This text provides an overview of the cultivation of garlic, a tubular, star-shaped plant with small, lilac-lavender flowers that can grow up to two feet tall. The plant is a tuberous blooming perennial and is grown worldwide and is adapted to USDA growing zones 0 to 10. It grows best in zones 1-5.
Garlic requires minimal care, and it is easy to grow in a home garden. Before planting, dig in compost or well-rotted manure and rake over well. Push cloves in or use a dibber to make holes 15cm apart, leaving 30cm between rows. The cloves should have a deep, well-draining soil.
Garlic is one of the easiest crops to grow in a home garden, making it fun for beginners. However, there are numerous cultivars available, making it exciting for even the most experienced gardeners. Care tips include choosing a garlic variety, planting bulbils about ½-inch deep and spaced 2 to 3 inches apart in the fall, and storing garlic correctly.
Garlic grows in small, grass-like clumps, with a mild flavor. Many dishes call for wild garlic, which uses both the leaves and small bulb. Hardneck garlic produces a flower spike, while softneck garlic doesn’t. In ideal conditions, plants may reach 36″ to 48″ tall.
Garlic takes about 8 to 10 months to grow from planting to harvest, depending on the garlic variety and climate. Garlic bulbs produce a flower called the “scape”, which can be identified by looking for a long green stem. If you want big, robust garlic bulbs, it’s inadvisable to allow them to flower, but letting the scapes appear does not seem to slow down growth.
📹 I TESTED growing Garlic at 3 different depths and here are the results!
I’ve got MORE EXPERIMENT RESULTS to help you in the garden – this time specific to Garlic! I’ve been particularly interested in …
How to tell when garlic is ready?
The majority of garlic plants produce six to nine leaves, which extend down the stem and wrap around the bulb, creating papery layers that protect and cover the cloves. Once the lower two or three leaves have turned yellow or brown, the bulbs are ready for harvesting.
Why is wild garlic illegal in the UK?
The UK is illegal to uproot wild garlic plants without landowner’s permission, as it is not consumed in the bulbs. The plant, known by various names including Ramsons, Wood Garlic, and Bear Garlic, grows abundantly in damp woodland areas and is known for its pungent garlic aroma. The plant, derived from the Latin word ursus, meaning bear, is believed to be eaten by bears upon waking from hibernation to regain strength and detoxify. The plant’s edible parts are edible, but the roots are of little value.
Can you eat flowered garlic?
Wild garlic is a versatile herb that can be cooked, seasoned, and eaten raw or pickled. Its peak season is from mid-February to April, with tender shoots appearing from mid-February and reaching full leafy glory in late March. The plant produces star-shaped flowers that enhance salads and can be eaten raw or pickled like a caper. Wild garlic thrives on damp woodland edges, shaded streams, and brooks, and can be found in astonishing amounts.
In full bloom, the plant has deep green, wide, pointed leaves and a single flowering stem that produces a star-shaped white flower. It can be found in damp woodlands, shaded streams, and brooks, and its leaves can be eaten raw or pickled like a caper.
Does garlic get a flower?
Garlic, a bulb-producing vegetable, produces a flower called a’scape’, which is cylindrical and rises out of the growing part of the bulb. It is typically found from late spring to early summer. If you are growing garlic for large, strongly-flavored bulbs, remove the scapes as soon as they appear and before they flower properly. The flower takes energy away from the developing underground bulb, but doesn’t detract from the flavor unless left to fully open and mature. Immature scapes often have a bump in the middle or at the end of the stalk where the developing flower head is hidden.
How big should my garlic be?
Large size garlic bulbs are recommended for most gardeners as they are good planting size and can grow larger into jumbo-sized bulbs. Jumbo size bulbs are the largest size, but if you only want the largest, order the Jumbo size. For culinary size bulbs, small or medium-sized bulbs are best suited for eating. Market farmers or CSA farms plant large or jumbo bulbs because they get more plantable cloves per pound. This size is the best choice for those who want to plant and harvest more bulbs and size is not as important.
Garlic grows the size it wants to with our guidance, and we may have to upgrade your size if we don’t have the desired size. We try our best to get the exact size you order, but it can be challenging. Porcelians usually have all large/jumbo uniform sized cloves.
Can you eat garlic once it starts growing?
It is possible to make a convenient supply of sprouted garlic by purchasing it from a local grocer or farmers’ market, where it may be more readily available than fresh garlic. It is safe to consume sprouted garlic, although in some cases, such as when preparing pesto, it may be necessary to remove the green shoots. Those with a penchant for horticulture may also consider planting sprouted cloves for a modest yield of garlic. It is important to note that the flavor of sprouted garlic should be appreciated.
How many garlic in a 4×4 bed?
To grow garlic at home, find a sunny spot in your existing garden or dig a new plot. If needed, amend the soil with well-composted manure. Each clove needs a perimeter of about 6 inches around to form a good-sized bulb. In a 4×4-ft plot, you can grow up to 49 bulbs. For companion planting, check out the tips for companion planting.
