Thanks for the update PH - your Chesnoks are beautiful!
Wouldn't you know it there's a reason for dirt?! Very glad that you let us know about that. I was going to recommend the stripped approach to my friend, but since she dries hers in the farm shed and can be humid (and sometimes cool too) it would be awful to do anything to favor mold.
Now that you mentioned it, the bulbs feel damp on the surface after you strip them, and they stay damp to touch for some time during the cure because those internal wrappers are not at all dried down. I've not had any problems with mold, as you'd expect for drying indoors. But there have been some mold issues in a damp year at the farm, so anything that increased the risk would be a bad move!
