How to Grow Garlic. {Now's the time to plant!} (2024)

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Any idiot can grow garlic. Seriously. When's the last time you watched a television special on the "Remarkable Garlic Growing Person"? Never. Because you do not have to be remarkable in any way, shape or form to successfully grow garlic. But you do have to plant it - and the time to plant is October.

How to Grow Garlic. {Now's the time to plant!} (1)

Skip right to the instructions.

I'll be planting my garlic in the next few weeks. Garlic is a fall planted crop that's harvested in July. October is the time to plant your garlic for next year's harvest. This right here is a step by step tutorial on how to plant, grow, harvest and store one of my favourite crops - garlic

Many, many, many, several, too many to count ... years ago, my father brought home some garlic. And THAT is when my garlic growing obsession began.

I'm obsessed with many things, that's how I've learned to do so much and why I can't sleep at night because I'm always plotting, planning or cleaning up after my latest venture. Occasionally I'm getting rid of evidence.

Same for bean sprouts. You can grow bean sprouts at home in 4 days.These are not difficult skills.

For growing garlic you just need some garlic and some dirt.Ready? Let's plant some garlic.

The first thing you need to know is which type you should be planting: hardneck or softneck garlic?

What's the difference between Hardneck and Softneck garlic?

Softneck garlic

  • Softneck garlic is best grown in warmer climates.
  • Has no stalk that grows up from the centre and therefore doesn't produce a garlic scape.
  • Softneck garlic heads are generally smaller than hardneck and have smaller cloves.
  • The head of a softneck garlic can be made up of multiple rows of garlic cloves.
  • Softneck garlic will store for 6-8 months if kept in optimal conditions.

Hardneck garlic

  • Hardneck garlic is best grown in cooler climates.
  • It has a long hard stalk that grows up from the centre of the head, producing a scape in June and a flower head later in the season filled with little garlic bulbils which you can use as garlic seed.
  • Hardneck garlic is larger than softneck and has bigger cloves.
  • Cloves form the head in a single row.
  • Hardneck garlic will store for 4-6 months if kept in optimal conditions.

So generally speaking, if you live in a climate where you get lots of very cold temperatures and snow in the winter, plant hardneck. If you live in a warmer climate with mild winters and hot summers, softneck garlic is for you.

How to Grow Garlic

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Separate your garlic head into cloves. Just pull them apart. Pick out the biggest cloves for planting.

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The flat end of the garlic is the root end.

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The pointy end is the tip of the garlic. It needs to point up.

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You want to plant the garlic "root" end down and pointy end up. The tip of the clove should be about 3 inches below the ground. The bigger the clove you plant, the bigger the resulting head of garlic will be.

If you sprinkle a little oregano on top of the garlic and squeeze a tomato over everything, in 9 months you'll have grown a delicious marinara sauce.

No you won't.

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Plant the garlic cloves so they're around 4 inches apart and their tips are covered by a few inches of dirt.


Cover them up and wait. Through the fall the clove will start to develop roots and maybe even a shoot depending on how warm your weather is.

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By the spring with a little help from sun, water and these little guys to aerate the soil, you'll have garlic plants starting! A single clove, produces an entire head of garlic.

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Harvesting takes place in July and is accompanied by the traditional garlic harvesting dance. That's followed by curing the garlic and properly storing it - which do not have official dances associated with them. Curing and storing is treated with reverence. Just kidding. I dance for those things too.

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How to Grow Garlic.

Active Time: 30 minutes

Additional Time: 10 months

Total Time: 10 months 30 minutes

How to grow hardneck garlic. From planting to harvesting.

Materials

  • Heads of garlic

Tools

  • Trowel or shovel

Instructions

  1. Separate your head of garlic into individual cloves.
  2. Choose the largest cloves for planting.
  3. Plant the garlic, flat end down (the root end) in a hole that is 3-4" deep. When covered with soil, the tip of the garlic should be around 2" below the soil line.
  4. Fall planted garlic will develop roots underground in the fall and then go dormant through the winter. In spring it starts to grow again.
  5. In June, hardneck garlic will send up "scapes". Scapes are the tip of the growing stalk. Cut these off once they loop into a complete circle.
  6. DON'T THROW THE SCAPES OUT. You can use them for cooking or making a DELICIOUS garlic scape pesto.
  7. Stop watering your garlic 2 weeks before you harvest. (Around the time the lower leaves on the plant have turned brown.)
  8. Dig garlic up in July when one half of the leaves are brown. This indicates the garlic is ready to be harvested.
  9. Cure your garlic by hanging it in a well ventilated, shaded area like a porch. Leave it to dry for 2 weeks. This curing process will help your garlic to store much longer.
  10. Once cured you can cut the roots off of your garlic and the stem, leaving 1-2" of stem above the bulb.
  11. Store garlic between 55-65 degrees Fahrenheit. A humidity level of 65% is the best.