Buy local garlic bulbs, which are conditioned to grow in our climate and yield better results. Each bulb has an average of about 6 cloves, depending on the variety and size. Visit local farmers’ markets, buy directly from farmers, and keep an eye out for “garlic for sale” signs.
Buy a straw bale with stripped seeds to prevent grain seedlings from spreading over your plot. Garden centers sell straw bales for fall displays, and apply a thick layer (4 to 6 inches) for your plot size. Plant garlic cloves by mid-October to allow them to establish a good root-base before the ground freezes.
What does garlic look like when flowering?
A garlic scape is a flower that forms around three weeks after the plant begins to reproduce. It looks like a curlicue and if left alone, will straighten and bloom into a white round puff-ball type flower. To use the plant’s energy to grow a bigger bulb, the scape must be removed. Some scapes are left uncut as “indicator plants” and harvested when the scape straightens and flowers. The scapes are cut off by hand and bundle into bunches of 5-6, which are available in CSA boxes in late June. The leathery tip of the scape can be used in place of garlic, and if overwhelmed, they can be frozen for winter use. Garlic scape compound butter or pesto can also be made.
Why is wild garlic illegal in England?
The UK is illegal to uproot wild garlic plants without landowner’s permission, as it is not consumed in the bulbs. The plant, known by various names including Ramsons, Wood Garlic, and Bear Garlic, grows abundantly in damp woodland areas and is known for its pungent garlic aroma. The plant, derived from the Latin word ursus, meaning bear, is believed to be eaten by bears upon waking from hibernation to regain strength and detoxify. The plant’s edible parts are edible, but the roots are of little value.
Is garlic still good after it flowers?
Garlic is a versatile vegetable that can be harvested for various purposes. It is a great flower for pollinators, provides color to your garden, and eventually produces seeds for future planting. If left in the ground without harvesting, it will expand for the next year, producing more garlic. Young garlic flowers or buds can add a subtle garlic flavor to cooking. Garlic scapes are edible and can be sautéed for their light garlic flavor. If harvested early, both the scape and the garlic bulb can be enjoyed before flowering.
If flowering garlic isn’t on your menu, waiting for the perfect bulb is easy with attention and maintenance. Watch your garlic, especially in spring, as scapes will begin to sprout. Cut the scapes as they appear, waiting until they are a couple of inches long. Harvest garlic when leaves turn yellow, usually in mid to late summer. Do not let the garlic stay in the ground too long, as the bulbs will eventually split apart. If you have too much garlic, consider fermenting it for longer storage.
How much garlic do I need for a year?
The average family uses 2 bulbs of garlic a week, requiring 105 bulbs a year. This amount is equivalent to 12-15 pounds of healthy large bulbs. However, growers may not have enough for the winter, as they must use saved bulbs for next year’s crop. Local growers often run out during winter, so one must either buy imported garlic or plant 105 bulbs a year. The two main varieties of garlic are Rocambole and Porcelains. To meet this basic need, it is essential to plant enough bulbs for the next year’s crop.
📹 Watch This Before You Plant Garlic
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Thank you. I can honestly say that I’ve grown Elephant garlic and your test was very noble. I’m afraid they could be right about the “edge/border” groups. However, this was awesome bc sustainability and self sufficient gardens need results like these to help all of us win and better understand out food and growing better. Kudos to you man. 👏 👌💪🏽
Very interesting. My hardneck garlic began as a bulb from Aldi which sprouted in the fridge 7 or 8 years ago (I’ve learned since NOT to keep garlic in the fridge) & I planted just to see what happened, which was about 500g of garlic from less than 20 bulbs – not much but for more or less free… Each subsequent year, I’ve kept back the best two or three bulbs for replanting & used the biggest 8-10 cloves from them for the next year. These I start in cell trays in mid October. I’m in temperate zone 9 but plant these at the back of the borders in my polytunnel, mostly as outside garlic seems to suffer badly with rust. A month after harvesting this year, my 28 bulbs averaged just under 70g. brought down by two sub 20g runts… I guess these were 2″ deep in the cell trays, then 4″ deep in the ground.
I LOVE this kind of experiment. I harvested brussels sprout seeds kind of early. Some seeds were dark brown or black, others tan and some green. I planted them right away. Few green came up, and they came up last. The tan were first up, and the brown and black came up later, but at the same germination rates. Conclusion: tan seeds are fastest and best.
Thank you for waiting to post until the experiment was complete! One useful result was that we don’t have to worry too much about planting our garlic a little more deeply than we usually do since the 7″ depth did well. And I wonder if folks in cold climates would have good results with the deeper planting–if it would compare to the protection that your centre row planting seemed to have.
