Harvesting your Garlic
When to Harvest Garlic in New Zealand
Most garlic will take about 6-7 months from planting to harvest. Note that garlic does all of its bulbing and forming of individual cloves in the last 6-8 weeks, and the first 4-5 months are just leaf growth.
You want to harvest after 2 to 4 leaves have died back and there are still 5 or 6 green leaves remaining on the plant. Don’t wait until all of the leaves have completely died back as that’s too late and your bulbs will have started to split.
Harvest too early and your garlic bulbs won’t be ready, meanwhile if you harvest too late you will compromise their storage quality and the bulbs will begin to separate in the ground.
Maturity
Indications of garlic maturity are:
- The stems have not fallen down, but leaves have started to die back and are still slightly green.
- Bulbs are of good size.
- Cloves are seen easily from outside the bulb.
- In cross-section, the skin between the cloves becomes thin and well-developed rather than fleshy.
- Internal clove colour is creamy rather than white.
- The neck softens above the bulb.
- Bulbs develop in the neck or on top of hard-necked varieties.
How to Harvest Garlic Successfully at New Zealand
Garlic is hard to pull by hand. Tractor driven Garlic Harvester can ease pulling and reduce labour and is most common.
The cutting blade in front will pull the garlic from ground. the havester will transform the plant with shaking rollers, which can remove the soil and stones . The harvested garlic plant will be collected to the middle in one line, and easy to collect to trucks.
Garlic Harvested in New Zealand
What to do After Harvest Garlic
Gently brush most of the dirt off. You can trim off the roots and tops with Garlic Root and Top Cutting Machine as you harvest your garlic plants or after you’ve cured them – it’s your choice.
Cure your freshly harvested garlic by laying them on wire racks or tying and hanging them to dry for 4-6 weeks in a cool, dry place out of the sun with good airflow (like a shed or garage).
Once it had been cured store your garlic in a cool, dark and dry place and enjoy their pungent goodness over the months ahead.
If you follow the tips above we trust you’ll have great success!
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