Some weeds may still emerge, so remove these by hand. If chlorthal is not available, young garlic may be cultivated by machine between the rows. Harvesting Pull the bulbs by hand as harvesting with an onion machine may cause excessive bruising. However, some harvesting is now being done with a modified carrot harvester. Undercutting with a back blade is the most frequently used system, since this reduces labour and eases pulling.
Bulbs develop in the neck or on top of hard-necked varieties.
Cloves are seen easily from outside the bulb. Bulbs are of good size. Internal clove colour is creamy rather than white. The leaves start to die back, but are still slightly green. Do not allow bulbs to over-mature in the field, since too many skins will be discarded and bulbs will be discoloured or open up.