Preserving garlic for replanting?

[T]

Hi All,

After harvesting my garlic, is there any trick to preserving what I want to replant in the fall. Usually it get all dried out and dies on me by then. Put it in the refrigerator?

Many thanks,

-T

[Terry Coombs]

  I stored the garlic I grew in the garden in a bowl on the table ... after properly curing it (strung and hung for a couple of months IIRC) . It stayed good enough to use (or plant) for close to 2 years . BTW , I planted cloves from some Walmart garlic , came out swell . Use the biggest cloves for the biggest bulbs .

[songbird]

keep it in the dark and cool after it has fully dried out.

you can also immediately replant it (use the largest cloves from several bulbs).

songbird

[T]

I lay mine on a wire rack. How to you do yours?

[T]

You'd think that Walmart would carry the substandard stuff, but I am not finding that to be the case. Even their green onions sprouted.

And they sell the same brand (Bonnie) from the same truck of potted plants as does everyone else at 1/2 the price.

Maybe Wal Mart could not find a Chinese supplier?

[hubops]

[T]

Which links you to:

Thank you!

What would be the difference between a wire rack and hanging them?

[T]

From:

After garlic is harvested it needs to be cured. In curing the energy from the leaves goes into the bulbs as they dry.

Uhhh. I harvest them when the leaves die off.

Remove any chunks of dirt from the roots, being careful not to bruise the garlic. Leave the roots on as they have a moderating effect on the drying rate.

I have been removing the roots. Ooops.

If you have a small amount you can spread the plants out where they are protected from the sun and rain and there is good air circulation.

Wire rack in teh garage. Lots of air circulates through it in the summer and it is usually dark

We hang the plants - about 25 to 40 to a string in bunches of 3 to 6.

No leaves left to tie up.

:'(

[T]

That would be my favorite way. Will the mature plants make it through the ice and snow? I know bulbs in the ground will.

[T]

Just don't water them until the spring?

[songbird]

...

spring bulbs will send out roots the previous season as soon as they can get going. if it is dry they will wait for the rains.

here they may start actively growing any chance they get in the winter but even if they don't when the spring comes around and the warmer weather and some rains they'll come up and start growing.

you mention that you are waiting for all the leaves to die back before lifting the garlic, but you shouldn't let it go that long as the tunics (wrappings around the bulb) may not be in the best condition if you wait that long. you should instead lift it when about half the leaves are going brown and finish curing it above ground.

my garlic here isn't even close to being done yet, not much sun and too much rain i don't think there are scapes yet or they may just now be starting to form.

in the clay here i have to lift them or the tunics get discolored.

i have however, many places where garlic just grows and i don't touch it at all. so in case my main plantings go bad i have a backup source to start over again. it's also what i did up and eat when i want some green garlic.

songbird

[T]

Thank you!

About 1/5 of the leaves have started to die out. I will check at 1/2!

They already went to scapes, which I am currently munching on.

Is scaping any indicator?

How about onions? Wait for the leave to all die or half die?

[songbird]

...

if you have enough bulbs growing you can pull one when about 1/3 of the leaves are turning and then see how it looks. i think there is some variability within garlics that some may finish sooner than others and such. once you get some experience then you'll know.

i've made the mistake of letting it go too long and that affects how well it cures and stores.

i try to get onions out of the ground after a lot of the leaves have fallen over. again it can be dependent upon what variety. some need a good cure to store well so i want them out of the gardens and cured well before it gets too cool or wet in the fall. most are done when it gets hot and dry here so that can be ok. other onions do not store well so you want to eat them before they'll go bad.

for flowers the next season leave a few of the smaller onions so they can grow again. :) then you'll have all the seeds you want.

songbird

[T]

Do you wash off the dirt, which can be prodigious, or just wipe them?

On the seeds, do you just cut the heads off when the seeds start to harden?

How do you store the seeds?

And when do you plant the seeds?

[Terry Coombs]

  When is a good time to harvest those seeds ? I have several bunching onions in bloom right now , and I'm considering starting from seed for next year .

[songbird]

T wrote: ...

i try to stop watering them a week before lifting.

most of the dirt can come off with a little bit of shaking what is left is mostly on the roots so i leave that alone to dry and then cut it off later when the bulb has cured. i cut it a bit away from the bulb so i don't bruise the bulb with the cutters. at this time i also remove the one outer layer of tunic which might have some dirt on it so that it is now cleaned up and so it won't drop dirt where i store them.

this is for both onions and garlic at the point where they've been cured/dried.

if i don't want the seeds to spread around i'll cut the tops off and dry them fully in box tops so i can harvest and give away the seeds.

cool dry location. they are not good for long otherwise. i haven't tried freezing them yet nor do i plan on it.

they should be viable immediately. so if you want to start some for the next season you can plant them outside where you want them right before your next fall rains happen. some should start up and then the cold will stop them and the small bulbs will be in place and ready to go for the following spring.

if you want to have starts ready for the following spring you can do them inside. i've not done that here. i just plant a long row or two of seeds in the early spring and thin them as needed. the larger bulbs that form are eaten. the smaller bulbs i left to grow and flower.

this year i have only one kind of onion flowering now as the patch i'd had planted with onions before i finally got cleared so now there is only the bunching onions which have yellow flowers. my chives are done and Mom cuts those back hard to keep them from spreading seeds around.

the large sweet onions we plant are done from starts that the greenhouse does. we put them in hard clay this year so i'm not sure they'll do all that great.

the garlic i grow here is acclimated to the clay enough that no matter where i grow it it seems to do ok. the wetter summers and clay can make a challenge for harvesting, if the ground is wet i'll just wash the bulbs off when lifted since they are already wet. then i dry them well to get ready for storage. garlic doesn't get exposed to the sun when curing. onions can take a bit more light and heat to cure so i'm not as careful with them.

songbird

[songbird]

...re onion seeds...

for regular onions i cut the heads off and put them in cardboard box tops or flats to finish drying in only one layer so they won't get fungi and i also turn them once in a while to make sure they're getting evenly dried out. i know it is time when i see the first seeds start to show (when the seed pods start to crack open and you see the black seeds in them).

this is the first time i've got bunching onions to grow here and i'm not sure the seed heads are the same for these as regular onions yet. they're still flowering and covered with bees. :)

chives i have grown before and those are a bit different than regular onions in that the seeds seem pretty quick to fall.

for the bunching onions the only reason i have them growing now is that a friend mailed me some of his plants. i am never planning on growing any from seeds because these plants will divide easily and keep growing even after eating some of them i expect to have plenty of divisions to do a whole line of them for the next round.

the seeds from the bunching onions i'll give away at the seed swap - that's the only reason i'm harvesting them and drying them out when they're ready. i'll know in a week or two if they are more like chives or regular onions or what.

so far i'm pretty impressed by how well they've grown and the deer, rabbits, etc. have been leaving them alone.

when i've tried to grow bunching onions from seeds in the past i've not had very good luck, but i always direct sow seeds in the garden and they could have been too old of seeds anyways.

i've had reasonably good enough luck with the fresh onion seeds i've harvested myself here. i threw away several ounces of seeds last year because i could not use it all and nobody wanted it. by throwing away i mean feeding to the worms as i don't throw much away here if i can help it. all organic matter is welcome. :)

songbird

[T]

Thank you!