One thing to keep in mind, the deeper they are the wetter they will stay. If you have dry early summers, fine; you won’t have to irrigate as often. But if you have soggy early summers, your luck may be like mine. This year it was super wet and I had the worst crop ever with most of my bulbs being partly or totally worthless due to rot by harvest time. Also I had planted deeper than usual. Most of the plants just broke off at ground level when I tried to pull them out, leaving smelly slime on my hand. I had to dig down with a trowel to get the bulbs. The bed that I had planted the deepest took significantly longer for the plants to get up and going, but they seemed to catch up with the others in size eventually.
Love this – always doing little garden experiments on my own and trying to control for all the variables is the challenge. I am wondering about garlic scape. When I did a little experiment years ago, I didn’t really see any difference between the ones that I pruned and the ones where I let the scapes go. I do really love the way the scapes look in the garden – the first time I grew garlic I thought it looked like a flock of birds had landed. I have also observed that once the scapes are totally vertical pointing up to the sky, the garlic is usually ready to be harvested. Maybe I will do another experiment and see what happens. Also read in a book by a garlic farmer that he didn’t think removing the scapes was worth the effort as far as final result was concerned. They are good to eat, though, make a nice pesto.
Great looking garlic! I believe that I plant my garlic very similar to the way that You do,all things considered. This Year for me(end of July also) was my best harvest ever. Some heads got harvested late and were duds. My best estimate is that the average head weighed 1.86 ounces. I have been planting about 4 inches ALWAYS for several years. It’s a fun plant to grow and harvest AND ENJOY! Happy growing!!
that was a great article! I have been growing garlic for four years and the first two years I’ve planted my garlic in the fall and they did reasonably well! But these past two seasons I have planted them in April and all of my heads of garlic are twice the size as any that were planted in the fall! i’m thinking the northern New Hampshire climate is too much in the winter time for them. Thanks for your website!
I like you article! It’s good to know that even shallow planted can survive the winter. I also learned that I need to be more patient – pulled mine out of ground too early. I’ve never gotten garlic heads as large as yours. I’m going to use actual seed garlic this year rather than grocery store ones. And bone meal to supplement the soil.
I wouldnt do 7″ unless planting in grow bags or doing very little garlic. 4″ is a pain in the butt enough especially when you do hundreds of garlic bulbs per year. There’s a reason the standard recommendations are 2-4″ even in colder climates–not worth the hassle. So many people nitpicking the experiment–just shut up and grow stuff. You’ll either figure it out on your own or learn to trust the wisdom of those who came before you.
Thank you for all the time you put into this. I have always planted mine shallow. To me the results seemed just Ok. This fall I will be trying the 4 inch dept just to see if it does better. In Utah, July is so hot and dry. It always seems to me that they should last 2 or 3 weeks longer. They never get as big as the heads I use to plant. Am planning on moving the bed so they just have a bit more shade at the hottest part of the day. This article was helpful to me.
One potential design issue…the edges may effect size. So the 4 in depth…which had the least edge effect…could confound the results. Experiments need randomization of treatments…or should have been in a 3×3 factorial design. I think it is safe to say the zero depth did result in smaller heada…but maybe not as small as one thinks. However…the 7 in depth could have provided biggest heads if there was an edge effect
Love the shorter length of the article jammed with precise and valuable information! Definitely subscribed and will watch more experiment articles because you really do learn so much! No experiment is perfect but even just seeing what someone did and learning from that experience is so valuable! Now that we know the center row did the best and maybe that was partially due to the edge or border effect, it would be possibly an advantage to use the edges for something else such as marigolds or nasturtium which deter bad bugs and bring in pollination for the whole garden? I would LOVE to see a 4 separate😊 bed comparison article where you planted the garlic 4 ish inches deep in both beds, but one bed you watered with your regular water and the 2nd bed you watertered exclusively with home made “willow water” The 3rd bed you watered with liquid gold earthworm compost tea each watering, And the 4th bed you watered with a mixture half and half of willow water and the compost tea. Now, I’m from Alaska where we grow carrots very well and we have access to willow trees quite easily. Let me tell you this, willow water will make MONSTER carrots lol if you put the effort into making it properly. I put my new growth spring willow tree branch tips I clip in gallon zip lock bags and keep them in the freezer to pull out to make fresh batches of willow water through the year just FYI because the chemicals do degrade quickly after being clipped if not frozen. And I soak the willow tips for a whole week in the water before using that water on the garden.
Great experiment thanks. Turns out I’ve been planting my garlic to shallow! Although I do hate to tell you you picked them too soon I was always taught you wait till they turn yellowy brown and keel over in the summer sun, before harvesting, and that way they’re easier to peel and already dried out for storage.
Very interesting. I love how you as an American talk about planting depth in inches then weighed your produce in grams and kilograms! Given I live in a country that does not get snow (well it does but only up the mountains) What I got from this is I can dig a hole and plant my garlic without worrying about exact depth.
Interesting experiment. Unfortunately, the downside is that sun exposure was not the same for all three sections. What you said at the beginning, the 0 depth garlic got the least sun exposure, I gathered that the sun sets and rises parallel to the bed length. If that is the case, it would be wise to cut the three sections lengthwise so that all three sections get the same amount of sun. As of now, the 0 depth garlic is smaller could be most likely due to getting less amount of sunlight rather than depth of planting.
