Curing/Drying Garlic; Am I doing it Right?

[Pulsegleaner]

Hi all,

A few weeks ago I lucked out and finally got my hands on a bunch of Korean Wild Garlic (it's been two or three years since I last saw that). Wanting to store it I put the bunch in a warm place to dry down, assuming that, eventually, the green tops would wither away and I could store the bulbs.

Well, as I said that was two or three weeks ago, and while some of the outer leaves have withered away, the central ones are still green and fresh.

So I just wanted to check, am I going about this the right way or was I/ am I supposed to cut the tops off? I'mg getting a little worried that, if I leave them there, they'll keep drawing nutrition from the bulbs until they exhaust them. On the other hand I'm also worried about cutting introducing open spots for mold and rot to get in.

Anyone with experience/ advice

 

[flowerbug]

i'm not sure what plant you are talking about... is it this one?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_monanthum

since the description says the bulb is not that large i would guess that the dying back process is going to be more important to get right.

so when the plant has leaves it should be growing and encouraged to put as much energy as possible into the bulb. i would not try to cure it normally outside of the soil.

in your case, since it is already a done deal and you've been keeping it in the dark i would continue the process. the leaves do not take energy away from the roots if there is no light. it will continue to lose the leaves and you'll need to keep checking it for rot. if you have it on a grate/screen that will help it get air all around. if you do decide to trim off the leaves i'd leave 3-4 inches stem on so it can dry back to the bulb like it would if it were mowed or grazed.

my own inclination would have been to have planted it in pots and to put it in the sunniest window (acclimating it through several days to a week) and keeping it growing until it started to die back (after flowering perhaps).

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I SUPPOSE that could be it. The package from the supermarket just said wild garlic. To be honest I'm sort of glad you were able to find SOMETHING that looked like it could be it. Up until now I had some fears that what they were selling me was field garlic, which it would be kinda dumb for me to buy (since it grows as a weed here naturally).

Just compared the Korean Characters, it's the same thing as the link.

The die back thing doesn't usually work here, at least it didn't with the regular garlic or the rakkyo I planted. What normally happens is that the weather never gets that out and out definite dry freeze that finally stops the plants growing. Either we get a wet freeze (a soaking rain followed by a hard drop in temperature which freezes the bulbs while they are still juicy and rots them, or we never get the deep freeze at all, and the plants keep growing (which wouldn't be a problem except there isn't enough light for them to make enough food in the winter so they just keep tapping the bulb until it is exhausted and they starve to death.)

a very few of the smaller bulbs (and some side bulbs that separated) have dried down so I'll have something. But I think that this may be harder than I initially thought it was (In fact maybe this stuff isn't supposed to cure down at all; coming from Korea, it could be far enough south that it is a "you plant it, it divides you dig it up take what you want and put the remainder directly back. or it is like chives where you just leave it in the ground permanently and clip it.)

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might do a search on ramps or wild leeks to see if that is what you have. The leaves look different from chives. Jut out of curiosity could you post a photo. With ramps you eat the leaves, probably bulbs also.

If it is chives I'd try planting some, maybe outside if you can just to get some in the ground but possibly in a container inside. If it is chives I'd expect them to grow.

Have you considered taking some to your county extension office for ID?

I spent a year in Korea in the army. It's not "far enough south". The ground freezes in November and does not thaw until March.

 

[ducks4you]

Haven't done/studied it, but as I understand it, hardneck variety are stored by cutting off the tops, the softneck varieties are braided.
Could be the other way around. Hardneck's store longer.

 

[flowerbug]

I SUPPOSE that could be it. The package from the supermarket just said wild garlic. To be honest I'm sort of glad you were able to find SOMETHING that looked like it could be it. Up until now I had some fears that what they were selling me was field garlic, which it would be kinda dumb for me to buy (since it grows as a weed here naturally).

Just compared the Korean Characters, it's the same thing as the link.

The die back thing doesn't usually work here, at least it didn't with the regular garlic or the rakkyo I planted. What normally happens is that the weather never gets that out and out definite dry freeze that finally stops the plants growing. Either we get a wet freeze (a soaking rain followed by a hard drop in temperature which freezes the bulbs while they are still juicy and rots them, or we never get the deep freeze at all, and the plants keep growing (which wouldn't be a problem except there isn't enough light for them to make enough food in the winter so they just keep tapping the bulb until it is exhausted and they starve to death.)

a very few of the smaller bulbs (and some side bulbs that separated) have dried down so I'll have something. But I think that this may be harder than I initially thought it was (In fact maybe this stuff isn't supposed to cure down at all; coming from Korea, it could be far enough south that it is a "you plant it, it divides you dig it up take what you want and put the remainder directly back. or it is like chives where you just leave it in the ground permanently and clip it.)

all i did was google "korean wild garlic" and looked at pictures. as you type that phrase into google you will get other options for searching that look interesting...

nose around and see if there is something closer to what you have if there was any question...

i have no idea of the growth/habits of the plant, but any bulbing plant can have a dormant phase even if they happen to end up some place which never forces them into it.

i'm still not sure whereabouts you are located...

 

[ducks4you]

Yep, braid the softneck, then save them for when the vampire comes.
https://savvygardening.com/hardneck-vs-softneck-garlic/