Ways to successfully store winter garlic at home. How to store garlic in winter

Garlic is a must-have in any home. It is used not only as a seasoning for various dishes, but also as a preventive and therapeutic agent for many diseases. If you have a vegetable garden or country cottage area, you probably grow garlic "in reserve". However, over time, it begins to turn yellow, dry out, moldy or germinate, not even living up to the middle of winter. Why does garlic spoil, how to avoid it and save the product?

The need to create certain conditions for storage

Like any plant whose fruits are subject to long-term storage, garlic requires certain conditions. Failure to comply will significantly reduce the shelf life of the product. You risk losing your entire crop if you don't provide the right temperature, humidity and light. You even need to pick garlic according to certain rules so that it does not spoil too quickly.

High requirements for storage conditions are due to the high content of aromatic oils in garlic.

Compliance with storage rules will help you preserve the harvest of garlic as long as possible.

If you do not follow the storage conditions, you run the risk of encountering the following problems:

1. High humidity will lead to fungal attack - green mold, black rot.
2. Heads dry quickly at high temperatures and low humidity. Such a product falls into disrepair: it does not have a specific taste and aroma, only bad smell.
3. Exposure to direct sunlight activates the photosynthetic process, causing the garlic cloves to sprout, preparing to give life to a new crop. Not the most suitable optionif you planned to keep the product at least until spring.

The storage duration of garlic directly depends on the correct and timely harvest. When determining the timing, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the growing season of this culture, its growth and development.

Choose a dry and warm day for cleaning. But do not delay, you need to do everything promptly and on time. Any delay can lead to a deterioration in the quality of the product.

How to remove garlic correctly

Storage conditions

There are 2 ways to store garlic:

1. Cold: humidity 70–80%, temperature +2 to + 4 ° C. It is recommended to store winter garlic under these conditions. These include the following varieties:
   • Hermann;
   • Alcor;
   • Dubkovsky;
   • Lyubasha;
   • Healer;
   • Zubrenok;
2. Warm: humidity 50–70%, temperature from +16 to + 20 ° C. Used for spring varieties.
   • Abrek;
   • Aleisky;
   • Gulliver;
   • Yelenovsky;
   • Sochi-56.

Do not forget that winter garlic is not very suitable for long-term storage. Due to the smaller amount of covering scales, its heads begin to dry faster.

Air - ripe garlic seeds

The air is the garlic seed that forms at the top of the arrow after flowering. They are also called bulbs. Storage conditions depend on what type of garlic you are growing.

Effective ways

The most common way to store garlic at home, known to our ancestors, is by braiding. You have probably seen such bundles not only in historical films and in paintings, but also in your grandmother's house.

Timely harvested, well-dried garlic is braided according to the principle of a braid or wreath, and then hung in a cool room

If you decide to store garlic in this way, you need to master the weaving technique. It is simple, but the first time you have to try. Remove all leaves, leaving a false stem and head. Start weaving from the bottom, adding new bulbs one by one, up to 15 pieces. Make a loop at the end of the braid to hang the bundle.

This method is good if you live in a private house. For an apartment, other methods are more suitable.

1. Pick up shallow baskets, carton boxes or boxes. Place well-dried garlic heads in them. Place the filled container in a cool, dry place, away from heating appliances... Sort through the garlic from time to time and remove the spoiled heads. This method is simple, but not effective enough: you will hardly be able to control the level of humidity and temperature in such conditions. Garlic may dry out or mold.

   Shallow baskets and drawers are very convenient, but do not provide long shelf life for garlic.

2. Linen bags and nylon stockings are great for storing garlic. Fold the prepared heads in them and put them in a dry, dark place. If the air humidity in the room is low, you can pour garlic onion peel, if high - the bag or stocking must be treated with a saturated saline solution (dipped in salt water and dried). This method is the most common, many housewives confirm its effectiveness.
3. Storing garlic in nets where vegetables and fruits are sold. This is enough convenient option, properly dried bulbs, folded in such nets and suspended in a dark place with a suitable level of temperature and humidity, do not deteriorate for about 3 months.

   In a city apartment, a small amount of garlic can be stored in vegetable or fruit nets.

4. Place well-dried, unpeeled heads of garlic in sterilized dry jars or other deep dishes. Arrange them in rows, sprinkling each with flour. Close tightly with lids and place in a dark place. However, not all housewives like this method, many say that flour does not protect garlic well enough from drying out and mold.