I would say it depends on your local climate. But many factors can potentially affect middle of the row versus the edge – moisture, sun, and microclimate within that bed. The row nearest the edge of the bed may not be the best insulated for the deep freeze. What about trying a checker board distribution of the different depths. But based on your results, and my experience, I am sticking to 4 inch-ish.
Excellent experiment but I can’t help but wonder if the 4 inch depth garlic had an advantage because it was insulated more deeply (horizontally) by soil on both long sides of the bed. Since I’m sure you’ll probably be planting garlic again this year, maybe you’ll consider dividing your bed in three sections with the twine going along the shorter sides so each depth has garlic cloves that are planted along the edges and in the center.
I’ve experimented from year to year with varying depths, and anecdotally noticed that at shallower depths the garlic tends to fall over easier. So, a little extra depth is desirable as opposed to just below the surface. From what I have read – you don’t want to plant them too deep, especially in compact soils because it may hinder the bulb’s ability to grow. Not sure how much I buy into that, but your growing medium should be nice and loose regardless.
I have a super mild climate so i can do 2-3 inches as the coldest temp i could ever get is about 28 degrees Fahrenheit and its super rare I just dont need to go any deeper than 4 inches at the most. Also strangely enough I am in a warmer zone but cold for my state despite being a warmer zone and only hardneck garlic grows here have never gotten softneck to bulb but hardneck works out every single year. Its super bizzare as on paper im supposed to be great for softneck.
Hmm 4inches seems to be the right spot Ive tried it with all sorts of veg. The seed only has a certain amount of energy. @Lazygardens is right to be scientific maybe just add a bit at the end and show us 3 mid grown garlic’s at different depths.. However you have all thinking, I noticed that you didnt do the worm casting at the bottom like with tomatos and chillis… maybe time to redo this test?? Good article anyway. Like all your vids so far(seen two)
Very interesting experiment. One would think the garlic planted at 7 inches would have been better protected and had better survival rate. I always plant my garlic at 2-3 inches. Most times I might lose one or two heads, but I usually get a decent crop. Nothing monstrous, but a good average. Oh, I grow Early Italian Purple.
I developed a method of growing just about anything in a low water climate. I found out that if you plant corn 8 inches deep, you need very little added water. I further adapted to planting corn in a trench, 8 inches deep in a trench that was 4 inches deep. So that was a total of 12 inches deep. I wrote it up and sent it to the Arizona Grain Board, essentially an experimental group. They were excited, but could not finance me that year… Unfortunately, I had to leave the state- Bush-Obama housing mess caused me to lose a job and made it impossible to find one in the small desert community I lived in. If anybody wants the grant proposal, look me up and I will email it to you. I am convinced that if it works in Arizona, it will work anywhere. I called it, “Project Deep Roots.” It was an amalgamation of the the Hopi and Apache planting methods, combined with modern planting and harvesting for automation in both.
The reason why the 4″ did better is because they had the best conditions. They were insulated better by the garlic bulbs planted on each side, both under and over-ground, they also had more light than the other row. So my educated guess is; had you planted any heads in that spot, they would’ve done better regardless of depth.
Greetings from the BIG SKY of Montana. I grew garlics in my garden here in Lewistown. All my garlic seed stock came from the Filaree Farms in Washington. Hard to get garlic seed stock. They have the biggest stock of garlic in the USA. A good source company. Garlic is an interesting crop. Check out their catalog. I treasure mine.
I agree the experiment was not performed correctly. There could be other factors for the lost ones that has nothing to do with the depth. weighing should be of equal quantities The fact that you weight them all with different quantities skews the whole results for how well they actually did. And when you average something you always take the biggest and smallest out. Then weight the rest for an average
In same terms depending of sirt if Garlick,,,but almoust important is of terms like soil watter ewend in wintter time,,,somevere ewend blanket of dry grass,,,temperature of sorounding enwiroment,,clean firpeod nonw9rms end bad bactery,,,some ti0es are small end easy grow in 3 monts on bad hard conditions with a less if watter or Rain,,,up to max 30 gr,,,but ader grorpw up to 500 gr, in 8 monts,,in good termsmmmthe biggest witch I rise in garden was 1,060gr,,,,,plant up of head hawe 6cm botom,,mend high 1,8m,,,,thatvtipe of garlik its some of biggest,,,full of pkant faat end low aroma smell,,,,espetialy its OK for coocking…my frend,,,eated fim only fried on plate30 min,, with a little oil.,the raste of meal its werry OK,,,good luck end stay healty
ur experiment is not controlled correctly… the fact the other 2 are on edge + the size of your seed matters as well… you needs to have identical seed size/weight for your experiment to be successful ( as you know the bigger the seed the bigger the yield ) + some of them you are cutting with big stems on top while other are cut with small stem on top…
Great, but statistically invalid for a variety of reasons, least of which confirmation that all heads got exactly the same light. water, nutrients, etc. given that you did not clearly show how these controls may have been established. Then there is your cutting heights for the stalks. Visually from simply perusal the article its obvious they are not the same lengths which then calls into question the differences in weight. To ensure better accuracy the stalks should all be removed and only the clove weight tested to remove the stalk weight an variable related to where you cut the stalks. Kind of an obvious oversight if you’re aiming for accuracy.
