Everyone knows. It is not only a good antiviral agent, but also a delicious seasoning for food. It can always be found on store shelves. But often it is lethargic, semi-dry, shriveled, or already germinated. It is best to grow a vegetable yourself and keep it at home according to all the rules in order to enjoy its real taste all winter until spring.
(summer) and winter (winter). The first tends to be stored for a long time, and the second allows you to collect a larger amount of the crop. Each of the varieties is subdivided into types.
Spring most often grows without a single stem. The denticles are formed in a spiral in several rows in the head. The structure of the bulb is dense, taste qualities saturated with pungency. Varieties of winter crops can boast of varying degrees of maturity (early, medium, late). The best representatives are singled out:
- Gulliver - endowed with excellent productivity, not susceptible to diseases, medium-late ripeness. One head averages 95-120 grams, divided into 5-6 large teeth. It has a long shelf life of up to 1 year.
- Aleisky - average yield. The weight of the heads is insignificant, no more than 25 g. Has a disadvantage - prone to fusarium and rotting. Stored for 10 months.
- Sochi 56 - characterized by winter hardiness, not susceptible to disease. The weight of one torch is about 45 grams. The main advantage is that the detention period exceeds 1.5 years.
- Elenovsky - a dense structure of the onion, which contains up to 10 slices, but weighing no more than 35 grams. It is frost-resistant and not susceptible to disease. The shelf life is the longest - 2 years.
Winter representatives may or may not release an arrow. They differ among themselves by the number of denticles in the splinter. Types of spicy vegetables:
- Alcor - has a characteristically stable yield of medium ripeness. The onion consists of 5 lobules. Distinctive feature- lilac tone of veined scales. Product weight ranges from 25-40 grams. Does not get infected.
- Lyubasha is not afraid of frost, drought, fusarium. It is characterized by an average ripening period. The onion has up to 6 slices, each of which weighs up to 18 grams.
- Nazus - semi-sharp in taste, weighing up to 60 grams. Each splinter contains up to 8 slices. Withstands subzero temperatures.
- Sofievsky - up to 110 gr. weighing 5-7 teeth, flat in shape. Not afraid of transportation and long-term maintenance.
To plant a quality one, you first need to deal with the choice better view... Such actions are necessary in order to get the most successful harvest. Thus, it depends on the selected type whether it will be stored. for a long time(up to 2 years old) or it is better to use it first.
For a spicy vegetable to retain its nutritional value for a long time, it must be properly harvested and prepared. You need to harvest according to the ripening period. Winter varieties planted in autumn should be harvested in the second half of July, and spring varieties in late August - early September. If the culture has begun to lay greens that are starting to turn yellow, then it is recommended to prepare for harvesting. The first step is to stop watering after about 2 weeks. This is necessary so that it dries out in the garden and can be easily pulled out of the ground by the tops.
It is not difficult to determine the readiness of a vegetable - if the husk rustles on it and easily falls behind, then the product is ready for storage.
The lumps should be hard when collected, the protective scales located on the surface should contain 3 layers, and when separated, the slices should easily lag behind one another. If the onion is moist, loose, it is not yet ripe. Such a vegetable will not be stored for a long time, it will quickly deteriorate and get sick.
Harvesting is before the onset of the rainy season. They will only spoil the product - it will be saturated with moisture, the shelf life will be reduced. Slices damaged or damaged by insects should be set aside separately during collection. They cannot be preserved and, moreover, they will not be suitable as planting material... They either need to be eaten as soon as possible, or disposed of.
The last stage of preparation before storage is high-quality drying. You need to collect and dry the vegetable together with the herbs, then all the nutritional and beneficial properties will completely saturate the cloves of garlic. On a sunny day, it is recommended to place on a baking sheet on Fresh air under the canopy. The process is repeated for at least 3-5 days. On a cloudy day, use the oven to dry. At temperatures up to 450C with the door open, fry for no more than 2 hours.
So that garlic does not lose its appearance and qualities during storage, it is necessary to choose a rational method of preservation. There are two types:
- With a warm method, the temperature in the room should not exceed + 200C, the air humidity should not exceed 50-70%.