Notes

  • The bigger the clove you plant the bigger the head of garlic will be.
  • If properly stored hardneck garlic will store for around 6 months.
  • You can also freeze your garlic cloves. Just separate the cloves and put them in a freezer safe container. Do not remove the skins, they're a protective layer.
  • Want garlic powder? Dry extra garlic in a dehydrator and then grind it into homemade garlic powder.
  • Softneck garlic is planted and grown the exact same way except it's planted in the spring and there are no scapes to remove.
  • If you missed the fall planting for your garlic, don't worry! You can still plant it in the spring and get a good garlic harvest. A gardener at my community garden does this every year. Your garlic heads may just be a little smaller than fall planted garlic.


Can You Use Grocery Store Garlic for Planting?

  • Despite what you may have read on the Internet, you can just buy garlic for planting at the grocery store. As long as the garlic hasn't been treated with anything to keep it from sprouting you'll be fine. As a little experiment, I bought 2 heads of garlic from my produce aisle. One bulb of regular giant garlic and a package of smaller, organic garlic. Both of them sprouted and grew. HOWEVER note that most grocery store garlic is not locally produced and can introduce new disease to your soil.

  • What's The Best Variety of Garlic to Grow?

  • For the best quality garlic you should buy locally sourced garlic heads that do well in your growing area. Music, Russian Red, and Chesnok Red are all popular hardneck varieties. Italian softneck is a standard softneck variety.

  • Can I Plant My Garlic in the Spring? Because I Forgot/Ran Out of Time/Couldn't Be Bothered To Plant It in the Fall.

  • If you forgot to plant your garlic in the fall you can also do it in the spring! But hardneck varieties do best when they have a period of "cold". So stick the planting bulbs in a refrigerator 2 weeks prior to planting them out in the spring. The cold will trigger them to come out of dormancy and sprout when you remove them from the fridge.

  • How Much Should I Water It?


    Water your garlic just like you would any other crop you're growing. The fall is usually a rainy time and once I plant it I don't water it at all. I just let nature run its course. What IS important though is to stop watering your garlic 2 weeks before you harvest. Around the time the lower leaves on the plant have turned brown. This helps speed up curing and the drying of the papers around the head.


    When Can I Dig It Up?

  • Garlic dies from the bottom of the stem up. It's time to dig up your garlic when the bottom half of the leaves have turned brown.
  • So if your garlic has 6 sets of leaves, when the lowest 3 sets have turned brown, it's time to dig it up.


    How do you dig up garlic? Just rip it out?


    Um, no. Don't harvest your garlic by trying to pull and manhandle it out of the ground. Dig it. Otherwise you may break the head apart.

    How to store garlic.

  • 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit and 65% humidity are ideal storage conditions for garlic.
  • Even then your garlic will start to sprout and dry out by late winter or early spring. So if you have a lot of garlic heads you should freeze unpeeled cloves or heads in the freezer. Garlic freezes perfectly. You can also preserve garlic by slicing it thin and putting it in a dehydrator at 125 F until it's fully dried and crispy. Then put the dried garlic it in a coffee or spice grinder and grind it into a powder. Your very own homemade garlic powder is NOTHING like store bought. It actually smells and tastes like fresh garlic.


    What kind of dehydrator do you use?


    I use an Excalibur dehydrator (it's pretty much what most dehydrating enthusiasts use) for all my dehydrating projects. You can take a look at the Excalibur dehydrator here (this one is white, but mine is black.)

    Hands down my favourite garlic recipe is actually one that doesn't use any garlic at all. It uses the garlic scapes I harvest in June, which is yet ANOTHER reason to grow garlic. My garlic scape pesto is delicious on pasta or pizza and stores for a year in the freezer.

    Now you have all the information you need on how to grow garlic so get out there and get your hands dirty. Or for the more refined among you - soily.

