How Ready Is The Garlic?

[GoDawgs]

This morning I pulled one of the Lorz Italian garlics to see where they are. I'd been withholding water for two weeks thinking they were close to harvest. The leaves are starting to brown a little so I just had to look.





Nice size but I can't feel a lot of clove formation yet; I can't believe it's a round that big! Some clove differentiation but they could use more. They'll get rained on this weekend and then maybe they'll be ready in another two weeks.

What do y'all think?

[steve ok]

The leaves still look pretty green to me. I would say maybe three weeks. I would give them at least one more good watering.

[karstopography]

I pulled some of Lorz Italian too late. They definitely didn’t look like that. Others I pulled closer to the right time, they quite didn’t look like yours either. From all the stuff I looked at and read about garlic, from the information online, photos and such, it all was not especially helpful. Most garlic photos and information I found was from growers far to the north. I’d say your garlic is close, a couple, three weeks or so.

[GoDawgs]

We have rain coming in, maybe 1-2" so they'll get watered well. I was checking to see if I needed to dig them today ahead of the rain. Nope. I'll wait a few more weeks. Guess I'm a little gun shy as last year I almost pulled them too late.

Thanks for the input, ya'll!

[Whwoz]

@GoDawgs, the suggested time to lift garlic is when there is 4 green leaves left and the others have dried off. I find that this works well. I could count at least 8 green leaves on that one in your photo, so a couple of weeks early.

[karstopography]

Too long in the ground garlic is useful. I’ve been using it, mostly Lorz Italian, but I suppose it might not keep as long. The heads have loosened up and aren’t tight, but still delicious. I don’t know anything about under-mature garlic.

[Whwoz]

@GoDawgs ,@karstopography , is the Lorz Italian garlic you are growing a softneck artichoke type as per Grey Duck Garlic?

If so it comes with a built-in harvest indicator. At
around the 3,4,5 green leaf left stage the top of the stem should fall over indicating that the bulbs are ready for harvest. If that doesn't happen I would definitely harvest as the 3rd last green leaf starts to die off.

[karstopography]

@Whwoz yes, Lorz Italian is a soft-necked artichoke type. One bed I had my Lorz Italian garlic in did not fall over like mentioned and it seemed pretty much impossible to determine anything meaningful from the green growth remaining. Plus, by all accounts I read online based on when I planted that bed in Mid-late November that garlic shouldn’t have been mature until about now or at least some point in the month of May instead of perhaps early in April or even late in March like when it actually or likely was ready to dig. I did dig it all up in April, cannot remember the exact date, but the earlier in November planted bed was obviously in the ground longer than desired.

There’s no worries though as the garlic is useable, it’s just the heads are loose and cloves have split the outer wrapper layers so they won’t be able to store so long. I’m using that garlic up first. My other bed I planted a couple or three weeks later and I was more on target on harvesting and that bunch did almost all fall over.

I think why my garlic was so advanced and ready to be harvested so soon in the calendar year is that I did vernalize the garlic at about 33° F for an extended period. The garlic then did come up fairly rapidly once planted in November and never stopped growing throughout our mostly non-winter like weather we get here at 29° north latitude. Conversely, seems like what happens from the things I read from garlic growing information sources online is that in places with more typical winter-like weather conditions, the garlic tops tend to die off or stop growing at some point after some early growth in autumn and reemerge or become more vigorous in their growth later in late winter or early spring, sort of a true dormant period or at least some near dormant period happens at any rate for some period of weeks in the coldest stretch of weather.

Like I said, my garlic never died off, went dormant or really ever slowed down on growth, but just kept growing and growing for what was remaining in the fall, then all winter and into spring. I intentionally did the lengthy vernalization process at 33°F as I did read from multiple sources that vernalization period is key to having successful bulb formation for many types of garlic at our latitude and typical weather patterns. What I consider to be very nice bulbs with multiple cloves of various sizes did form so I consider the garlic growing effort a wildly more successful outcome than I could have ever hoped for being my first time to try growing garlic.

The garlic is great, truly enjoyable to cook with and eat and I love having it available. I am segregated the loose heads from the tight ones and am using the loose ones first.

In any future effort on growing garlic here, I’m going by what I can tell with what I see going on with the plants and will consider digging up a plant if I think it might be ready. Never again will I go by a calendar date derived from garden related educational sources online when garlic should be ready by as those invariably, the ones I came across at any rate, pegged May as the earliest I should be able to harvest my Lorz Italian garlic.

