16 - Garlic
Varieties
- Bulbs
Propagation
Life cycle
Seed germination treatment details
Planting details
The ideal time for planting garlic is three to five weeks before your ground freezes hard. If you are located in a southern region where the soil does not freeze you’ll want to plant late in November or December. Garlic prefers a well-worked soil with good drainage and lots of organic matter. Don’t fear if your soil type is not perfect; garlic is a tough plant that can adjust to many soil types.
Plant garlic 2-4 weeks before the ground freezes solid. (Not your first frost!) This will enable the cloves to establish some roots while minimizing the amount of top growth prior to winter. If your ground does not freeze solid, plant 2-4 weeks before the coldest time of year. Break the bulbs apart and use all cloves that are plump and firm. It is not necessary to peel each clove. Plant root end down, 2” deep. Space cloves no closer than 6” apart with 9” between rows. Mix some form of nitrogen (compost, manure) into soil before planting. Plant in full sun and rich, well-drained soil, though garlic will tolerate many soil types. If you have clay soil, improve structure with organic matter, not sand. Apply a few inches of mulch such as chopped hay, leaves, or grass clippings and water in.
Provide nitrogen during vegetative growth in the early Spring and deep watering as needed. Keep water in the root zone, not around bulbs. Hardneck varieties will send up a flower stalk called a scape. When the scape has formed one curl, they should be removed so growth is directed to the bulb. These are a tasty treat, too!
Cut off water about 2-3 weeks before harvest.
Culture and fertilization requirements
Garlic primarily reproduces vegetatively through cloning and will not produce true seed except in rare cases. Even when garlic does produce true seed, the seed is generally sterile. You can grow garlic from bulbils. Bulbils are small clones that appear at the top of the scape (above) of hardneck varieties and sometimes along the neck of softneck varieties. Some varieties have very small bulbils–smaller than a grain of rice–while other varieties produce bulbils that are nearly as big as a normal clove. It often will take two or three years of replanting before reaching a normal bulb size. We recommend saving bulbils from the Artichoke, Rocambole and Asiatic varieties since they are the largest.
Harvesting details
Harvest garlic when the top 4-5 leaves are 50% green and the lower leaves are completely dry. Each green leaf equates to one bulb wrapper that will remain on the bulb once harvested. Fewer bulb wrappers result in shorter storage. Brush off excess dirt and hang bundles of 5-10 plants out of direct sunlight where there is good air circulation. In wet climates, a fan might be needed. Let bulbs cure for 3-4 weeks. Softnecks take longer as there are layers of cloves. Trim roots and cut the neck ½” above bulb.
Current Seed Start & Transplant Dates
Note: Seed starting and transplant dates do not always correlate one to one with dates shown below. Note correct start and expected transplant dates on the tag of the tray for seed germination. Adjust dates with plant tags on a yearly basis if necessary. 8 ounces of fertilizer is about 1 cup. Consider Sustane various NPK and Alfalfa Meal or Blood Meal for nitrogen.