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Plaiting garlic

mrmhfmrmhf Posts: 37
in Plants
Our garlic's just about ready to come out of the ground. It's our first year growing it. 

When it comes out, we know we need to dry and cure it, and we want to plait it.
 
My question is when do you plait? Is it OK to plait it within a couple of days of it coming out of the ground? Initially, we're going to leave ours in the open garage (very airy). Just want to know when it's OK to plait so that we can hang it up and let it hang from the rafters.

Thanks in advance for any tips, assistance and suggestions.
Our country living, smallholding and sustainability journey: https://myhomefarm.co.uk

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 85,976
    edited July 2020
    Leave them to dry for a few days but plait them before the stems get dry and brittle otherwise they'll crumble and fall apart.  They need to still be a bit green and flexible.

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • mrmhfmrmhf Posts: 37
    Thank you.

    Can we plant them straight away, the day of pulling them out the ground?
    Our country living, smallholding and sustainability journey: https://myhomefarm.co.uk
  • mikeymustardmikeymustard Posts: 495
    And be prepared for a very bad smelling garage (we've just done ours too :))
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,459
    And Monty says don't pull them, lift them gently with a fork, cos if you damage the baseplate by tearing the roots they don't keep well.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,626
    My garlic was lifted about 10 days ago and I have hung it upside down to dry using an old pallet with plastic coated wire stretched across and nailed down to make a grid.  The foliage is then threaded thru this so the bulbs are up in the air.   It's working a treat undercover in an open ended barn so plenty of airflow.   

    Last year I just left it on a pallet to dry and most of it went mushy, hence the fancy system this year.  i shall do the same with my onions when I lift those in the next week or two.     I may not plait the garlic as I have a tiered metal vegetable hanging basket thingy that will do fine.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
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