How long to dry harvested garlic

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This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc. Harvest your garlic after months when the lower leaves dry out. After your garlic has grown for months, begin inspecting the plants every week.

Look to see if the leaves near the base of the plant have started to brown and wilt. Once these leaves are wilted, brush the dirt away around the garlic cloves.

If the bulb is large and the cloves are fully formed, use a trowel to dig around the base of the plant. Once the soil is loose, physically pull the plant out of the ground to harvest your garlic. This will tear up the root system and make the garlic easier to pull up.

This method applies to every variety of garlic, although some species will dry out a little faster than others. Typically, the larger the bulb, the more time it will take to dry out. Knock the dirt off of each bulb with your hands. Take your garlic stalks and set them out on a table with the bulbs all facing down.

Pick up your first bulb and knock off any large clumps of soil or dirt by hand. These cloves have likely already dried out in the ground.

Do not wash your garlic. Trim away the roots with shears or scissors. Hold your first garlic plant by the stem near the bulb. Cut the roots off at the bottom of each bulb with shears or scissors. Leave as many of the leaves on the stem as possible. So long as you remove most of them, your garlic will turn out fine.

Select a warm, dry location to dry your garlic out. If possible, choose an area with good ventilation. Hang your garlic bulbs up or leave them out on the table.

You can also wrap twine around a group of plants and hang them up on a hook or plant cage to store them vertically.

Wait days for your garlic to completely dry out. Leave your garlic indoors and out of the sun. Do not move or disturb the garlic while it dries.

Wait at least 10 days before checking the bulbs to see if the skin is brittle and flaking. Method 2. Cut the stems and skin off of your garlic bulbs. Cut the stems off of each bulb with scissors or shears. Then, take your first bulb and peel the external skin off. Use a fingernail to puncture the external skin between cloves or use a small knife to tear the skin without damaging the cloves.

Separate and peel your individual cloves to remove the skin. Wash your hands with soap and water before drying them with a paper towel or wash cloth. Large fans and warm air are usually necessary to help with the drying process if tops are removed, especially if conditions are humid.

Alternatively, the plants can be tied into bundles of ten and hung with the roots down and leaves pointing up. After several weeks of drying, the leaves and roots can be trimmed. In dry regions, the garlic should be fully dried and cured after three to four weeks. Locations that are humid can take up to five weeks or longer.

Proper curing of your garlic will minimize the risk of molds and other diseases from taking hold while optimizing the length of time your garlic can stay in storage. Curing garlic actually occurs in two stages, first in the ground as the plant begins to have leaves die and second once the garlic is harvested and placed to dry. The purpose of helping the garlic dry is to facilitate this curing process and prepare the garlic for storage.

Drying the garlic at a moderate pace is best. Use hand tools to loosen soil under the bulbs or a mechanical harvester to undercut the bed.

Pulling bulbs out when they are tight in the ground can open wounds at the stem- bulb junction and allow for fungal infections. Fresh bulbs bruise easily and these wounds can also encourage infection.

Curing is important for successful bulb storage and finding the ideal conditions for curing can also be a challenge. Curing in the field runs the risk of sunscald, while poorly ventilated barns can result in loss from disease.

Avoid high temperatures over 90 F and bright sunlight. A well-ventilated barn will also work, but be sure that bulbs are hung with adequate air circulation or on open racks up off the floor.

Curing takes days. Stems may be cut before or after curing. Curing is complete when the outer skins are dry and crispy, the neck is constricted, and the center of the cut stem is hard. However, under these conditions, bulbs will eventually become soft, spongy and shriveled due to water loss. Good airflow throughout storage containers is necessary to prevent any moisture accumulation.

Under these conditions, well-cured garlic can be stored for months. As with onions, relative humidity needs to be lower than for most vegetables because high humidity causes root and mold growth; on the other hand, if it is too dry the bulbs will dry out.