You’re doing it wrong to begin with. When we say plant 3 inches deep we mean the base of the garlic is 3 inches deep. If you’re saying plant at 0 inches deep you’re going from the top of the variable length garlic clove, which makes no sense. We plant garlic deep, so it does not come out of the ground through frost heaving. It has nothing to do with whether or not it will make a bigger bulb. You’re not grasping the concept.
Any suggestions on an economical source for hardneck seed garlic? Many places are charging $4 to $7 or more a bulb, which makes no sense when garlic can be bought at the grocery store year-round for about 3 to 4 dollars a pound. And the garlic kit linked in the introduction to this article – holy crap what an amazingly overpriced rip off! $90 for three bulbs of garlic, plus $12 of worm castings and a little bag of fertilizer??? Restorative Gardening, you ought to be ashamed of yourself for trying to promote probably the most grossly overpriced gardening product I’ve ever seen.
Terrible experimental design. There’s potential influencing factors from the sides of the bed. The middle would have survived the winter the best since it’s in the middle and thus the warmest while the outsides would get colder. Repeat a few more times but randomizing each zone’s depth, or create a more fair testing ground that won’t have slight but potentially significant differences.
Im in zone 6a. Northeastern PA. Ive tried 3 times with seed garlic and theyve all failed. Last year i stuck a bag of sprouting garlic from sams club in the ground. I got a ton of garlic this past year. Freaking crazy! They were also softneck which is weird to me but it worked. I saved a ton of garlic for planting this year so im hoping these cloves “remember ” they were here before and do great again. I left out all of the tiny cloves and only kept the big ones. Im hoping for success again.
My mom’s been struggling with garlic for years now. This year in May she finally accepted a bit of help (I had to be subtle though, I told her to try to use the garlic that was in the fridge) and I put a big amount of compost on them while planting. And not as close as she used to plant them. She was so surprised when this year she finally had garlic in her garden. I wish she could speak English and I could show her this article. I’m visiting her in November and thank you so much for this article, I will plant some garlic for her, so she can have some already planted in the spring. I will definitely give it a try here as well, although my climate tends to be warmer. Great article and tips as always. 😊
I figured I’d add my 2 cents. I’ve always grown softneck in the Sacramento valley with great success (especially Inchelium Red), but I personally prefer hardnecks due to the larger sized and ease of separating the cloves, and the flavor. Not to mention you won’t usually get a ton of small cloves with every bulb. With that said, I tried Spanish Roja, and to say they produced is an understatement. While they do produce a scape, they do so very late in the season where they don’t seem to effect the harvest if you happen to miss cutting them off. I’m on my fourth year now (I always plant on October 10th) and the cloves keep getting bigger and the bulbs more reliable. Amazing variety I hope people in hotter climates will try.
In a garden so smelly, not far from the town, Grew garlic so strong, it could knock you right down! The gardener was proud, with a grin ear to ear, “Come visit my garlic!” he’d shout far and near. People would come, but they’d quickly retreat, The smell of the garlic knocked them off their feet! But the gardener just laughed, “It’s the scent of success!” While munching on garlic, in his garlic-pressed dress. He’d dance through his rows, with a garlic bulb crown, Singing, “Garlic’s the king, it will never back down!” His garden grew famous, a smelly delight, Even vampires stayed far, flying off in the night! So here’s to the garden, where garlic’s the star, So potent and pungent, you could smell it from afar. It might not be roses, but to the gardener’s part, The smell of strong garlic was the scent of his heart!
Dang, I must’ve gotten really lucky when I planted garlic in my backyard – I sort of just barely pushed some bulbs (from the grocery store) into the dirt and walked away. Now, ten years later, it has spread along my fence line and grows prolifically every year. Must be hundreds of plants out there now, but I typically trim off about 1/3 of the garlic scapes, and pull up even fewer bulbs. I also planted wild garlic the same way in a different spot – and the same thing happened with those. Been thinking of digging it all up and planting in a raised bed to better control things, so this article helps.
Great tips. I’ve been growing garlic for some time and like yourself grew Music and several others. My go to garlic now is Red Roja. We just like the flavor. I might add I also soak my garlic before planting. Alcohol for about 5-10 min then liquid kelp or fish emulsion over night. Thought I might share this with you and your viewers as some of the largest garlic growers also soak their cloves. A Google search will bring up links and specifics. I usually grow around 100 plants every year. We dehydrate lots of it and give away small jars of garlic powder as gifts. 😊
I started planting garlic, have grown virtually every single kind in existence, and am up to 1000-1200 this year in the ground its growing so fast that ive become the go to place for organic garlic in my entire county. And its turning into possibly being a viable future business by accident I just got hooked on growing garlic for my own uses and then it blew up and went overboard.
