It's garlic scape harvesting season: the dangers of not harvesting garlic scapes in time
It's garlic scape harvesting time right now, and garlic farmers are all busy with their garlic scapes. Harvesting garlic scapes has very strict timing requirements; if you miss the best time, the scapes easily turn old and tough, with poor texture, which affects their sale. Harvesting garlic scapes is also very tiring work, so what is the importance of harvesting garlic scapes? Let me talk about it with you all.
1. The harm of not removing garlic scapes
First, if garlic scapes are not harvested in time, it will affect the future quality of the garlic. This is because garlic scapes are part of the garlic's growth process. So if the garlic scapes grow and flower, they will certainly absorb the garlic's nutrients. And most garlic farmers are in it to harvest the garlic bulbs; the growth process of the scapes takes away nutrients from the bulbs, which affects bulb growth, causing the bulbs to be too small and their quality to decline, which in turn affects sales. So even if the price of garlic scapes is very low, garlic farmers will still harvest the scapes, just so as not to affect garlic growth.
Second, garlic is a cash crop, and the purpose of growing garlic is to sell it for money, while garlic scapes, as a very popular seasonal vegetable, are very well received by the market. Harvesting the garlic scapes in time to sell them can also earn some income; sometimes, when the scapes are of good quality and the market price is decent, you can almost earn back the money spent on the garlic seed.
2. Points to note when harvesting garlic scapes
Timing. Garlic scapes grow very fast, so you must grasp the harvest timing well. It can't be too early, and it can't be too late. Too early will reduce the yield, and too late will lower the quality and affect sales. Generally, once the top of the garlic scape has emerged and the tip of the scape begins to curl around, curving nearly a full circle, it can be harvested.
Also, be careful to avoid damaging the garlic plants as much as possible, otherwise it easily affects the quality of the garlic bulbs. You can harvest on a cloudy day or when the sun is about to set, to avoid the wounds on the garlic scapes being exposed to the sun during harvest and causing excessive moisture loss.
Harvesting garlic scapes is very hard farm work, and garlic farmers all have it tough; I hope garlic farmers can have a bumper harvest year.