Garlic is an easy-to-grow crop. Beyond its intense flavor and culinary uses, “the stinking rose” is also good in the garden as an insect repellent and has been used for centuries as a home remedy. Unlike many crops, garlic is usually planted in autumn—and then harvested in midsummer. See our Growing Guide to Garlic for planting, growing, and harvesting tips.
Growing Garlic
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Garlic
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Garlic
Planting
When to Plant Garlic
The dates to plant garlic vary widely. To grow big garlic bulbs, we typicall plant the cloves in late autumn. Garlic roots develop during the fall and winter—before the ground freezes—and by early spring, they start producing foliage. Then, you’ll harvest in the summer.
The aim is to allow a long enough period before the ground freezes for the plant to develop good roots, but not enough time to for it to form top growth before freezing temperatures set in.
- In cooler climates, planting is usually between September and November.
- If you have a long growing season, you can also plant the cloves in the spring as soon as the ground can be worked. However, we still prefer fall planting because the heads grow larger.
- If you live in the South or Southwest, plant the cloves anytime from the fall through early spring (March). Plant early because garlic doesn’t do well once the weather gets hot.
Choosing and Preparing a Planting Site
- Select a sunny spot.
- Garlic likes fertile, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.5 to 7. If your soil is on the thin, sandy side, add healthy additions of compost, plus aged manure or 5-10-10 fertilizer. (Don’t use fresh, unprocessed animal manure, as it can transfer diseases.)
- For an easy and large harvest, garlic grower Robin Jarry of Hope, Maine, suggests using heavily mulched raised beds, especially in heavy soil. “I plant in raised beds for good drainage, and then mulch with about six inches of old hay after the ground freezes. I never water my garlic—I like low-maintenance vegetables!” Raised beds should be two to three feet wide and at least 10 to 12 inches tall.
- Lime the soil if you haven’t done so recently. Before planting cloves, work a couple tablespoons of 5-10-10 complete fertilizer, bone meal or fish meal into the soil several inches below where the base of the garlic will rest.
How to Plant Garlic
- Get cloves from a mail order seed company or a local nursery.
- Do not use cloves from the grocery store for planting. They may be unsuitable varieties for your area, and most are treated to make their shelf life longer, making them harder to grow.
- Select large, healthy cloves, free of disease. The larger the clove, the bigger and healthier the bulb you will get the following summer.
- Break apart cloves from the bulb a few days before planting, but keep the papery husk on each individual clove.
- Place cloves 2 to 4 inches apart and 2 inches deep, in their upright position (the wide root side facing down and pointed end facing up).
- Plant in rows spaced 10 to 14 inches apart.
See how we plant garlic in the fall.
Check out this video to learn how to plant garlic.
Care
How to Grow Garlic
- Northern gardeners should mulch heavily with straw to ensure proper overwintering. Read our mulching guide for more info!
- Mulch should be removed in the spring after the threat of frost has passed. (Young shoots can’t survive in temps below 20°F / -6°C on their own. Keep them under cover.)
- In the spring, as warmer temperatures come, shoots will emerge through the ground.
- Cut off any flower shoots that emerge in spring. These may decrease bulb size.
- Fertilize garlic in the early spring by side dressing with a nitrogen-heavy fertilizer such as blood meal, chicken manure, or a store-bought pelleted fertilizer.
- Fertilize again just before the bulbs begin to swell in response to lengthening daylight (usually early May in most regions).
- Weeds should not be a problem until spring. However, keep the planting site well weeded. Garlic doesn’t do well with competition—it needs all available nutrients!
- Garlic is a heavy feeder which requires adequate levels of nitrogen. Fertilize more if you see yellowing leaves.
- Water every 3 to 5 days during bulbing (mid-May through June). If May and June are very dry, irrigate to a depth of two feet every eight to 10 days. As mid-June approaches, taper off watering.
Pests/Diseases
Garlic has very few problems with pests in the garden (in fact, its a natural pest repellent), and also very few problems with the diseases that plague other veggies. White rot is one concern, but you should also keep an eye out for the same pests that plague onions.
- White Rot is a fungus that may attack garlic in cool weather. Not much can be done to control or prevent that problem except rotating your crops and cleaning up the area after harvesting. The spores can live in the soil for many years. The fungus affects the base of the leaves and roots.
Harvest/Storage
How to Harvest Garlic
- Harvest from fall plantings will range from late June to August. In Southern climates, it will depend on your planting date. The clue is to look for yellowing foliage. Harvest when the tops just begin to yellow and fall over, but before they are completely dry.
- Before digging up your whole crop, it’s time for a sample! Lift a bulb to see if the crop is ready. We often dig up a bulb before the tops are completely yellow (in late June or early July) as some garlic types will be ready earlier. The garlic head will be divided into plump cloves and the skin covering the outside of the bulbs will be thick, dry and papery.
- If pulled too early, the bulb wrapping will be thin and disintegrate.