Thank you! I saw a recent article saying to put hard neck in the fridge. I received my hard neck 2 days ago (ordered months ago from Annie’s seeds) and put them in the fridge. So glad to see that zones 9 and 10 can plant up until Dec. I thought I possibly missed the boat due to the 8-to-10-week cold requirement. So happy to see that you sell garlic. Will order next time 🙂
When you got the garlic rust. You can let the scapes grow and flower. These will give you a bunch of bubilis that will not inherit the rust disease. You then plant those individual bubilis in that same year fall. Harvest the next july, dry and replant again in the fall. The second year you can harvest and have full size garlic. A good way to rapidly expand your quantity and or if you got a disease
I live in Central Florida and only grow Creole varieties. I vernalize mine for 8-10 weeks and have done well. Last year got over 100, but smaller heads. This year left them cold for 3 months. Planted in December and here we are in March and mine will be done it looks by May considering I checked them today and they are forming heads
I’ve found that my garlic grows better in the ground, rather than raised beds, here in NH. One year I planted some in a small raised bed and in a big raised bed. Nothing survived in the small bed, and the ones around the edges of the big bed didn’t do well. Presumably the ground and the center of the big bed provided protection from the freezing temperatures.
Perfect timing for the article. Except for last year I’ve always had success with my hard neck here in Quebec. This year is so different with the weather. I’ve prepared the bed but waiting to plant. I was going to put in a raised bed but read many places saying that the garlic needs to be planted directly in the ground in colder climates 🤷♀️I’m so confused lol
I like the soft necks the best. I found out that a lot of people mince up a clove or two of garlic and swallow it after about 20 minutes. They use it to bolster their immunity, as well as prevent various health problems like high cholesterol or blood pressure. I started doing this myself. I also found out that it is excellent for tooth pain. Having raw garlic in your mouth burns, but your pain will go away if you leave it on and around the effected area. I find the hard variety sticks to my fingers when I am mincing it. Also, the more garlicky flavor is very over powering raw. My breathe absolutely radiates with garlic smell just from having it in my mouth long enough to swallow. I can see why people would prefer it in cooking though. I use both kinds, the hard does have more flavor. Thanks for the article.
My sister and her husband bought a small farm property that was built by German immigrants in the 60/70s have the absolute best garlic growing I have ever had. My sister is has a red thumb and had nothing to do with this garlic. It just grows every year with minimal watering. The cloves I was given have stayed fresh and juicy for over a year now just being stored in a dark cabinet.
Over the years, in SE Penna. (zone 6): 1-2″ of new well rotted compost each year, Test the soil and ammend (top dress and ‘scratch in’) to ~ pH=6-7 (neutral) in early spring. Hardneck ‘hardy’ (German or Hungarian varieties, planted 2-3 weeks before first ‘hard’ frost and covered with 2-3″+ ‘milled’ straw mulch. Startng in MID April ( or earlier w/ good leaf development) apply every 2 weeks with a top-dressing of a ‘tea’ made of 2.5 gal of water per 1 cup of well dissolved pellitized chicken manure … until ~late JUNE, or until you start to see ‘the beginnings’ of browning leaves. (note, at near the end of the growing season, be sure that you pull an occasional bulb to insure that “the cloves” are NOT separating due to their HUGE size … or poor storage quality. As ‘tight’ bulbs for huge cloves will store better and longer). ‘Cure’ them in the SHADE / low light for minimum 2 weeks. “Gesundheit” !!!!!
I live in northern NY, I plant soft neck garlic and I do it a coulpe weeks after harvedst in very late summer into fall. But every year it seems that harvest time is getting earlyer and early every year andThey sprout pretty good by the time winter comes a long. As the years have gone by I seem to be getting smaller cloves.
Thank you for this article. I hope you can help me, I planted 4 big cloves at the start of winter in Cape Town (May) and they grew beautifully for 5 months. The green shoots grew so tall over winter, but then as it started to get warmer, they died I had the pot sitting where it gets full sun, all afternoon. Did it get exposed to too much sun & heat? Is that why they died?
Definitely dope to know you are out of Day-Go bro!! #CaliGrown I’m in L.A (Grow Zone 10b), so I’m not too far from you. It helps to know that I can grow this size garlic in Cali, as well as Dragon Fruit. I grew my first dragon fruit tree using your techniques and I was worried about winterizing the Dragon plants. No need at all 😊🙏🏾 I just threw black wood chips on the surface to keep the soil warmer and that did my tree justice 💪🏾 Thanks bro.