   You can store garlic in a deep bowl, sprinkle each row with flour

5. An effective, albeit not very common, way of storing garlic is dry pickling. Fold whole uncleaned heads into any suitable container (cans, boxes), pouring big amount coarse salt, the lower and upper layers of which should be at least 2-3 centimeters. Close the container with a tight lid and place in a cool, dark place. Salt will keep the garlic from moisture, limit oxygen access and serve as an excellent antiseptic.

   Garlic keeps well in jars filled with table salt

6. You probably know that the garlic sold in stores is covered with a layer of paraffin. This provides the product with long-term storage. You can use this method at home if you are not very big harvest... Melt the paraffin in a water bath and immerse the heads in it one by one. Wait 2-3 hours, then place the garlic in the cartons. This method quite effective, but time consuming.

   If each head of garlic is covered with a thin layer of melted paraffin, the bulbs will not dry out, and the shelf life will be significantly increased.

7. Many people prefer to store garlic in the refrigerator by folding it in plastic bags with holes made in them. it good way, but only if you have few heads and plan to use them in the next 3 months.
8. Garlic can also be stored in the freezer as whole heads or cloves that have not been peeled. Required condition - the temperature is not lower than -2 degrees. Otherwise, the product will freeze and lose its taste qualities.
   

   It is interesting! Try the following storage method: chop the peeled garlic cloves with a press, mix with a little salt and spices, and place in ice cube trays. Freeze the mixture and store the resulting cubes in the freezer. They can always be used to fill the first and second courses.

9. When preparing the garlic for storage, trim the roots, leaving about 10 mm. Burn the bottom of the head over an open fire (for example, on a gas stove), then put the crop in boxes and hide in a dark, cool place. This method has been known for a long time, it provides long-term preservation.
10. You can wrap each head of garlic in plastic wrap (in 2 layers) and fold into cardboard boxes or glass jars, sprinkling with fine sawdust.

    Wrap the garlic tightly in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator

11. If you have special lids for vacuum canning, put the clean, dried heads in sterilized jars, cover with these lids and evacuate the air. Garlic canned in this way can be stored in the refrigerator: it for a long time will not lose its taste and healing properties.

    Vacuum canning devices help you preserve garlic for as long as possible

The above methods are effective enough, but you may not want drawers and jars to take up a lot of kitchen space. Exist and not traditional ways, which will not only ensure long-term preservation, but also make the product always ready for use.

With vegetable oil

You will need:

• pre-sterilized and dried glass jars;
• capron covers;
• peeled garlic cloves;
• vegetable oil (sunflower, corn or olive).

1. Make sure the garlic cloves are clean, strong, and free from damage.
2. Place them tightly in jars and top with vegetable oil.
3. Close the lids, put in the refrigerator.

Thus, the product will be stored for up to 3 months.

During storage, the oil will be saturated with garlic aroma, which makes it an excellent dressing for salads, main courses and soups. If you add herbs and spices, you get a complete sauce.

Garlic in vegetable oil with spices will be a complete addition to your dishes

How to store garlic in vegetable oil - video

Garlic powder at home

Garlic powder will be even better stored. It's not difficult to prepare it.

1. Peel the garlic cloves, cut into thin slices.
2. Dry them in an electric dryer at temperatures up to 60 degrees.
3. Grind dry plates in a mortar or blender with a small amount of salt.

Chop the garlic into thin slices, dry and chop

You can store garlic powder in any tightly closed container. It does not take up much space and does not lose its properties during the year. In addition, subsequently you will significantly save time when cooking, because the garlic does not need to be washed, peeled and chopped. True, this method has a significant drawback: the product loses its useful properties. But if you are interested in taste, this is what you need.

What to do if garlic starts to spoil

Many signs may indicate that the garlic has begun to disappear, in particular:

• unpleasant odor;
• wrinkling of teeth or whole heads;
• falling of the lobule inside when you press it with your finger;
• drying of the heads of garlic;
• the appearance of mold.

The most common problem is the drying out of the garlic heads. This is due to the evaporation of moisture. If you are unable to provide a more suitable storage space, waxing can help. The hardened paraffin will retain moisture in the cloves, and the carbon dioxide that forms in the head from the breath of the stem will destroy harmful microorganisms and thereby protect the garlic from diseases.

