It sounds like you still have a good shot at getting your garlic in, Jill. Better late than never. Set it and cover as you describe. As for companionship … roses and raspberries are friendly (see here http://www.almanac.com/content/companion-planting-herbs) but keep it away from beans and peas (see here http://www.almanac.com/content/companion-planting-garden) and a few other plants (see here: http://www.almanac.com/content/companion-planting-chart-vegetables).

Good luck—and thanks for asking!

To answer your first question, no it is not too late to plant garlic. We’ve planted in November and enjoyed a fine harvest the following summer. (Be sure you set it in good composted soil.) last year’s stock should be fine … about the refrigeration…ideally, whole garlic heads/cloves should not be refrigerated. If cut, most advise refrigerating it in an airtight container. We have, however, found some endorsement for refrigerating garlic that was not planted in fall but needs the chill to grow. We can’t vouch for that, never having done it.

We’ll stick to the universally accepted basics: You can plant your garlic as long as the ground has not frozen. Because to blanket it with mulch. If, having been stored in the refrigerator (or elsewhere), it has become soft and the “paper” peels off easily, it may have spoiled and probably will not produce a satisfactory crop. if it’s firm and the paper is still snug on it, you should have no problem planting it and harvest it next summer…assuming that everything else (soil, weather, etc.) is favorable.

Good luck!

Hi Maria,
Crop rotation can help avoid pests/diseases that attack plants of the same family, such as the allium, or onion, family of which garlic is a part. If the same crop is grown in the same place year after year, it is more likely to attract the same pests (or the soil harbor their eggs/overwintering larvae) that attack those crops; it is the same with certain diseases, which can live in the soil. Also, different crops may use nutrients differently (such as light feeders and heavy feeders) and affect soil structure differently. So, it helps to rotate each year. A crop rotation plan groups crops of the same family together, and they are grown in another place in the garden the following year. The cycle of rotation may take 3 or more years to get back to the original planting arrangement.

For more information, you might be interested in this article and video:
http://www.almanac.com/video/how-rotate-your-vegetable-crops

Hope this helps!

Hi, David, A word of warning to help insure you get the best results: Sandy soil is not really the best medium to grow garlic in (or, honestly, many things). While it is well draining, it does not hold nutrients. As fast as rain/water runs through sand, so fast does any fertilizer or other beneficial nutrient. Think of it another way: they garlic cloves (and other plants) have nothing to grab on to, so to speak, when planted in sand. Get yourself a bag or two of good compost and replace a few inches of sand with it, then plant the garlic cloves. Read more about how to plant and care above before you do anything else. If you don’t do this much, you probably won’t have any garlic to cure. (Just trying to help you here.)

What you might do is try to plan to harvest on a relatively low-humidity day or two. (We realize these conditions hardly ever occur in south Alabama in the middle of summer…but keep an eye out.) Barring that, harvest when the soil is dry and set the garlic aside, in shade. If you run air conditioning indoors, bring it in and put the aside where it will not be disturbed for a while. We hope this helps.

Hi, Sarah, Garlic will sprout in the fall if conditions such as you describe occur. It should not hurt the bulbs. Throw more mulch on them, covering the growth. This can be leaves or other organic matter. Next season they should grow as expected.

Thanks, Robert! We appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts. All the best!

If you are in an area of the country that has a winter—extreme cold, snow, etc.—plant your garlic before the ground freezes: Separate the cloves, stick them in the ground (pointy-end up) a couple of inches, and cover them with soil. (Good, rich compost is best.) Cover them with a couple inches of leaves or the like and let them alone until spring.

Thanks for your kind words, Randolph! As per above, Iif you are in an area that gets a hard frost, plant garlic 6 to 8 weeks before that frost. In more southerly areas, February or March is a better time to plant.  You can get an estimate of the date of your first fall frost here: http://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates/zipcode/81501

Good luck!

Do not cover the garlic with plastic, Tony. Give is a blanket of mulch several inches deep (fallen leaves are great!). If you plant in well composted, well draining soil (see also above re pH and other requirements), you should not have to fertilize. Water occasionally; more if local conditions—drought to any degree—indicate. Garlic really does not ask for much, if you give it good soil.

Hi, Claudia, It would be fine to water the garlic. Certainly if it were to rain it would get wet. So that should be no problem. Good luck with it! Garlic is one of the easiest crops!

Clay is not your friend, in this case (in most cases). You could dig a hole, maybe about a foot deep and, depending on how many garlic you’re going to plant, a few feet by a few feet and replace the clay with good composted material, and then plant the garlic. They need to be a couple inches deep and apart (see above). They do not set deep roots, so that would be a suitable bed. Alternately you could put the good composted material into pots and plant the garlic in there (with/at the suggested depth) and then put the pots into holes in the ground. That way, they are more protected from the elements than if in the pots above ground, where freeze/thaw/refreeze conditions could hurt the bulbs. We hope this helps!

You can still plant the garlic cloves, but without their individual protective layer (sometimes called a “tunic”), they might be more susceptible to diseases. Before planting, some gardeners soak their cloves (usually unpeeled, but sometimes peeled) in a solution of 1 gallon water to 1 tablespoon baking soda overnight (some add a little liquid seaweed to the solution). Then just before planting, soak them in rubbing alcohol for about 4 minutes. This helps to prevent disease. You might try that with some of your cloves to see if it might help. Good luck!

Hi, Jill: Often this is caused by the garlic not having been planted deep enough. Sounds like you’re a veteran and know what you’re doing, but do be sure that they are down about 3 inches or so, depending on variety. Thanks for asking!