- The cold method implies the presence of a temperature at the level of + 2 + 40C, an increased level of humidity (70-90%). The best place- in a refrigerator. Such choice will do for a winter vegetable, its keeping period is not too long and therefore it is recommended to use it in short terms(up to 4-6 months after collection). Its representatives often start to get sick with a longer stay. They easily lose moisture, dry out or germinate.
There are the following ways to preserve the original qualities of the harvested crop:
- In a pigtail, inside which a strong rope (twine, plait) is woven. There is a loop at one end that attaches to the wall. In the old days, people used to decorate the kitchen with wickerwork - both as decor and as food.
- Slices are put into the basket, they are well ventilated, the container has a large number of holes. For this purpose, also suitable carton boxes, but it is worth making holes in them for ventilation, as well as plastic boxes.
- Double bag - a canvas bag is taken, a plastic bag is put on top of it, and slices are poured inside both of them. With the help of a double layer, the necessary moisture is retained inside the bag, which contributes to long-term preservation.
- Glass jar - it should be sterilized, uncleaned slices should be placed separately and closed with a tight lid. You can cover it with flour, but then the lid is not used. Salt layers are also suitable - alternate salt and garlic cloves.
- In oil - it is boiled and seasoned with a few drops of iodine. Unpeeled garlic is dipped into the mass and taken out, allowed to cool and dry. Simply put in a suitable container.
- Root manipulation - they are dipped in wax, paraffin or set on fire to slightly char.
For any preservation option, the product must be placed in a cool place. It is recommended to periodically review and sort the bulbs. Spoiled and rotten should not be left, they can infect others.
Garlic should not be kept in the light or in tightly closed plastic bags.
Thus, hand-picked garlic will last much longer and will delight with taste data, even after a year of storage.
More information can be found in the video:
When they buy garlic one at a time and use it for several days, they don't even think about how to store this vegetable. And if you have your own garden where garlic grows, then sooner or later the question arises: how to preserve it until the next harvest?
What garlic should be stored
Unfortunately, not all garlic can be stored for long.
- If it is young, then it is better to use it for food as soon as possible, since its keeping quality is low.
- For long-term storage only well-ripened heads are suitable... But even here you need to adhere to the golden mean. Indeed, in unripe garlic, the onions are loose, loose, and in overripe, they easily crumble.
- When storing garlic, the main condition is the integrity of the heads and cloves, which have many common external scales that protect the garlic from the external environment.
- The stored garlic should be dry, strong, without signs of rot and lethargy.
- When pressing on the teeth, softness should not be felt and voids should not be felt.
- Garlic is usually harvested at the end of summer. It was then that its stems droop, the leaves turn yellow, which indicates its ripening.
- Garlic, which is going to be sent for storage, is not watered for several days, but it is dug out in dry weather.
- Digging is carried out very carefully so as not to damage the necks of the bulbs. Otherwise, such garlic will quickly rot.
- Immediately after digging, the bulbs are dried for several days. Most often, this is done right in the field, leaving the garlic on the ground.
- But if it rains, then the garlic is dried under a canopy, or even better - in a room where it is warm and dry.
- Then the leaves of the garlic are cut off, leaving only a small stump, and sent to storage. A basement, cellar, pantry or vegetable store is suitable for this purpose.
How to store garlic in a bundle
Garlic can be stored in bundles. To do this, the bulbs are freed from the leaves, leaving only the stem, and braided into braids, gradually adding one head at a time. In this way, bunches of 12-15 bulbs are made. The garlic is hung by the braids with its heads down in a dry, cool, dark place and stored in this form.
Storage temperature of garlic
The best temperature when storing food garlic (which will go for food) is minus 1-2 °, but seed garlic is stored at 0 °.
Many people think that garlic should be stored in a dry, warm place. But with this method of storage, it quickly dries up, starts up arrows and is affected by various diseases.
Storage moisture for garlic
The humidity in the room where the garlic is stored should be no higher than 70 - 80%.
Therefore, it is stored separately from potatoes and other vegetables that need more high humidity- up to 90%, which is unacceptable for garlic.
For the same reason you can not store garlic on the balcony... Firstly, there is a strong difference between day and night temperatures. And secondly, in damp weather, high humidity can provoke rotting of garlic.