To avoid mold growth during storage, be sure to dry the garlic in the sun after harvest.

During storage, mold can form on the bulb, and in some cases even black mold rot. This happens if the heads of garlic have been damaged or frostbitten. High temperature and humidity significantly accelerate the development of diseases. To avoid this, be sure to dry the garlic in the open sun after harvesting: ultraviolet light has a detrimental effect on fungus, mold and bacteria.

Another problem is the sprouting of the heads of garlic. As soon as green leaves hatch on the cloves, the bulb begins to give them all the valuable substances and dries out over time, losing its presentation and taste. The best way to prevent sprouting is to burn the bottoms of the bulbs. If you did not manage to avoid trouble, we advise you to plant the sprouted slices in the garden to grow a new crop.

Storing garlic in the refrigerator in winter - video

Last year, I was advised to peel the garlic, put it in a jar, add water and store it in the refrigerator. Did it! Ruined all the garlic it was! Fermented, foamed all over, ungrateful! Don't do that !!!

Light

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I had it in a cardboard box in the kitchen under the cupboard, and when the box was thrown out, it was stored normally in a "T-shirt" bag (unsealed, of course) in the closet. Until the new garlic lies calmly, and the entire harvesting is done with almost the old garlic. There was a storage record - until the next November it lasted, and we can, and still lie, but we ate it at last. True, I only grow it from bulbs, maybe that's the point.

This healthy vegetable can replace many expensive medicines in our home medicine cabinet, and we really want it to survive until the first green shoots of the new crop. But often, either from the variety, or from unfavorable environmental factors, it either rots, or dries up, or sprouts, and we part with this unique vegetable earlier than we would like. Therefore, you need to figure out and figure out how to store garlic at home.

Garlic can spoil for several reasons, and this is not always directly related to the conditions of its storage.

If the heads are infected with fungi, nematode larvae, then their shelf life will be short. In this case, it is better to carefully sort out the garlic, disassemble it into slices, discard the damaged and all doubtful ones - with spots, dents, cuts, empty. Only then can you store it.

Video about storing garlic in winter

Storage conditions are also important. But we will consider them in more detail.

What indicates the deterioration of garlic?

1. You can determine that your crop has begun to deteriorate, first of all, by smell. Such garlic, which has begun to rot, has an unpleasant smell, reminiscent of the one we get if the garlic is overcooked.
2. Visually, you can see slices or whole bulbs shriveled from dry or wet rot.
3. To the touch, if you press with your finger, the lobule falls, as it were, into emptiness.

Such garlic is subject to urgent rejection.

To determine that your crop has begun to deteriorate, you can, first of all, by the smell

How garlic will be stored depends largely on the time and conditions of its collection. If it was dug up in dry weather, on the waning moon, and before that it was not watered for 2 weeks, then the shelf life will significantly increase if all conditions are met.

Before laying for storage, the dug out bulbs are dried for 2 weeks under a canopy, then the remnants of the earth are shaken off, the stems and roots are cut, and the remnants of the roots are burned over a candle or lighter flame.

You should know that garlic is winter and spring. Spring is stored much better, but it is smaller. But the winter one begins to deteriorate and germinate by the New Year. You can distinguish spring garlic from winter garlic by the core. In winter, in the middle of the bulb there is a false stem, in spring it is absent.

Air, light, moisture and heat - that's what can spoil it. Therefore, the choice of the optimal storage mode will directly affect its duration.

A dark storage space is not difficult to provide. This can be a cellar, refrigerator, a box on the balcony. But the rest of the conditions need to be taken care of.

In the middle of the winter crop, there is a false stem, in the spring crop it is absent

Humidity. When high humidity the garlic will rot, at high it will start to grow, at low it will dry out. Optimum humidity for storage - 70-80% will allow it not only to preserve well, but also not to lose its juiciness.

Air access. If the bulbs are stored without containers, excessive air access will contribute to the drying out and development of pathogenic microflora. It is good to store garlic in portions, about 0.3-0.5 kg, in cardboard boxes, plastic containers, wooden boxes, wicker baskets and boxes, and even - cellophane bags, clean glass jars under nylon lids and in canvas bags.

Temperature. Everything seems to be clear here. The lower it is, the better. The only thing that garlic will not tolerate is freezing. Freezer will not work! Temperatures from 2 ° to 5 ° C are optimal. A great place is the bottom drawer of the refrigerator for storing vegetables.