    →Follow me on Instagram where I often make a fool of myself←

    How to Grow Garlic. {Now's the time to plant!} (10)

    How to Grow Garlic.  {Now's the time to plant!} (2024)

    FAQs

    How to Grow Garlic. {Now's the time to plant!}? ›

    In the North, late September or October are the best times to plant garlic cloves. It should be done at least two weeks before the first frost of the season, and must be done before the ground freezes. In the South, October is an ideal time but you could wait until November, December or even January.

    What month should you plant garlic? ›

    In the North, late September or October are the best times to plant garlic cloves. It should be done at least two weeks before the first frost of the season, and must be done before the ground freezes. In the South, October is an ideal time but you could wait until November, December or even January.

    How do you prepare garlic for planting? ›

    To prepare the cloves, remove the garlic head's papery outer layer, then gently and carefully pull the cloves apart. Leave the papery covering on individual cloves, and avoid damaging their flat bottom plates — that's where the roots will grow.

    What not to do when planting garlic? ›

    Biggest Mistake: Planting too early. Why? Garlic establishes it's root system before sending up a green shoot. Planted too early, the green shoot can rise several inches, acting as a straw over the winter to draw water from the clove, effectively desiccating the clove and potentially killing it.

    How long does garlic need to be cold before planting? ›

    If you miss the window for fall planting, ensure that your seed garlic gets 40 days at or below 40°F before planting, or the lack of vernalization will mean the bulbs will not differentiate (divide into separate cloves).

    Does garlic come back every year? ›

    An ancient bulbous vegetable, it grows from a single clove that multiplies in the ground. Most people grow it as an annual, but if you harvest only the big plants and leave behind the small ones, you'll have a perennial garlic that regrows every year. Close relatives include onions, shallots, and leeks.

    Do I peel garlic before planting? ›

    Before planting, prepare your garlic by separating the bulbs into individual cloves. Try not to peel or damage the papery skin, but do remove any loose exterior skin and the hard central stem.

    Why do you soak garlic cloves before planting? ›

    Why we soak our garlic before planting. Garlic Fertilization Soak Benefits Include: Start Fresh: Reduce the transmission of microorganisms that naturally live in garlic by sterilizing the cloves before planting. Plant Health: As an organic farm, our goal is to promote the health of the plant.

    What is the best fertilizer for garlic? ›

    A formula of 16-6-4 NPK fertilizer will greatly benefit your early garlic growth. Once your garlic sprouts, you will want to reduce the amount of nitrogen in the soil and add more phosphorus and potassium.

    What not to put next to garlic? ›

    She advises: 'Peas, beans, melon, and asparagus should not be planted next to garlic, as the potent garlic will actually stunt its neighbor's growth. ' It is recommended to not plant garlic too close to other alliums, including onions and leeks, as it can encourage onion maggots into the area.

    Does garlic like full sun or shade? ›

    Garlic grows best when exposed to full sun during the spring and summer daylight hours. If the leaves cannot be fully engaged in the photosynthesis process, garlic plants and bulbs may not be able to reach their full potential.

    Can you plant garlic in May? ›

    Can you plant garlic in the spring? The answer is yes! Although the ideal time for planting garlic is in the fall, you can get those cloves in the ground early in spring and still get a harvest this year.

    Does garlic like coffee grounds? ›

    We already know coffee grounds can be a garlic lover's dream. Mixing them into the soil around your garlic cloves can deter pests and even boost growth.

    Can I grow garlic in pots? ›

    Fortunately, all kinds of garlic are easy to grow in containers. Potted garlic will grow both indoors and outdoors, so it's possible to have this edible bulb growing for you year-round, no matter where you live.

    How late is too late to plant garlic? ›

    General Guidelines for Garlic Planting:

    Zone 3-5: Plant garlic in late September to early October. Zones 5-7: Plant in mid to late October. Zones 7-9: Plant in late October into November. Zones 9-10: Plant from late October into December.

    How late is too late planting garlic? ›

    Gardeners in moderate winter regions can plant from October through December and sometimes even January. These zones have the widest range for fall garlic planting because the winter isn't usually too intense. Typically, you can plant 2-3 weeks before your expected first fall frost date.

    Can I plant garlic in the summer? ›

    A: Most garlic does best when planted in late summer to early fall. However, you can plant some varieties in spring as well.

    Can I just plant garlic from the grocery store? ›

    Will Supermarket Garlic Grow? Yes, store bought garlic bulbs can be used to grow garlic. In fact, growing garlic from the grocery store is a pretty handy way to go about growing your own fresh bulbs, especially if you have one in the pantry that has already begun to grow.

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