If there is a lot of humidity in the room where the garlic is stored, then proceed as follows: next to the garlic, place a container with quicklime, which, when extinguished, will take away excess moisture from the air, and it will become drier.
What to store garlic
- Garlic is folded in nets and stored hanging in a cool and dry place without access to light, since the bulbs begin to sprout together in an unshaded room.
- The heads of garlic can be stacked in boxes or trays, while stacking them on top of each other, stacking up to two meters in height.
Storing garlic in a paraffin sheath
- A composition is prepared from 97% paraffin and 3% monoglyceride.
- They heat it up to 80-85 °.
- Garlic is folded in synthetic nets and immersed in a heated paraffin mixture for two seconds.
- The bulbs are removed. When the paraffin hardens, the garlic forms thin film, which will protect it from drying out, rotting, and also protect against diseases.
Such garlic is stored in small boxes, trays or cardboard boxes, stacked, or on shelves.
This garlic is stored for about six months longer compared to in the usual way storage.
How to store garlic in an apartment
- The garlic is sorted out, leaving only whole, strong and clean onions. Put them in glass jars, sprinkle with salt. To do this, a layer of salt is poured on the bottom of the jar, the onions are placed on it, and the top is also covered with salt, shaking so that it is evenly distributed throughout the entire container.
- Garlic is stored in canvas bags along with onion peel... The heads must be intact. And so that the roots and remnants of the stems do not sprout and rot, they are first burned with fire.
- Garlic does well in the refrigerator in the vegetable compartment. It is placed in a canvas bag or in a box lined with paper napkins. In this form, the garlic bulbs are stored for a long time, without drying out or sprouting. The main condition is that the heads should not be damaged, and they should not be disassembled into teeth. Therefore, half onions are used for food in the first place.
And here in plastic bag garlic cannot be stored, as moisture accumulates in it, from which the bulbs begin to shoot arrows or deteriorate.
During storage, the garlic must be checked periodically in order to notice the spoiled heads in time, the presence of which will negatively affect the storage of the rest of the crop.
How to store garlic in oil
- The garlic is sorted out, discarding the damaged heads.
- Divided into cloves, peeled off.
- Place in clean, dry jars.
- Flooded vegetable oil.
- Close with plastic lids and put in a refrigerator or cold cellar.
Note to the hostess
- For long-term storage, it is better to lay spring garlic, which can be distinguished from winter garlic by the core, or rather by the absence of a false stem in the center of the bulb. Spring garlic is harvested in August.
- It is believed that garlic dug in the waning moon holds better.
- Garlic doesn't like freezing. Although many housewives keep it this way. They clean it, wash it, and then grind it in a meat grinder. After that, the garlic mixture is laid out in tins for freezing ice and sent to freezer... As needed, they take out the frozen briquette from the refrigerator and add it to any dish without defrosting.
When proper storage garlic stays strong, juicy and aromatic until almost the next harvest.
Foreword
How to store garlic is of interest to everyone who has already faced the fact that it is easier to grow it than to keep it fresh, not even until the next harvest, but at least for a few months. The main thing here is to create and maintain certain conditions in winter. Here are just two types of garlic, and each has its own storage regime, completely unacceptable for the other.
Garlic is divided into spring and winter. Already from the name it is clear that the main difference between these species is in the time of planting. For the spring one it is spring, and for the winter one it is autumn. In addition, the second type differs from the first in that it has more high yield and it keeps worse.
The appearance of the spring and winter garlic also different. And the ability to distinguish them is very useful when, for long-term storage in winter, this vegetable will be taken not from its own garden, but in a store or at the market. In spring, the overwhelming majority of varieties are stemless, non-streaky, and the denticles are located around the center of the head in several rows and most often in a spiral.
All winter varieties grow only with a stem (arrow). The denticles are located around it in 1 row and there are much fewer of them than in the spring, but they are usually larger. In the core of any clove of winter garlic, even a small one, there is a clearly distinguishable rudiment of the future arrow-stem. The spring will have it only if it is a shooting variety, and everyone else will not.