If the bulbs are stored without containers, excessive air access will contribute to the drying out and development of pathogenic microflora

How did our grandfathers store garlic? The old way storage of garlic - in braids and wreaths. After drying, our ancestors did not cut the stalks of the garlic, but used them to weave the so-called bundles. The weaving itself is done like a braid or wreath. Such bundles were kept hanging in a cool room until winter, and in winter in a cellar.

How to store garlic in oil?

What you need:

• sterile glass jars;
• nylon covers;
• peeled cloves of garlic;
• vegetable oil, both refined and unrefined.

Procedure:

1. We clean the cloves of garlic, discard the damaged ones.
2. We put it in pre-sterilized jars.
3. Fill with vegetable oil.
4. We close the lids.
5. We put it in the refrigerator or take it to the cellar.

The shelf life of garlic in this way is up to 3 months. At the same time, it does not lose its properties, and the oil acquires pleasant aroma, thanks to garlic phytoncides, and can be used for dressing different dishes - soups, sauces and salads.

How to prepare garlic powder? Garlic powder will certainly not deteriorate and will wait for the new harvest. It is easy to prepare it at home. For this, the cloves of garlic are peeled and cut into thin slices. These plates are dried in electric dryers or ovens, but with minimum temperature, not higher than 60 ° С.

Then you can grind dry plates to a powder in a blender or mortar, add a little salt, and store in a tightly closed glass jar.

The pros of this method:

• does not need a lot of space;
• saving time when cooking (no need to clean, grind);
• long shelf life - up to a year.

There is one minus, and it is significant: the loss of some nutrients.

The shelf life of garlic in this way is up to 3 months.

Garlic tincture is the best way to preserve garlic for healing

1. We take 350 grams of peeled garlic cloves and chop any in an accessible way... Let it settle for a couple of hours in a jar under the lid.
2. We select the most liquid part, you should get 200ml, and pour it into a sterile jar.
3. Fill in 200 ml of medical alcohol.
4. Close with a tight lid.
5. We insist 10 days in a dark place with room temperatureshaking occasionally.
6. We carefully separate from the sediment and store in glasswarethat does not let the sun go through. Pharmacy brown glass vials will do. You can simply wrap the jar in thick paper and put it in a dark place.

This garlic tincture is used in folk medicine in the treatment of diseases of various organs and systems, especially in atherosclerosis and vascular disorders.

If you have mastered agricultural technology and received good harvest garlic, try different ways its storage

How to store garlic in an apartment?

1. Dry salting. Another fairly effective and little known way to preserve garlic. Its essence is that unpeeled whole garlic heads are placed in containers (for example, cans) and sprinkled with coarse salt. The jars are closed with lids and taken out to a cool place. Salt is an excellent antiseptic and will provide a constant level of moisture and limit oxygen availability. This is how you can store garlic in an apartment, away from heating appliances, or on a balcony.
2. Waxing. If you have few heads, and you do not know how to store garlic in an apartment, another interesting method will help - paraffinating. Melt the paraffin in a water bath to a liquid state and dip the heads of garlic in it one by one. Let the paraffin wax harden and lay the garlic to further storage in cardboard boxes. Such garlic is stored in an apartment until spring.

If you've gotten a good harvest of garlic, try different storage methods. Only then will you determine which one is best for you. And now you know how to properly store garlic at home.

Garlic storage video

What to do with sprouted teeth

Garlic loses its properties and juiciness when sprouts begin to develop in the cloves. This happens if the bottom is not burned before storage. Having made their way outside, feeling the light, the sprouts will gain strength, drawing food from the mother lobule. Pruning green shoots, a dark and cool place, will help slow down the process. But you will not be able to completely stop growth.

If you do not want to lose such garlic, it is best to wait for the first thaw and plant it in the ground, covering it with agrofibre or film.

Housewives are often interested in how to store garlic longer. Probably everyone knows about the benefits of this vegetable, but, unfortunately, not everyone can talk about how to store garlic. Due to the wrong time of harvesting garlic and its preparation for storage, we can lose a large amount of the harvest. Storing garlic is quite within the power of everyone, and today's article will help to avoid storage errors, in which I will also reveal some secrets of storing garlic at home.

But, as they say, first things first ...

