Garlic, both spring and winter, is perfectly stored even at room temperature, if it is first dried well and the necessary conditions of temperature and humidity are observed. For planting material, the optimal indicators are air humidity 70-75%, and temperature + 3-4 ° C. Garlic for food can be stored at higher humidity and temperatures of 18-20 degrees.
Although not so much garlic is consumed during the year, and it is not bought in tens of kilograms for the winter, gardeners who have grown a good hundred heads with their own hands must try very hard to preserve the harvest until spring at home. Moreover, some of it will be planted in the spring. Despite the fact that winter garlic is dug up in July and immediately used for food and canning, and in October it is planted, the rest will still have to be stored.
Conditions for storing garlic
After digging up, the garlic should be dried well in a shaded, ventilated area without access to moisture. Only fully dried heads can survive throughout the winter, even at room temperature. Even before drying, you need to decide how the garlic will be stored: in bunches or in bulk. In the first case, you do not need to shorten the stem.
In the presence of a cellar or underground, the storage issue is easier to solve, however, with high humidity and temperatures below +4 ° C, garlic has nothing to do there. For greater confidence in the safety of the product, you can place a thermometer on the wall. The future planting material is stored at 75% air humidity and at the lowest possible temperature. So the cloves of garlic will be more resistant to diseases and will sprout together in the garden.
Garlic does not tolerate direct sunlight, or rather, when stored in bright sunlight, it will quickly become flabby and begin to sprout. When stored in a living room, garlic will feel good at a temperature of 18-20 degrees in a closet or under a bed, but you need to exclude places where heating pipes pass nearby. If there is not much garlic, then you can use the refrigerator. When the freezer is on top, the best location will be the lowest compartment, or if the freezer is on the bottom, the top shelf.
Home storage methods
Garlic can be stored hanging on the wall of a closet or underground. To do this, it is collected in bunches or knitted in braids. Wicker baskets or cardboard boxes are suitable as containers for storing garlic in bulk. Wooden boxes and glass jars can be used, but in the latter case, they do not need to be covered with plastic lids. Do not store garlic in plastic or iron containers.
Some owners use linen bags to store garlic. By adding onion skins to them, you don't have to worry about low humidity. With an excess of moisture, the heads of garlic are sprinkled with salt or the bag is pre-soaked in a steep saline solution and dried. For the same purpose, garlic stored in boxes is also sprinkled with onion peels, sawdust or ash.
For cooking, garlic can be chipped and peeled immediately. Put peeled garlic tightly in a clean glass jar and fill it with any vegetable oil. Such storage saves time when using garlic, and the oil is so saturated with its smell that it can be poured over vegetable salads. A less common way of storing garlic is by placing it in flour or sealing it with wax, with each head dipped in melted wax and then stacked in layers in a box or basket.