Heads of garlic
Now you can move on to the question of how to properly store garlic, depending on its type. As noted above, for spring and winter crops should be created different conditions... Failure to comply with them and storing garlic of the first type in a way for the second and vice versa will lead to the fact that this vegetable does not stand up to its due date in winter.
According to the types of garlic, there are two main storage methods. The main difference between them is in temperature and humidity that must be maintained:
- for winter crops - + 2 ... + 4 o C and 70–80%, respectively;
- spring - + 16 ... + 20 o C and 50-70%.
If you follow these requirements, then you will not have to ask yourself why the garlic rots, sprouts or withers when it is still stored and stored.
Harvest storage
It should be noted right away that it is better to stock up on spring garlic for the winter, and completely refuse from long-term storage of winter crops.
This is exactly what most experienced owners do. They lay the winter crop for long-term storage only if its harvest, the harvest time of which has come, turned out to be more than it was possible to eat fresh garlic or process it when preparing food and vegetable stocks for the winter. No matter how hard you try, this species cannot be saved for more than 3-4 months. Winter crops are more susceptible than spring crops to the manifestation of various diseases of garlic during storage and often rots. It can be saved from this and significantly increase the period of leaving in fresh, but only with a tangible loss of taste and aroma of the vegetable. For this you need winter.
Spring crops can be preserved until the next winter crop without significant loss of taste, aroma and vitamins. In addition, it is still permissible to keep it in conditions intended for winter crops. True, at the same time it will be stored much less than it should be and will quickly lose its aroma, freshness and useful properties.
It is generally impossible to store winter crops in conditions for spring crops, in a warm place. He very soon begins to germinate and dry out, or he is affected by diseases and he rots.
To preserve the garlic, it is also important to prepare it properly. One of the main components of this is timely harvesting. Otherwise, during storage, part of the vegetables or even more of them can be lost. You should not collect unripe garlic, and even more so, you should not harvest overripe garlic for the winter. Cleaning period:
- winter - from about mid-July to early August;
- spring - the second half to the end of August.
Signs indicating the ripening and the onset of harvesting time for the first type of garlic - the wrappers of the inflorescences that have begun to crack and turn yellow lower leaves... At the same time, the scales covering the bulb become dry and thinner and thinner.
Spring must be harvested when the lower leaves dry, and the upper ones begin to turn yellow and fall. For both types of garlic, an important indication that it is ripe is the characteristic condition of the scales covering the head. They must be thin and strong.
Ripe onions
Delay or delay in harvesting garlic will reduce its quality and shelf life:
- the covering upper scales crack and fly around;
- the bulbs disintegrate into separate cloves;
- new roots sprout at the bottom of the heads and the garlic takes root, while losing the nutrients and nutrients of the cloves.
Such bulbs are no longer subject to storage for long-term storage - they quickly deteriorate. If you still prepare them for the winter, then you should not wonder why the garlic dries or rots. The teeth are devoid of reliable external protection and internal resources for disease control.
You should try to collect garlic on dry warm days. During cleaning, the heads and their roots should be protected from impact and damage. Remove the soil from the roots and the surface of the bulbs. Do it gently with your hands.
Harvesting garlic
Before storage, the garlic must be dried for 3-5 days. In dry warm weather, you can directly on the site. In a rainy one, a well-ventilated utility room or other room (veranda, attic, shed, sheltered courtyard) is used.
It is necessary to dry the garlic together with the tops (leaves). If it is removed immediately, then part of the juice of the bulb will be lost through a fresh cut and an infection may be introduced.
When the garlic is dry, you can feel it by touch. The covering scales will become completely dry and rusty. Then the stem and root of the bulbs are cut off, leaving the neck up to 10 cm in the first and 2-3 mm in length in the second. Then the garlic must be sorted out. For storage in winter, we select only strong, ripe, but not overripe bulbs, healthy, without signs of illness and damage with scales tightly attached to the teeth.
Winter crops are best stored in a cellar or basement. It is there that the most suitable conditions can be created for him. At the same time, storing garlic in a cellar is associated with a number of difficulties. On the one hand, it can be very difficult to maintain the required temperature and humidity there, but on the other hand, it can contain fungi, pathogens and pests, due to which the vegetable will deteriorate. However, it all depends on the degree of preparedness of the cellar. It is necessary to take care in advance that in it:
- The temperature did not drop below 0 ° C - otherwise the vegetables may freeze - and did not rise, at least significantly, above the permissible level, so that the bulbs do not begin to dry out or sprout.