First of all, you should know that, according to botanical features, there are two types of garlic:

• spring (or non-shooting), which is popularly called summer;
• winter (sometimes shooting and non-shooting), popularly called winter.

Types of garlic differ in terms of planting and harvesting, resistance to frost, yield and keeping quality, that is, the ability to store.

Terms and time of harvesting garlic

The suitability of the crop for long-term storage directly depends on the timing of the harvest, which are set taking into account the growing season of the crop.

The signs that determine the time of harvesting spring garlic are yellowing of the leaves and the beginning of lodging of the tops. The approximate harvesting time for spring garlic is the second half of August.

Ripening signs winter garlic are yellowing lower leaves and cracking of the wrapper at the inflorescences. At the same time, the scales covering the bulb become thinner and dry. The approximate time for harvesting winter garlic is the end of July.

To determine whether the garlic is ripe or not, you need to look at the condition of the covering scales. If they're thin and sturdy, it's time to start cleaning.

The best times for cleaning are warm and dry days.

Harvesting garlic should be done promptly and quickly. A delay in harvesting leads to a deterioration in product quality, namely:

• the covering scales are cracked;
• the bulbs disintegrate into cloves;
• at the bottom, new roots are formed and the bulbs take root.

Such bulbs deteriorate very quickly and cannot be stored for a long time.

Cleaning garlic for storage

Garlic is harvested as follows: using a shovel or a pitchfork, the bulbs are poured in, collected and laid out to dry. When harvesting, protect the bulbs and roots from damage and impact. The soil is carefully removed from the surface of the bulbs and from the roots by hand.

In dry weather, garlic is dried right on the site for 3-5 days. When it rains - in a well-ventilated area (in the yard, attic or veranda).

You can dry the garlic in the sun during the day, and bring it into a warm room at night.

Garlic is dried, like onions, along with leaves. At the same time, the nutrients formed in the green parts of the plant as a result of photosynthesis are transferred from the leaves to the bulb. This technique improves the weight and quality of the bulbs.

After thoroughly drying, the roots are cut off the bulbs, leaving 2-3 mm, and the stem, leaving a neck up to 10 cm long. Then the bulbs are sorted and placed in storage under suitable conditions.

Proper harvesting will ensure that your garlic is stored well in winter.

How to store garlic

Depending on the temperature regime and humidity levels, there are two main storage methods:

• warm method - involves storing bulbs at a temperature of + 16 ... + 20 ° C and a humidity of 50 - 70% and is suitable for storing spring garlic;
• cold method - involves storing garlic at a temperature of + 2 ... + 4 ° C and a humidity of 70-80% and is used only for storing winter garlic.

It must be remembered that storing spring garlic is different from storing winter garlic. Winter garlic is a very capricious product and unsuitable for long-term storage. He is easily overwhelmed various diseases and dries up as a result of moisture loss. This is due to the fact that winter garlic bulbs have fewer covering scales. Due to poor keeping quality, they are produced in the fall.

Storing garlic at home
How to store garlic so that losses are minimal? There are the following traditional ways to store garlic:

1. An old proven method is weaving braids and wreaths. In dried garlic, the bulb and the false stem are left, and the leaves are removed. The braid starts from the bottom, sequentially weaving new bulbs up to 15 pieces. To give strength, twine is woven into the braid. To hang the braid, a loop is made at its end. This method allows you to save the garlic until the next harvest.
2. The bulbs are placed in shallow boxes, baskets, cardboard boxes, nylon stockings or linen bags and placed in a dry and cool place on winter storage... From time to time, the garlic is sorted out, removing the spoiled bulbs.

For those who like to experiment, I suggest unusual ways storage of garlic, which often give unexpectedly good results.

1. Unpeeled, dried onions are put in glass jars, which are pre-sterilized, and closed with ordinary nylon lids. You can also sprinkle flour on the bulbs.
2. Garlic bulbs are placed in a single layer in shallow wooden boxes with small holes and covered with a layer of coarse salt. So, alternating layers, fill the box to the very top. Dry sawdust can be used instead of salt.
3. Garlic keeps well in linen bags. At low air humidity, garlic is additionally sprinkled with onion peels. And at high humidity, the bag is pre-treated with a saturated solution of sodium chloride. Salt not only absorbs moisture from the air, but also protects the bulbs from pests and diseases.