- If left in the ground too long, the bulbs sometimes split apart. The skin may also split, which exposes the bulbs to disease and will affect their longevity in storage.
- To harvest, carefully dig (don’t pull!) up the bulbs with a spade or garden fork. Lift the plants, carefully brush off the soil, and let them cure in an airy, shady, dry spot for two weeks. We hang them upside down on a string in bunches of 4 to 6. Make sure all sides get good air circulation. Be careful not to bruise the garlic or it won’t store well.
How to Store Garlic
- The bulbs are cured and ready to store when the wrappers are dry and papery and the roots are dry. The root crown should be hard, and the cloves can be cracked apart easily.
- Once the garlic bulbs are dry, you can store them. Remove any dirt and trim off any roots or leaves. Keep the wrappers on—but remove the dirtiest wrappers. Remove the tops and roots.
- Bulbs should be stored in a cool (40°F / 4°C), dark, dry place, and can be kept in the same way for several months. Don’t store in your basement if it’s moist! Do not store garlic in the refrigerator, either.
- The flavor will increase as the bulbs are dried. Properly stored, garlic should last until the next crop is harvested the following summer.
- If you plan on planting garlic again next season, save some of your largest, best-formed bulbs to plant again in the fall.
Recommended Varieties
What type of garlic should you plant? There are two main types of garlic: Softneck and Hardneck.
- Hardneck varieties are extremely cold hardy so opt for these if your winters are harsh. They produce “scapes” or flower stems which must be removed to encourage the bulbs to reach their full potential. The scapes themselves are an early summer treat, delicious as chopped into salads or added to stir-fries. Hardnecks grow one ring of cloves around a stem, there is not a layer of cloves as there is in softneck varieties. While they are cold hardy, hardnecks do not store as well or long as other varieties. Flavor is milder than softnecks. Common hardneck types include ‘Korean Red’, ‘Duganski’, ‘Siberian’, ‘Music’, ‘Chesnok Red’, ‘German Red’ and ‘Spanish Roja’. These varieties produce tiny bulblets at the end of a tall flowering stalk in addition to a fat underground bulb of cloves.
- Softneck varieties, like their name suggests, have necks that stay soft after harvest, and therefore are the types that you see braided. Softnecks are especially recommended for those in warmer climes, as it is less winter-hardy than other types. They have strong, intense flavor and tend to grow bigger bulbs because energy is not being diverted to top-set bulblets like hardnecks. Softneck varieties include ‘Silverskin’, ‘Inchelium Red’, ‘California Early’ and ‘California Late’.
While not a true garlic, the enormous Great-headed (Elephant) garlic behaves like a hardneck type. Despite its size, it has quite a mild flavor. Most types are about 90 days to harvest, once growth starts.
- Great-headed (Elephant) garlic is not recommended if you’re looking for a garlic taste. It’s less hardy, and more closely related to leeks than other varieties. The flavor is more like onion than traditional garlic. Bulbs and cloves are large, with about 4 cloves to a bulb.
Wit & Wisdom
- Rub raw garlic on an insect bite to relieve the sting or itch. Find out more uses for raw garlic and more about garlic’s long history of healing.
A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat.
–Yiddish proverb
Recipes
Cooking Notes
- You can also harvest just the green scapes of hardneck garlic varieties. Harvest when the scape begin to curl (often around mid-June). This doesn’t hurt the bulb; in fact, the plant can put more energy into bulb formation. Use the scapes in cooking the same way you would garlic bulbs. We like to stir fry scapes the way we cook green beans—similar, with a spicy kick! Note that they get more fibrous and less edible as they mature.
- Learn how to make your own garlic powder to easily spice up a recipe.
- Roasted garlic bulbs are also a favorite of ours!
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Reader Comments
Leave a Comment
take it to Gilroy
Do you know that the garlic capital of the world is not far from you? Folks in Gilroy have been growing garlic for … ever! So it’s possible. It doesn’t really need a chill. But it does need rich, loose (not compacted) soil. Some growers plant on the shortest day of the year (winter solstice) and harvest on the longest (summer solstice) but you can just use that schedule as a gauge.
When should I plant my garlic this year?
Hi I just receive some awesome local garlic and sense I have like 5feet of snow outside right now in NB I was wondering what could I do with my new garlic? Should I plant it in soil inside to transplant in the spring or plant directly in the soil when spring is here?
garlic gift
As per above, “Garlic can be planted in the spring as soon as the ground can be worked.” Planting it in fall is not required.
tricking garlic
Can you trick a garlic plant if you freeze it in the house for a few weeks then plant it outside in the spring?
tricking garlic?
You do not need to “trick” it, Joanie. As per above, “Garlic can be planted in the spring as soon as the ground can be worked.”