Any advice for pearl garlic? My grandfather planted an unknown variety in our garden decades ago and in 8b western WA we’ve been able to just let it do it’s thing, but I’m wondering how to maybe help it along and increase yields as we love the flavor. (It is 100% a single glove garlic. In 30 years I’ve never seen one with cloves 😅)
Great pointers on growing garlic and id the differences of them. New gardener🤗 We get a lot of rain in the winter but are in zone 12. Would you leave off the mulch ( hay or other) and just add a weed barrier (plastic) on top. That probably will help with preventing too much water to roots . Other suggestions? Thank you!
I hear very often that garlic doesn’t like competition. Of course this depends on circumstances, but with decent soil, irrigation, and a wider spacing, there’s no reason you can’t intercrop other vegetables or even cover crops with garlic. At 6 inches it’s a bit too close, but move to 8 or 10 and there’s plenty of room for many plants.
I feel like cold weather North garlic growers have some pretty serious advantages or something I’ve had like a 9$ bulb of Siberian garlic at a Seattle farmer’s market and it was so good from cold weather. Now I often use Canadian wild garlic which has small bulbs, but very flavorful. I want to grow paw paws and wisteria in NY. You can’t grow rosemary well here but oregano, thyme, and mint thrive. I’ve run into 3 chokeberry varieties I’d like to multiply while foraging here. Stuff like Mediterranean rock rose are underrated for warm weather in USA. Hibiscus is so versatile I love a bag of dry hibiscus flowers. Not only growing but keeping up with making good stuff out of stuff properly in the short harvest time frame is what’s really tough. I don’t do a lot of growing things myself yet but a lot of foraging, processing, making my own stuff, and it’s all very difficult. I had the most delicious seasoned chili garlic flakes from Italy a while back ago and the dry garlic chips in it were so good.
Hardneck is what o grow. It just needs to keep long enough to make it to the next planting. Harvest may-July, plant in October. I have grown numerous varieties, including softneck. If you don’t want to buy any garlic during winter then you’ll have to grow some softneck to cover over, but I’d rather just buy it over winter and use all hardneck types. I plant on a 4 inch spacing 4-6 inches deep in raised beds that have compost added and just a few handfuls of a 3-3-3 organic fertilizer. We get just enough cold in central California to get nice large cloves divided. Use the small ones in the garden planted in between the bigger cloves then harvest them out as green garlic. We grow about 450 to 500 cloves of 7 different varieties. I save my own and grow it every year. I’m lucky to not have any real diseases here so the bulbs are fine to re grow. I’ve grown a red Italian variety that I bought 17 years ago and it’s still going strong in my garden, planting best cloves every fall. Garlic is so easy to grow( as long as you don’t have white root rot or allium leaf miners.) if I can’t plant anything else in my garden, I grow garlic and potatoes and green beans. It’s not living with out these for me
Hey Kevin This will be my 3rd year of trying to grow hardneck garlic in London, UK, Zone 9a. I put them in the fridge and last year didn’t plant until the beginning of Dec as our first frost is about the first week of Jan. They did do better than the year before but they are much smaller than the softneck and don’t seem to enjoy being interplanted with the tomatoes, like the soft neck. Are they just getting too much sun? They just seem to want to finish much earlier than the soft neck. Can i plant them near kale, runner beans and spinach? Thanks for the great information!
Excellent article – the one I’ve been waiting for!! I live in San Diego, University City area, and plan on growing hardneck Duganski this year. I’d like to grow mine in pots – roughly 12-15″ diameter, 11″ tall. Any advice for that? Also, how much water does garlic prefer? I also read that you should refrain from fertilizing until early spring for an October planting; I guess that means late spring for December planting? Do you fertilize? When do you generally harvest?
I just found out that garlic/garlic water works as an insanely effective organic pesticide and deterrent for aphids, ants, slugs, whiteflies, deer, rabbits, etc. AND acts as a fertilizer for certain plants like orchids. Would yall cover this since it’s invaluable if true? I’m just now digging into the topic so if yall already know about/use this technique, please illuminate it – thank you!
2024 has been a hell of a year, all this early rain has caused my garlic to develop a severe Rust problem, sprayed copper fungicide 2x didnt do anything at all, tried a few bio fungicides that claimed to slow down or stop rust spreading, didnt work, so i went to a local university and asked the ag guys what to spray and was told to use Azoxystrobin and its wiping it out sometimes you have to bring out the big guns systemic fungicides to wipe it out. Rust only sticks around if it lasts on the garlic long enough to turn black then it can live in the soil 10-20 years.
I bought a bag of garlic from the grocery store and one of them is sprouting so I decided to plant it but all the other ones say to pull the peel off and separate them so I just did that And I am in Arizona. In June. So yes it’s a little hot. Should I plant these already sprouting bulbs that I got from the grocery store in a pot of soil and keep them in my fridge for a while? Or maybe in the living room not too far from the air conditioner by the window?