- There was thoughtful ventilation to ensure required humidity... When high, the garlic rots, and when low, it dries.
- Mold, mildew and pests were free.
If at least 1 of these points cannot be fulfilled, then it is better to store the garlic in the refrigerator of the apartment.
Storing vegetables at home
How to store garlic among other preparations in the cellar? With the help of twine or flexible wire, you can weave (tie) 15-20 bulbs into braids. To do this, the grassy tails of the heads must be twisted with a rope, making knots if necessary. You need to start the braid from the bottom, sequentially tying up the next bulbs. Or garlic is placed in nylon tights, stockings or small nets. Do not put more than 15-25 bulbs in one such package. Then braids or nets with tights are hung from the ceiling or along the walls. The vegetable should not come into contact with the latter.
You can also arrange the bulbs in shallow baskets, cardboard boxes, wooden or plastic boxes, but not on metal ones. Condensation will form on their walls.
The condition of the garlic should be checked at least once a month. Spoiled bulbs starting to rot, as well as, if necessary, adjacent to them should be removed.
It, of course, needs to be stored only in the apartment. In it with the maintenance necessary conditions there are practically no special difficulties. There is, of course, so that it does not dry out or germinate. Still, it is light in the apartment for a significant part of the day, and the temperature is often higher than necessary. However, for long-term storage of garlic, it is enough to perform several simple conditions... It should be placed in the following places:
- dark or shaded dry cool;
- away from heaters and heating systems.
Correct harvest conservation
Storage methods, as in the cellar: tie with braids, in nylon stockings and nets, which can not only be hung, but also put, as well as in baskets, boxes, boxes and jars. In the latter, some recommend sprinkling the garlic with onion peel or salt. For a spring one, this is not at all necessary. It lies so well.
What diseases can affect garlic during storage and how to deal with them
As noted above, diseases mainly affect winter garlic, and spring garlic is less susceptible to this. The causative agents of all infections and ailments of this vegetable, as a rule, are various fungi, as well as bacteria. Perhaps the most common disease is cervical rot. Its manifestations: teeth soften, become yellowish, watery, and can generally mummify. Molds are also common different colors- green, black, gray. By the way, they spread very quickly, scattering spores around them, on healthy teeth, and then on the bulbs. There are other diseases as well.
Why does garlic get sick and rot? Only due to its improper preparation and non-observance necessary conditions storage: collected at the wrong time, underdried, damaged, the wrong one was taken away and could not stand desired temperature, humidity. All pathogens in the garlic have already been, and up to three or four at a time, and waited for the right moment when the vegetable weakened enough. In the bulbs that are not suitable for storage, or in suitable, but placed in unacceptable conditions, diseases are provoked earlier.
How to store garlic so it is less sick? There is only one recipe: correct preparation, optimal storage conditions and timely removal of suspicious bulbs.
Many housewives love garlic. This is not only a fragrant seasoning, but also a medicine that protects against colds. It is indispensable for cooking many dishes, pickling and preserving vegetables. Garlic contains many healthy vitamins and minerals. It is especially valuable in winter and spring, because with proper storage, it retains all its valuable qualities.
But at this time it is difficult to buy good garlic, so it is best to grow it yourself or buy it in the fall, when it is inexpensive and fresh. True, in this case, many housewives are faced with a problem: how to store garlic? In many houses there are no suitable conditions for this, and not everyone knows how to do it correctly.
What happens when storage rules are violated
1. When elevated level air humidity, the heads can rot or mold. This also happens when garlic is stored in plastic bags.
2. When stored at high temperatures, such as in the kitchen, the garlic dries out. And by the end of winter it can germinate. Such teeth lose their flavor.
3. If during storage the temperature drops below -5 o, then the garlic freezes and loses all its useful qualities.
Types of garlic
There are many varieties of this vegetable that are stored in different ways in winter. Outwardly, they may differ in the size or color of the peel. But the keeping quality of garlic mainly depends on the time of planting and harvesting. There are two types of this plant:
If the garlic is planted in the fall, it is called winter. It ripens by the beginning of August, the degree of its ripeness is determined by the state of the arrows. This garlic usually keeps well until spring.
