Experienced gardeners who deal with growing garlic say: do not rush to trim it after harvesting.
In this case, it is stored well. There are some other interesting options that allow you to ensure high-quality storage of the product.
Why shouldn't you rush to trim your plant?
Because even after harvesting, the head gains weight: the cloves continue to grow, continuing to receive nutrition from the leaves that have not yet become completely dry.
What the experienced say
If you cut off the green feather, the head will lose nutrition, and the covering scales will not have the opportunity to dry for a long time (the teeth will give off moisture that they could draw from the leaves).
Experienced gardeners have proven that uncut garlic stores perfectly, and in spring and early summer it pleases with its strength and juiciness.
Of course, you need to trim it. But only as needed. For example, when we take a certain amount for use or for sale.
Drying
The recommendation is as follows: After harvesting, dry the garlic in the sun (a couple of hours).
But dry away from direct sunlight, preferably under a canopy, in well-ventilated areas, etc.
It is recommended to dry it this way for 10 to 14 days, turning the pile regularly.
Trimming
There is no need to trim for 2-3 weeks. And when we trim, we leave about 10-15 cm of stem (this is the second recommendation).
If you trim the garlic too short, it will lose weight and juiciness, and the integrity of the dry covering scales will also be damaged.
The first thing you need to do is cut off the dry “tops”, leaving almost the entire stem, storing it in this form in bulk, perhaps in a bag.
And in the fall we gradually shorten it to a convenient size.
Third recommendation. After drying, when sorting the garlic into fractions, you need to trim the roots slightly. Leave about 5-7 cm.
And when cutting the stem - almost "cleanly". We leave from 0.2 to 0.5 cm.
