When to pick garlic?

[T]

Hi All,

First I picked off sprits from my garlic (yummy!). Now all of the tops have slowly died. Is it time to harvest?

Does garlic require much water?

Many thanks,

-T

[songbird]

when the leaves have started to die back, but before they all have. if you wait too long the tunic on the bottom starts to degrade. it's not a big issue if you are just keeping it for yourself, but it is nicer to have a good tunic for storage.

i keep it regularly watered up until the last few weeks.

songbird

[T]

Thank you!

[Ecnerwal]

In my climate (new england) it's usually 6 weeks or so from scapes (I need to cut them soon) to harvest. I used to wait too long and let the whole plant go brown - and I never had decent wrappers. I now try to harvest with at least 4 leaves still green, and I have better wrappers. Dry in shade for a while after harvest. We are not much for irrigation (though I'll have to step that up if tomorrow's rains don't come - today there was a rain hole in the big line that passed over, so we got nothing), but you're in a desert climate and probably need to - "evenly moist" is a goal up until the last couple of weeks.

[T]

Thank you!