Some housewives plant this plant in the spring. This garlic is called spring or summer garlic. Such a plant does not give arrows, and it is more difficult to preserve it until winter.
How to harvest garlic correctly
The suitability of this plant for long-term storage strongly depends on compliance with the rules for its collection. To determine if it's time to dig the garlic, you need to look at its leaves, and in winter varieties, also arrows. If the lower leaves turn yellow, the tops have died, and the heads on the inflorescences have dried up and cracked - the garlic is ripe. Do not be late with cleaning, otherwise it will disintegrate into teeth, and extra roots will appear. Such heads cannot be stored for more than a couple of months. Most often, spring varieties are harvested in late August - early September, and winter varieties - a month earlier. It is better to dig garlic on warm and dry days, and all at the same time. A couple of weeks before this, the garden does not need to be watered. The bulbs are dug in with a shovel or pitchfork, then laid out to dry.
It is necessary to try not to damage the heads, it is even advisable to clean the earth from them with your hands. To keep the garlic longer, you need to dry it in the sun for at least three days. Right with green stems, from which nutrients pass into the heads at this time. After that, you need to carefully cut the roots, without damaging the bottom, cut off the stem. Usually 2-3 centimeters are left, but if you store garlic in braids, then you need to leave more herbs. It is advisable to dry the heads in a dry ventilated room for 2-3 weeks, remove dirt and upper scales, and only then can they be laid for the winter. But before that, you need to carefully examine each one again for the presence of pests and damage.
Best Place to Store Garlic
It is best if the house has a cellar or basement. In winter, in such places, the optimal temperature for storing garlic is set: 1-2 degrees below zero. You can put it in cardboard boxes or wooden boxes, but can be hung from the ceiling. Many housewives know how to store garlic in braids or stockings. But most people hang it in the closet or in the kitchen when room temperature where it starts to dry out or germinate. But in the cellar, garlic braids will keep it fresh. You can also hang it in a net or an old stocking, which
also provide air access to all heads. But this storage method is not available to everyone. What if you want to keep garlic in a city apartment? You can do this on an insulated loggia in boxes lined with foam or foil. The main thing is to ensure that the temperature does not fall below 5 ° C and that the garlic is not exposed to sunlight. But there are many ways to store it in the apartment itself.
How to store garlic in the refrigerator
Most housewives use this achievement of civilization to preserve many vegetables. But not everyone knows how to properly store winter garlic. After all, this product is very capricious, it easily decays. Therefore, in the refrigerator, it must be placed separately from other vegetables. To do this, put it in linen bags, you can sprinkle the heads with onion peels. To prevent rotting, which often happens when stored in the refrigerator, the bag must first be soaked in strong saline solution and dried. Garlic also stores well in paper bags. Another way is small boxes in which garlic is placed in layers, alternating with coarse salt or flour. But most often this vegetable is stored in glass jars. There are many ways to do this.
How to store garlic in a jar
1. It is easiest to put clean and well-dried heads in a jar. The main condition is to sterilize and dry it well. The garlic itself should be clean and also dried.
2. You can lay the heads in layers: a layer of flour, then garlic, the last should be flour. Coarse salt or sawdust can be used instead. During the winter, you need to periodically check the banks and, if necessary, change the filler.
3. Many housewives know how to store peeled garlic. This is also done in glass jar... Clean teeth should be intact and dry.
The bank must first be sterilized. Better to close it with a regular nylon lid, and store in a cool place. And if you pour sunflower oil on the teeth, they will last longer, and then the oil can also be used: it will become fragrant and tasty.
4. You can also store minced garlic in a jar. There is no need to add salt, the main thing is that both the jar and the garlic are clean and dry. Close it with a regular lid and store in the refrigerator.
Storing garlic at room temperature
If this vegetable is in the cold, then it retains its beneficial properties and aroma for up to eight months. At room temperature, after four months, it begins to dry. And by the spring, this garlic does not smell at all, it loses all vitamins. How to store garlic in a warm room to extend its shelf life? To do this, you need to try to protect it from contact with air.