Garlic Issue
One year my Garlic is mild enough to eat like candy and the next year it's so hot it burns my tongue. What am I doing different?
garlic taste
Donald, the only thing we can think about the garlic is that you are growing different varieties. You do not say that you replant some of your harvest, so…if you get different stock/seed garlic from year to year, you may be getting different ones. With the ease of growing, it has become very popular in home gardens and many more types are around. About taste, porcelain tends to be mild; rocambole is high in sulfenic acid so has a chili-like taste; and Spanish, or red, tends to mild.
Too hot to plant?
Hoping to plant my first garlic this year and was going to try in a large planter. My question is where I live (South Texas) we don't get a freeze. We had 1 day where them temp reached 32 this year but not long enough for the ground to freeze. Will in have any luck with garlic?
garlic in south texas
I'm in the RGV in South Texas. I planted my first crop of garlic in 2 self-watering bucket systems that i keep on my 2nd floor balcony. I ave healthy green scapes now, and all looks good.
No idea how the harvest will turn out at the end of the summer, but for now i'm happy with how it's moving along.
Good luck!
Waited to long to plant...
So I live in michigan and I missed my time to put my garlic in the ground. It's now below freezing everyday and about 14 inches of snow. Can I plant them indoors and transplant outside in the spring. Or am I doomed this year with no fresh garlic???? Thanks so much
Garlic in Winter
You have nothing to lose by potting up some cloves and putting them in a cold, dry place, like a shed or garage. Might as well give a go!
growing garlic in northern climes - missing the autumn planting
I live in Toronto.
For many years I have been planting in late December.
This year, as you noted, we had a traditional cold, snowy December, which is on the harsher side compared to only the past 20 years.
Nonetheless, if you bed is prepared, you will likely have only an inch of frozen bed to get through.
I use a bamboo stock, or if need be, as it looks right now, for I am going to try to plant my garlic today, December 26th, a steel pipe, to pierce the frost level, and remove enough soil/create a hole, to place a seed garlic in it.
It will likely be messy, slightly miserable work, but well worth it.
There is nothing like eating your own garlic!
My experience in spring planting has been disappointing; the garlic really needs the winter hardening of the seed to fully bloom.
Good luck (get out there!)
December garlic?
I planned to grow garlic in a large container this November but with one thing and another it is now December and I'm finally ready to plant. However we are expecting really cold temps here in SC for the next few days but we never get so cold that the ground freezes. I'm wanting to know if I go ahead and plant but cover the bed with a lot of mulch, do you think it will work? Also what are good companion plants for garlic?
get your garlic going
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!
Hello, I live in South Hero
Hello, I live in South Hero Vermont and I haven't planted my garlic yet. My first question is: is it too late to plan my garlic? Second question is that the garlic I have to plant is from my last year's grown stock. I put them in the refrigerator after they were dry and then read that you shouldn't refrigerate garlic at all.
on growing garlic
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 - this is our first year
Hi - this is our first year of growing garlic. We planted in raised beds and covered with old mulch hay. My question is rotation of planting beds for garlic. I've read that you cannot replant in the same area - that you need to wait 3-4 years between using the same area. Can you tell me why? Thanks!
Hi Maria,
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!
I live in south Alabama. My
I live in south Alabama. My wife and I are about to plant a small patch of garlic. We have selected 5 varieties to see how well they do here in the south. We feel like our sandy soil will be a good medium to grow in. Our hope is that if all goes well, to begin growing on a small commercial scale-around 1/10th of an acre. My question concerns drying/curing. We live in a very hot and humid area of the country. Any input on how best to cure our garlic after harvest? I know dark, dry areas that are well ventilated, are best. I am just unsure of what is going to be a good place for this.
Hi, David, A word of warning
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.
Another thought: If there are
Another thought: If there are farmers and/or gardeners in your area/vicinity, drop in on them and ask them about garlic (or other vegetables). Most folks are more than happy to share their experience and advice. They would know your area, maybe your soil, certainly your climate.
All the best
I live in Northern California
I live in Northern California (yreka area) and planted my garlic last week and the sprouts are coming up already, even though it's been dropping into 20s to 30s at night. Is this a problem? WILL they still come up this spring? Or will I need to replant?
I planted garlic on October
I planted garlic on October 10th. We have had an incredibly warm October here. Way above average. I thought my garlic would not sprout until next spring. It is already a couple of inches tall. Is this normal or is it way ahead of schedule because it's so unusually warm?
I am in Boulder, Colorado. Many thanks!
Hi, Sarah, Garlic will sprout
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.
garlic
You are doing good for educating many about this and make diference in lives of people, you hava realy changed my mentalityx thanks
Thanks, Robert! We appreciate
Thanks, Robert! We appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts. All the best!
how to grow garlic
hello, i need help on knowing when is the best time of month to grow garlic. This is a school project so i need help. thanks
If you are in an area of the
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.
When to plant
Love all your writings and directions, when do I plant my fall bulbs in Winchester Ky.?
Garlic planting
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!
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