When to Harvest Garlic Scapes for Bigger Bulbs

Hardneck garlic sends a round flower stalk from the center of the leaves. This is the scape. It rises above the foliage and curls into a loop. If left alone, it later straightens. The pointed sheath at its tip is called the spathe. It encloses the flower parts and the small bulbils that can form later.

Most softneck garlic does not make a scape. If your plants never send up a curling stalk, do not cut healthy leaves looking for one. Check the variety name first. A softneck plant without a scape is behaving as it should.

Wait until the scape has grown above the leaves and made its first loose curl. At that point it is still crisp enough for the kitchen. Once the stalk straightens and the spathe begins to swell, the lower part becomes fibrous and less useful to eat.

Garlic in one bed seldom sends up every scape at once. Walk through the patch every few days and take the stalks that have reached that stage. There is no benefit in waiting for the last plant to catch up.

Follow the scape down into the plant and cut it as low as you can without cutting a leaf. Clean snips are the simplest choice. You can also snap a young scape at its base if it comes away easily.

Some experienced growers pull a scape straight upward to bring out more of the pale inner stalk. That takes a practiced hand. For most home gardeners, cutting or snapping is the safer choice because the leaves are still feeding the bulb. Do not tug sideways or keep digging into the foliage after the scape has come free.

A cut scape does not mean the bulbs are ready that day, but it does mark the final stretch. In many gardens, bulb harvest falls roughly three to four weeks after scapes appear. Start checking the patch after about 20 days instead of treating the calendar as an exact deadline.

Removing a scape has a real payoff. A University of Maine publication cites research showing a 20 to 30 percent yield improvement when scapes are removed early. The result in any one patch still depends on how the crop grew, but scape removal is more than a cosmetic job.

Leave one scape standing for each variety if you want a field cue. It will complete its curl, then straighten and point upright as the bulbil head swells. When that happens, lift a test bulb rather than assuming every plant is ready.

Each green garlic leaf extends below ground as a protective wrapper around the cloves. As a leaf dies, its matching wrapper starts to break down. Five green leaves usually means about five useful wrapper layers on the bulb.

Begin test digging when the lower leaves have browned while at least four upper leaves are still partly green. Lift a representative bulb with a garden fork and inspect it. The cloves should fill the bulb and remain tight inside their wrappers. If the cloves are still round and loose, give the patch more time. If the wrappers are disappearing or the cloves are pushing apart, harvest soon so the bulbs will cure and store well.

Fresh scapes have a mild garlic flavor and a crisp bite. Slice them into a stir-fry or blend them into pesto. Trim away a woody lower section if the stalk was harvested late.

The bulbs are still several weeks from their own harvest. Keep the soil evenly moist while they are sizing, then reduce watering as harvest approaches. For the next step after lifting, use the garlic curing guide so good wrappers are not lost in storage.