.
In an airtight container at a temperature of 3–5 degrees, the heads of winter varieties are stored until January, spring varieties do not lose quality characteristics even at 17–19.
In a country house, where it is dry and cool, they hang bundles of bulbs. Such wreaths or braids look original and fill the room with a pleasant aroma. If it is warm or humid, the heads will begin to sprout and become moldy. The cloves will become tasteless if the air is very dry.
Garlic is stored well together with husks or moss in cotton or linen bags. Such natural ingredients absorb excess moisture.
The bulbs do not rot or lose their taste when their surface is treated with molten paraffin. A large number of heads are placed in vegetable nets, which are best hung on the walls. Wicker baskets, boxes, cardboard and wood are suitable for storing garlic if you cut holes in them for air circulation.
The peeled cloves are washed, placed in a jar and olive or corn oil is poured. The container is closed and placed in the refrigerator. However, no storage method will give a positive result if the heads are collected at the wrong time, begin to crumble, or are poorly dried.
Farmers who plant entire fields with winter varieties of garlic for subsequent sale treat the bulbs with special compounds such as radioactive cobalt. Such a product is stored not for 4, but for 6 or 8 months, and does not harm the human body. It will not be possible to grow a garlic crop by selecting seed from the heads, since the cloves do not sprout after processing.
