When is Garlic Ready to Harvest?

Wondering when to harvest garlic? The time has come…or has it? You’ve put all the work in this garlic growing season to make sure your garlic harvest is perfect. You’ve cut your scapes, fertilized on time, watered without fail, and learned how to harvest garlic in our garlic series so far. But, how do you know garlic is ready to harvest? Knowing when to pick garlic might be easier than you think. Let’s check out some tips from our Garden Bosses and industry experts and get your garlic harvest underway!

When to Harvest Green Garlic

Yes, you can harvest garlic when it looks like this!

Green garlic, similar to green onions in taste and texture, is an early-season treat. Though it is harvested at the expense of future bulbs, you may find it worth the sacrifice! Spring garlic is tastiest when harvested at about pencil size. You can continue to harvest until the base begins to swell, or you can harvest the entire bunch at once.

Do you ever harvest fresh garlic greens? Let us know your favorite ways to eat them in the comments.

When to Harvest Garlic Scapes

The easiest way to harvest garlic scapes is by snapping them off.

The garlic scapes, or flower stems, must be removed to channel growth to the garlic bulb. Bonus—they’re yummy! When you are cutting garlic scapes will depend on if you want to remove them ASAP to support the development of your bulbs, or if you want some moderately sized scapes to eat.

You can harvest scapes as soon as you see the scape stem growing from the middle of the garlic plant. That will prioritize bulb growth. But, if you wait a little longer, until the stem starts to curl, you’ll have decent sized scapes for eating. Don’t wait too much long after the curling phase or the scape will get tough and woody and not too tasty. For a full primer on harvesting garlic scapes, check out our guide to harvesting garlic scapes.

*If you don’t cut your scapes, you’ll get a garlic flower. Photo by Mark Lawrance via Flickr*

When to Harvest Garlic Bulbs

There are a few different ways you can tell when your garlic bulbs are ready.

1. Flowering Garlic

While you usually want to cut scapes to bolster your garlic bulbs, you may consider leaving one flower stem. April recommends a trick that she heard a while back, and it seemed to work for her. Leave one scape intact, and when the plant flowers, it’s time for your garlic harvest.

2. Dying Garlic

Another common technique is to watch for your plants to start dying back. Yellow garlic leaves are a sign that the time is coming. When you have just 4-5 green leaves left on your garlic plants, you can start harvesting your garlic bulbs.

3. Pick Your Garlic

Of course, it won’t hurt to pull one or two in advance to check their progress, but if you want the most out of your bulbs, especially if you are saving some for seed garlic, you want them to be able to reach their potential. If you do pull a bulb, you want to look for a strong bulb shape with “shoulders”. You can also cut the bulb in half to see if the cloves inside are pulling away from the neck of the garlic stem.

This garlic is more than ready to harvest-see the dead leaves? Photo credit Kassandre Dwyer

Can You Wait Too Long to Harvest Garlic?

Yes, you can wait too long to harvest your garlic! If your crop is not retrieved in a timely manner, you risk overripe garlic, in which bulbs and skin can crack. This damage as a result of your late harvest can cause your bulbs to have poor storage potential.

The skin of the bulb may also disintegrate if your garlic harvest time is delayed, leaving cloves exposed to the elements and depleting potential for storage or use as seed.

These cloves were damaged during harvest. Some broke apart and some lost their skins. They won’t cure well, so they’re going into the kitchen ASAP.

What Month is Best to Pick Garlic?

Rather than going by month, it’s best to go by the recommendations we’ve discussed. However, if you are looking for a rough guideline, you will need to take your planting zone into consideration. I am in zone 4b, and harvest garlic at the very tail end of July or beginning of August. However, if you are in a warmer locale like zone 9, your bulbs might be ready in the late spring.

What signs are you taking into consideration to harvest your garlic crop? Do you have any tried and true tricks like April’s flower sign? Share them with us in the comments!

Sources

Harvesting Garlic, Keene Organics
Get Your Garlic On: A Primer on Planting, Growing & Harvesting, Oregon State University
Growing Garlic in Maine, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Green Spring Garlic, Keene Organics