This can be done in several ways:
1. Take a dry and clean plywood box, sprinkle a layer of coarse salt on the bottom, preferably sea salt. Then carefully lay a layer of garlic. Top it up again with salt, and so alternate layers. Cover the top garlic with salt.
2. Garlic oiled with sunflower oil is well stored. To do this, the latter must first be boiled for two hours. Then add 20 drops of iodine per liter of oil, use a cotton swab to apply to each head directly on top of the husk. After that, you need to dry the bulbs well and put them in storage.
3. Few know how to store fresh garlic in paraffin. Such a film protects the heads well from drying out. To apply it, you need to melt the paraffin, and then on a short time dip the heads into it. After drying, the garlic will stay fresh for a long time.
Storing young garlic
One of the first to appear on the beds is its fragrant long leaves... Many people love them, but the heads of young garlic are no less tasty. They are not so burning, often have not yet been divided into slices, and their benefits are enormous. Therefore, many housewives ask themselves: how to store young garlic? After all, it is growing rapidly and already in June it becomes tougher and more acute. And the dug heads are almost not stored, they dry out after a few days. To increase the shelf life, you need to fill the vegetable with sunflower oil. And until the very winter, you can save pickled garlic, which almost does not lose its properties.
How to prevent storage problems
Everyone who stores garlic in an apartment faces the same problems. So that all winter and even spring this fragrant and useful product was on your desk, you need to know how to overcome them.
First problem: germination of garlic. To prevent this, the roots must be burned over a fire before storing the bulbs.
Second: drying the bulbs. This occurs as a result of moisture evaporation. To prevent this from happening, you need to create a film on the surface of the heads: paraffin or oil.
The third problem is mold or rot. Fungal diseases develop in frozen, damaged or pest-infested garlic. to prevent this from happening, you need to dry the heads well in the sun after harvesting. After a few days of exposure to sunlight, all bacteria and molds are killed.
ABOUT useful properties and every housewife knows how to use it, there are usually no problems with planting either, but not everyone can keep it fresh and juicy all winter.
Secret successful storage garlic consists of the fulfillment of several conditions.
Cleaning time
Let's start with the most important thing - timely cleaning. It should be borne in mind that garlic is divided into:- Spring- this is summer garlic (some call it autumn). He doesn't shoot. Yellowed and lodged foliage is considered a signal to start harvesting.
Usually, spring garlictake awayin the second half of August.
- Winter- winter garlic. There are shooters and non-shooters.
You can determine the ripening period of winter garlic by the following criteria:
- the skin of the inflorescences cracks;
- the lower leaves turned yellow;
- the scales of the bulbs have become thin and dry.
So your garlic is showing clear signs of ripeness. If the weather is dry and warm, start cleaning.
It is not worth delaying the harvesting process, otherwise you risk getting a product of low quality, which will be poorly stored. Signs of overripe garlic:
- the scales covering the bulb burst;
- the heads disintegrate into teeth;
- young roots appeared at the bottom of the bulb.
How to remove garlic
Dig with a shovel or a pitchfork (I prefer a pitchfork - this way the bulbs are less damaged), laid out to dry.
Shake off excess soil from the heads and roots, leave the foliage. In clear weather, we dry the garlic directly on the ridge for about 5 days. Damp - under a canopy or in a well-ventilated area. You can also take it out in the sun during the day, and clean it in a warm room in the evening.
After drying, cut the roots (leaving about 3 mm) and stems (leaving up to 10 cm). Sort the heads by size before storing them.
Such cleaning will provide best storage in winter.
Storage temperature for garlic
Storage in warmer: +16 ° С ... + 20 ° С - optimal conditions for spring garlic.Storage in cold: +2 ° С .... + 4 ° С - the most that neither is favorable conditions for garlic winter crops. Winter garlic poorly adapted to long-term storage: it is more often affected various diseases, loses moisture.
The storage area should not be too dry (the garlic will dry out) and not too damp (the garlic will be susceptible to disease): optimal humidity - 50-80%.
It is important: very good keeping quality for bulbs with three covering scales.
You can choose planting material in our catalog, where the products of many garden online stores are presented.