Harvest Considerations for Garlic
Crystal Stewart-Courtens, Extension Vegetable Specialist
Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture

If leaves aren't the best indicator of maturity, how else can you tell? The best indicator is how the cloves are filling the wrapper leaves. Take a couple of average looking plants from each variety, and cut them in half perpendicular to the stem so that you are cutting through all of the cloves. Each clove should be tight in its wrapper leaves. If there is any give when you squeeze the bulb, or the wrapper leaves seem a little loose around the cloves the garlic will continue to expand for a little while longer (figure 1). A few of the outer wrapper leaves will probably be breaking down. That is normal.
You can also look at the shape of each clove. Cloves start out being more or less round, and expand to more of a wedge shape (figure 1). As garlic reaches full maturity, the cloves will pull very slightly away from the scape on hardneck varieties.
If you let the garlic stay in the ground too long, too many wrapper leaves will decay and the cloves will continue to expand until the garlic actually splits open. At this point the garlic becomes virtually unmarketable. Make sure that you check your garlic every few days, especially as we move into another warm stretch of weather.
As you are harvesting, keep in mind that you want to reduce the amount of water that you bring into your drying area and you want to avoid scalding your garlic during harvest. If you can harvest early in the morning (before 11 or so, depending on how hot the day is) on a dry day, then clean in the shade during the afternoon, you should have the best results possible. Allowing garlic to sit out in the field exposed to the sun can result in sun scalding, which will cause affected cloves to break down. If you have to harvest in wet weather try to remove as much mud as possible and to get any foliage you leave on the plant as dry as possible before moving it into the curing area. The higher the relative humidity is in your curing area, the slower the garlic will dry down. The slower the garlic dries, the more potential there is for disease. Dry garlic means lower relative humidity right from the start!


Upcoming Events
Vegetable Field Meetings with Dr. Steve Reiners

July 14, 2025 : Herkimer County - Ivan Martin's Farm
Herkimer, NY
Topics: Tomato Fertility and Mitigating Physiological Disorders; Pest Scouting, ID, and IPM Field Walk.

July 15, 2025 : Washington County - Hand Melon Farm
Greenwich, NY
Topics: Tomato Fertility and Mitigating Physiological Disorders, Tomato and Sweet Corn IPM; FSMA Water Assessments and Postharvest Sanitation

July 16, 2025 : Ulster County - Wallkill View Farm
New Paultz, NY
Topics: Tomato Fertility and Mitigating Physiological Disorders; Veg Pest Update and Management; Cornell Tomato Breeding Program and Slicer Tomato Variety Trial Tour
2025 Berry Twilight Meetings

July 2, 2025 : Berry Twilight Meeting at Dressel Farms
New Paltz, NY
Join Heather Kase, CCE ENYCHP, and Anna Wallis, Cornell IPM, for seasonal updates on berry pest man-agement and IPM.

July 16, 2025 : Berry Twilight Meeting at Samascott Orchards
Kinderhook, NY
Join Heather Kase, CCE ENYCHP, and Anna Wallis, Cornell IPM, for seasonal updates on berry pest man-agement and IPM.

August 6, 2025 : Berry Twilight Meeting at Fishkill Farms
Hopewell Junction, NY
Join Heather Kase, CCE ENYCHP, and Anna Wallis, Cornell IPM, for seasonal updates on berry pest man-agement and IPM.
Champlain Valley Orchard Field Afternoon

July 17, 2025 : Champlain Valley Orchard Field Afternoon
Chazy, NY
This July ENYCHP will be hosting an orchard field afternoon highlighting Mike's research trials at Chazy Orchards.