Best storage for alliums

[davespitzer]

In my region (central California gold country) summers are long and fairly hot, and my onions and garlic tend to go bad before I can use them all. I grow mostly Chesnock Red garlic because it has proven to keep better than Music and the others I've tried. Right now I store all of my onions and garlic layered in straw in boxes like milk crates, stacked in the garage on the floor. My question is, has anybody tried leaving onions or garlic in the ground for storage? Seems like that would imitate nature best, but I wonder about storing diseases or pests right along with the bulbs. Any thoughts? Thanks! Dave

[fortyonenorth]

Not sure about onions, but garlic heads will split if left in the ground too long.

[tjg911]

no you can't keep garlic or onions in the ground for storage like carrots or parsnips.

i'm not familiar with the garlic variety you grow. you say it out stores music, is it a softneck? music is supposed to be the longest storing hardneck afaik. how long is it storing? some softnecks store just a few months and others a year+.

what variety of onions are you growing? some store for just a few months and some for a year or more. it is important to not water them prior to harvest and to cure (dry) them properly. red wing stores a good 9 months. copra can store longer. my red wing were dug in mid august and they are still rock hard. same for my copra. i've had copra store to the following october (ie august 2009 to october 2010) tho they were getting soft.

garlic should be stored with adequate air circulation, straw may be inhibiting that. i store my garlic in the basement on the shelves of my grow light stand. it is 45 to 70 degrees down there but when the temp hits 55 i take them upstairs into a cool north bedroom and store them at 58-64 degrees. do not store garlic in the fridge as it'll simulate winter in the ground and they'll start to sprout roots and a green stalk.

onions should be stored at 37 degrees (optimum temp) so i keep mine in an extra fridge (about 40 or 42 degrees) but initially i put them in mesh bags and store them on shelves in the basement from october to say december as the fridge is full of other stuff.

tom

[davespitzer]

Hi Tom- Chesnok Red is a hardneck that I got from Territorial Seed a couple of years ago. It does real well in my garden when I can keep the gophers away from it. I've grown Music twice, and both times it dried up in storage before I could use it all. I did grow a lot, however, so it was inevitable that some would go south. I am currently growing Red Torpedo and a local variety of red onions (no name, a gift from a local Italian who has grown them for years), Stuttgarter risen, cebolla valencia and yellow Utah jumbo from Ferry-Morse, and several kinds of shallots. I have resisted using a refrigerator for storage only because I hate to pay PG&E, but that may be the way to go. I may have to dig a root cellar for the garlic, because I love garlic and want to keep it available all winter - that's why I was looking for info. Dave

[tjg911]

dave you don't need a root cellar for garlic in fact that is the LAST place to put it besides a fridge! root cellars are cold and damp.

garlic wants to be stored in a cool not cold, dry not humid place, temps s/b 50-60 and you need good air circulation. if you do not cure your garlic it may be a problem trying to get good storage. maybe you are digging it too late? maybe you watered it too much?

you have not really told anything about what you do so it is hard to give advise. how do you cure then store the garlic and the temps/humidity? as i mentioned the straw may be a problem as you need good air circulation.

tom

[davespitzer]

Hi Tom- I pretty much follow the advice in Growing Great Garlic (Engeland) - I harvest when the number of green leaves drops to about 5, move the garlic into my garage immediately, hang it in bunches for about three weeks, then remove the leaves and roots and store it in mesh bags in the garage. Unfortunately the temperatures here reach 105 in the summer, and routinely hit the high 90's for many days in a row. The only way I can keep the temperature reasonable is by storing on or near the floor of the garage. Air circulation is good, and it's pretty dark there, but if I'm sweating the garlic must be too! As for the root cellar, what I have in mind is a straw bale structure with a dirt floor, maybe 1 to 2 feet deep in the ground, under an oak tree. That's about the best I can do without refrigeration. Dave

[tjg911]

sounds like your harvest and curing techniques are ok.

i would not store garlic in an area that is above 70 degrees for any length of time and forget 100! i think the heat is drying out your garlic, it'd dry me out being in that garage!

apparently you live in a hot climate. do you have a basement that is dry and cool? do you a/c your house? if so maybe a room or closet where the a/c keeps the garlic 60-70 degrees? if no basement, no a/c and outside temps are always 80+ i don't know what to say.

a fridge will encourage them to sprout after a while. your root cellar may work but it can't be damp, most root cellars are damp for storage of crops that require cold and humidity.

if you can't find anywhere to store them i'd suggest contacting karen or mike at http://wegrowgarlic.com and ask for their recommendation about storage. also ask what varieties they'd suggest growing that would be more appropriate storage-wise for your climate. perhaps there are varieties that store in hot climates tho garlic originated in cold climates so it may only store for a few months in really warm climates. you could move to a temperate climate for the cold.

tom

[davespitzer]

Thanks for the link - I'll give them a try! I don't have a basement- they aren't common in this part of the country- but I think with a little ingenuity I may be able to make a small substitute on the north side of my house, under a deck. If that doesn't work, I have a friend who does have a basement, and I may be able to trade space for produce. Thanks again for all your input. DAve

[tjg911]

dave just be aware that storing garlic outside isn't a good idea (imo). garlic needs air circulation so putting it in a sealed container is not good. also humidity is a problem and unless you are in a very dry climate that would be an issue. too dry would also be an issue if you are in a desert.

that friend with a basement may be a good option.

good luck.

tom

[salix]

Dave, I always pickle some, dehydrate some and pulverize some with olive oil and freeze because I know it won't keep perfectly until the next harvest. Not the best solutions maybe, but it beats buying the Chinese garlic at the grocery store. My "fresh" stored is still pretty good, but some varieties are getting those green sprouts inside - they know Spring is here, in spite of the snowbanks!

[davespitzer]

Hi Salix - you're right, dehydrating works (the odor from the garage permeates the whole house when I'm drying it, ummmmm...). I'll try the olive oil idea this year- that sounds tasty. Tom - humidity isn't bad here, except for a few days of monsoonal moisture every summer. But your advice on maintaining circulation sounds right - I'm trying to figure a way to combine dark, cool storage with good circulation. At the moment I'm tinkering with a barrel with a tall stack, hoping for passive circulation. If that doesn't work I may just go with a low-power pancake fan to force gentle circulation. And, of course, there's always my friends basement if all else fails.