That’s interesting that hardneck can’t go in the freezer but it grows here in Wisconsin, where it reliably hits -35°F every year for the entire month of January 😅 I planted some last week, have to get the rest out there soon. I’ve been dragging my feet on getting the rest of the beds filled with fresh compost.
I’d give two thumbs up if youtube would let me because this article actually includes that admission that, yes, he’s made mistakes and failed miserably. Other vids won’t show you such things and with that – how can you trust them? I love it when someone’s not afraid to show the mistakes and explain to you, “THAT is how I know!” Thank you. Subscribed~
It’s been too warm for garlic. Planted before the the 1st frost. The 1st frost came and went. Temps since have remained warmer than usual for this time of year. They’re green is shooting up thru the straw already. Freezing temps forecasted. I’m worried about the garlic being killed by the coming freezing temps we should have been having all along. Do I cut the green growing to slow it down?
Is elephant garlic a “2 season” onion cousin – as it isn’t true garlic. – if so, can you post a article of how to make “starts/sets” that make it into actual regular larger onions/bulbs for the second season. Maybe the difference between seed vs starts. Timing invested vs invested costs. Very few ppl know that some carrots or garlic, onions or other items are 2 season biennials in anything less than zone 8/9. More than a fair share of our country is less than 8/9 climate zones, please advise.
Hi I wonder if you could give me advice please, I planted my garlic out the 1st week in October, and the greens are already sprouted up and iv got 2 ins of molch and there standing 6- 8 ins high the got 3 to 4 green sprouts. I am in 9A zone first time growing and I’m not sure if they will still be ok to overwinter. Please could you help advise me. I am living In Great Britain uk thank you so much 😊
I’m in zone 3B and planted garlic. I’m having a hard time of it because the squirrels keeps digging it up. They don’t seem to eat it, just throw it around. My sister specifically grows full garlic amongst other things because it gets the squirrels to leave her garden alone. My squirrels didn’t get that memo.
Hey, I’m currently living in Siena, Tuscany. Here they have a huge cloves garlic if you want a bulb I can send it to you. Here you have a little info about Aglione: Aglione garlic, also known as “Tuscan garlic” or “elephant garlic,” is a type of garlic that is larger and milder in flavor compared to the more common varieties of garlic. It is not a true garlic species but is rather a close relative to common garlic (Allium sativum). Aglione garlic bulbs can grow to be quite large, with individual cloves that are much bigger than those of regular garlic. These cloves are often easy to peel and have a subtle, sweet, and mild garlic flavor when cooked. Aglione garlic is particularly popular in Italian cuisine, especially in Tuscany, where it is used in a variety of dishes, including soups, pasta, and roasted meats. It is prized for its ability to add a gentle garlic flavor without being overpowering. Keep in mind that while aglione garlic is milder and more palatable when raw, it can become sweeter and more aromatic when cooked. Due to its unique qualities, aglione garlic has gained popularity among chefs and food enthusiasts who appreciate its distinct flavor and the large, easy-to-use cloves. Feel fre to contact! 🙂
I’m an old guy who lived in many countries. The small heads of garlic that we used to have were so much stronger than these big Asian garlics that have won the hearts of garlic haters. They love them because they don’t taste like garlic any more. If I was to guess I would say a half a clove of what we used to call garlic has more flavour than a whole head of this big crap. Call me a liar if you wish.
I want to try the hard neck in zone 8. According to the chart I should plant now, maybe in november. but you were saying to throw it in the fridge for 10 weeks. does that mean i should have already had it in the fridge back at the end of august (10 weeks ago) or can i put it in the fridge now and plant it in january?
Most of these super large foods are mainly water. Here in india our local garlic is small and ugly but its very very intense. We also get the large garlic from China. Its way way weak in flavor.. So putting more resources, transport costs to get some thing which has less garlicky flavor makes no sense. The flavors indicates the nutrients available. So essentially those high yeild food is mainly water.
Hi Kevin, I hate to comment this on your article given the positivity your work creates. Have you ever heard of the police sending codes to enforce a codes violation stating you cannot touch the dirt you live on? As in, you cannot dig a hole to plant a bush. I had my rights violated by the codes officer sent (who illegally obtained evidence) by the police. The Township Manager wrote the violation related to digging a hole for a bush while the codes officer was in another state on vacation. I have been landscaping my parents place (catch me on street view 501 Mill Road, 19083) for years doing this work. The harassment is related to being given intelligence by a local Sergeant that should not have been shared with me. It just seems excessive. Local landscapers are amazed so I am asking around. I cannot properly share appreciation for the work you do. I hope business is well!
What we are doing wrong is that everyone in our country is a hot garlic in cold climates, more precisely varieties bred in our country, which includes both “categories” the author mentions. What’s funny, though, is that every imported garlic is “tasteless and unspicy” compared to our varieties. The question is, what do you even consider spicy in your country, when your varieties are “tasteless” compared to ours, even the ones that are supposed to burn. (I’ve traveled around the USA and your garlic doesn’t really burn, it just has more or less of an aroma…)