[Whwoz]

Okay, that 29North puts a different spin on things, you are doing well to get good garlic there. Here Down Under, the equivalent location would be around Yamba on the east coast of NSW. The recommended garlic for that region are mainly the elephant/Russian type, with the possibility of Turbans doing OK.

How long did you vernalise for? Have some friends at Kempsey, about 31 south who want to grow garlic but have been put off doing so in the past by stories of failure. This will give them hope and timing would be about right given reverse of season.

The only other comment that I will make re harvest would be go by leaf count, digging when about 4 green leaves left. This will allow the remaining leaf bases to form good skins for storage. And as you say, even if the bulbs are skin free the garlic still eats ok, found that one out the hard way myself also.

[TheMad_Poet]

IMO, you want at 4-5 browned or dead bottom leaves. In Michigan thats usually mid to late july, depending on the variety. Thats for hardneck, tho, never have grown the soft.

[GoDawgs]

@GoDawgs ,@karstopography , is the Lorz Italian garlic you are growing a softneck artichoke type as per Grey Duck Garlic? If so it comes with a built-in harvest indicator. At around the 3,4,5 green leaf left stage the top of the stem should fall over indicating that the bulbs are ready for harvest. If that doesn't happen I would definitely harvest as the 3rd last green leaf starts to die off.

I love that Grey Duck site and found it before they stopped selling garlic. So glad they decided to leave all that information up online. Lots of good info on growing garlic in the South here. That's where I read about Lorz when I was looking for another garlic to grow.

@karstopography, looking back at my garden notes it wasn't the Lorz that went too long that year but the Siberian and yes, it didn't store as long. I usually plant my garlic anywhere between Oct 15-31 during the waning moon. Last year I pulled the Lorz on June 6. It looks like I might be getting some decent sized bulbs this year which may be from all that rain we had this spring. Thank goodness for raised beds that drain well!

Interesting about the vernalization. I've tried it once about five years ago but can't remember if there was any difference in readiness times. You have somewhat milder winters than I have here but still mine doesn't die back at all and keeps growing. Where did you have the garlic stored to maintain 33 degrees?

I'm waiting to see what those Siberian bulbils will look like when pulled! This past fall was their second replanting and they're really looking good. They were just 3/8" across when first planted in a window box fall '21...



....and were 1" across when pulled spring '22 and replanted this past fall.

[karstopography]

@Whwoz About 8 -10 weeks.
@GoDawgs in the beverage refrigerator out in the garage. We tend to keep it right at freezing, cold enough so that occasionally water will freeze in the fridge.

I kept the garlic, which was loose and separated large cloves at this point, in a cardboard box in the vegetable hydrator. I think I received the garlic mid September and planted some mid-late November and some around December 1st, if memory serves.

It almost all came up, maybe a couple didn’t.

[pepperhead212]

I planted my garlic on 10-16-22, and all of it got the scapes, so I cut them today, and I might go out tomorrow and dig up some of the heads, as many are small, and drying up. Last year I dug some of them up earlier than 7-4 (my usual target date), but not much. However, I planted about 3 weeks later then, so the time will probably be about the same. I'll probably stop watering them at all now, since it is best to harvest dryer, than when soaked, and it won't take long to dry out, with that lack of rain! Of course, weather doesn't always cooperate...
6 qt bowl overflowing with garlic scapes, 6-5 by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[pepperhead212]

I have no plans for those scapes, yet, but I'll just put them in a 2 gal freezer ziploc, and use them as I come up with ideas. I had just under 2 lbs. They literally keep for months, in the fridge. I would put them in some dishes in place of onions and garlic - a different, but delicious flavor.

I went out later, and dug up those stalks that were drying out too early. They were mostly Metechi, and I'm thinking I was given the wrong variety, as almost none had the purple skin, they usually have. Only a half dozen or so of the Estonian red, and Geogian fire stalks combined were stunted, and not a single Music is drying out early! I still have a few heads from last season, and got rid of the last few drying up completely. In a little less than 3 weeks (the time I cure normal sized heads), I'll start using those small things.
Garlic left from last season, mostly Music, a few Metechi. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Some garlic of this season, drying up early, so dug it up, mostly Metechi. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

Will be AX-scaping here tomorrow.

The Gotch

[CrazyAboutOrchids]

I snipped my scapes yesterday here in CT. I have a 100 bulbs in the ground - all hardneck. I have Music and German Extra Hardy. I try to grow enough to have enough to replant my own cloves in the Fall and have enough to hang in the garage until the following years harvest for use. A bonus is we've not yet had a vampire in our home. I LOVE garlic!

I shared scapes with folks at my vet yesterday and they were thrilled!