Difficulties in storing garlic
Problem # 1: dry bulbs
When stored, the garlic dries out gradually. This happens as a result of the process of moisture evaporation, which can be prevented with the help of waxing. To do this, you need to melt the candle and lower the heads in warm paraffin. When solidified, paraffin forms a layer on the surface of the bulb that prevents moisture evaporation. And carbon dioxide, which accumulates in the bulb as a result of stem respiration, causes the death of microorganisms and protects against diseases.

Problem # 2: mold growth
When stored on bulbs, green mold or black mold rot. These fungal diseases First of all, damaged and frozen bulbs are affected. The development of diseases is promoted by fever and high humidity air at the storage location. Solution: After harvesting, dry the garlic in the sun. Dried in this way, garlic is resistant to disease, since direct sunlight causes the death of bacteria, fungi and mold.

Problem 3: germination of bulbs
To prevent the germination of garlic, before storing the bottoms of the onions, lightly burn them over gas stove... This technique allows you to increase the storage time.

How to store garlic in an apartment
To store garlic in an apartment, choose dry, cool and dark places away from heating systems and heaters. In relatively warm winters, you can store garlic on the balcony, and a small crop in the refrigerator.

Note to the hostess:

• do not store bulbs damaged during harvesting, but use immediately;
• store garlic and onions separately from other vegetables.
• bulbs with three covering scales have the best keeping quality.

You will also see useful information on storing garlic in this video:

So, to sum up ... Storage of garlic depends on its type (spring or winter), from correct cleaning and preparation for storage, from the place and method of storage, from creating optimal conditions for storing garlic. For my part, I advise you to use several methods at once when storing garlic in winter, which will ensure the maximum safety of the crop.

You already know how to store garlic in winter and you can keep it until the next harvest. I will also gladly accept your advice on how to store garlic.

I advise, dear readers, not to miss the publication of new materials on this blog.

HELPFUL TIPS HOW TO STORE GARLIC TILL SPRING

Any housewife knows that garlic is one of the most important foods in the kitchen. However, it is not always possible to preserve garlic until spring, because by January it begins to lose its beneficial properties and aroma, and then dries up altogether. To prevent this from happening, you can use the following tips.

How to keep garlic until spring? The most common way to store garlic is in salt. To do this, you need to pour salt (at least 3 cm) into a deep bowl or jar. Then you need to lay out the heads of garlic in an even layer and cover it with salt and repeat this several times. In this case, you should make sure that the salt and garlic are dry, otherwise the garlic will quickly disappear. The dishes with garlic should be placed in a dry, cool, but not damp place; for this, a cellar or a glazed balcony is best suited.

No less effective way to save garlic from drying out is to store garlic in special cloth bags. To do this, you need to sew small bags of dense and durable fabric. Then these bags need to be filled with onion peels and after that place the garlic there.

Often in the villages they also used this method, the roots of the garlic were cut off, and then the bottom was carefully scorched. Although this method is laborious, it helps to keep the garlic juicy and aromatic.

You can also cover the head with paraffin from a candle. And then put all the cloves in a tight bag. Such garlic is stored practically until spring, provided that the room in which the garlic is located is sufficiently dry.
It is not bad to store garlic in dry and well-sifted ash or sawdust. In this case, the heads of garlic must be unpeeled.

If, despite all the precautions, the garlic still starts to deteriorate, you need to sort it out, peel it off, then finely chop the well-preserved garlic and put it in some container (not in plastic bags) and put it in the refrigerator.

When we pick garlic from the ground, I hang it in the country to dry it, cut off both the leaves and roots. Then I take an enamel pot and start laying the garlic in layers. Sprinkle each layer with ordinary wheat flour. Last upper layer well sprinkle with flour. I close the pot with a lid and put it on the cabinet in the kitchen, where it is dry. Garlic is stored until spring, as if it was removed from the garden yesterday. If my experience is useful to someone, I will only be glad. Now, for many years, I have no problem storing garlic. The photo is attached, this is how my garlic looks in the spring after storage. Lyubov Belozorets shared her advice.

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.

The secret to successfully storing garlic consists of fulfilling several conditions.

Cleaning times

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 became thin and dry.

The approximate time for harvesting winter garlic is the end of July.

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.

Advice: If during harvesting you damage the bulb, do not leave it in storage.

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 is poorly adapted for long-term storage: it is more often affected by various diseases and 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 opaque scales.

Select planting material you can in our catalog, where the products of many garden online stores are presented.