Garlic ranks among the best crops for organic gardens across North America. Like onions, it thrives in cool weather; cold temperatures prompt the bulb to break into cloves and, in some types, kick-start cell division. For that reason, plant garlic in late fall or early winter, roughly two weeks before the first hard frost.
Below are 5 must-know pointers for putting garlic in the ground and coaxing it to full flavor.
5 Garlic Growing Tips
1. Plant Seed Garlic
Home gardeners often hear that garlic germinates poorly, and there is a good reason. Most cultivated varieties have sterile seeds because generations of plant breeders favored traits, such as size and taste, that sidelined fertility. For this reason, modern garlic is nearly always grown from individual cloves.
2. Plant Depth of Garlic Depending on Winter Climates
Start with clean, disease-free bulbs, then break them apart into single cloves. Place the largest, strongest clove in each hole, with the pointed end up and the root end down. On beds that see only gentle frosts, tuck them an inch deep; in regions where the soil freezes hard, bury them 2 to 4 inches.
A word to the wise: obtain this seed garlic from a grower near you, or the strain may spend two to three seasons acclimating to your weather.
3. Plant Oats in Garlic Beds for Natural Mulch
Garlic growing invites low, protective mulch. In northern gardens, try this extra trick: scatter oat seed over the rows in late August or early September.
When the time arrives, slice through the green mat with a trowel and drop in the cloves. The young garlic pushes upward through the shredded oat cover without trouble.
Winter kills the oats, leaving a thick, crumbly layer that guards against erosion and weeds. Should the oats survive, expect smaller heads; they will drink a share of moisture and grab fertilizer your garlic needs.
4. Remove Scape to Preserve Bulb Size
As garlic matures, it sends up a stiff flowering shoot known as a scape. Snip or break that shoot as soon as you see it, or the bulb will shrink because the plant diverts energy to making flowers. Choose a warm, sunny day so the cut dries fast and the garlic stays healthy.
Instead of tossing the tender scapes on the compost, try them in stir-fries or quick pestos; they taste grassy and garlic-forward. Growers often sell them for 1 to 3 a pound, turning a by-product into easy profit.
5. Don’t Over-Fertilize Garlic Plants
Give the plants a high-phosphorus feed, like bat guano or fish meal, to push growth and bulb development. Just use it lightly; too much nitrogen makes lush leaves at the expense of the big, solid bulbs you want.
Common Questions and Answers About How to Grow Garlic
Are garlic scapes healthy?
Yes, garlic scapes are both tasty and nutritious. They add fiber to your meals and deliver solid amounts of Vitamins A and C. Scapes share nearly the same antioxidant profile as cloves, compounds that help lower inflammation and may guard against a range of chronic diseases.
Can I freeze garlic?
Absolutely. Freezing is an easy way to store home-grown garlic for later use. You can freeze whole bulbs with their skins on, individual peeled or unpeeled cloves, or chop peeled cloves and pack them into ice-cube trays. If you prefer, roast or puree the garlic before freezing, and it will keep for several months.
Do remember that frozen garlic tastes just as good as fresh, but the texture will be softer once thawed. You can store peeled garlic cloves by placing them in a clean container, covering them with olive oil, and freezing the whole thing.
To keep food-safe, never defrost that garlic-oil mix on the countertop or in the fridge; take out only what you need and cook it straight from the freezer.
If you want to use the frozen garlic-in-oil, grab a piece straight from the freezer and drop it into your hot pan or pot. Avoid letting the frozen garlic sit out or thaw before cooking to stop any risk of spoilage.
Can I grow garlic from a clove?
Yes, you can grow garlic in your garden from just one clove, even if that clove came from the grocery store, provided it is labeled organic. Non-organic garlic is sometimes treated with chemicals that stop sprouting, so it probably wont take root once planted.
When planting, you dont even have to peel the clove first. Just choose a large outer clove from the bulb and push it into loose soil, pointy end up, and let nature do the rest.
Set each garlic clove with its flat base facing down and bury it deep enough that the pointed tip rests one to three inches beneath the soil surface. Leave roughly six inches of space between every clove to allow the plants room to spread.
After planting, water the bed thoroughly until the moisture reaches eighteen inches down. For added protection and drainage, spread a lean two-inch layer of mulch across the surface. Plant in the fall and you can lift a flavourful crop by June.
Can I grow garlic indoors?
Yes, you can force cloves indoors for tender scapes or greens on any bright windowsill that receives six to eight hours of direct sun. Water sparingly, keeping the mix consistently damp but never soaked.
Avoid letting the soil dry out completely between drinks. Trim the scapes every seven to ten days to encourage new growth. Once the flavour fades, swap in fresh cloves to keep the harvest coming.
If you want full bulbs, however, you still need to plant outside; garlic requires a cold dormancy period to form robust heads underground.
Can I plant garlic cloves that have sprouted?
Yes, sprouts can go straight into the soil. You can chop the sprouted clove into a dish just like any normal clove, or tuck it into a garden bed and wait for a crop of tender green garlic, sometimes called baby garlic.
Green garlic is young, immature bulb before the outer skin breaks into the separate cloves you buy at the market. It looks a bit like a thick green onion, only with a fuller, firmer bulb at the base. You eat the whole plant-neatly curled greens, everything say scapes, and the small, tender clove.
Leave the dry paper skin in place; do not peel the garlic before planting. Pick a spot that basks in six to eight hours of sun and has loose soil that drains quickly.
Dig a hole two inches deep, set the clove with the sprout up, and space it about six inches from its neighbor so each plant has room to swell. Water regularly enough to keep the earth moist but not soggy or the bulbs will rot.
You can harvest scallions by using sharp, disinfected scissors to snip the green tops once they reach about four inches in height.
Be sure to remove no more than one-third of the leaves so the plant retains enough energy to keep growing strong. Alternatively, you may let the greens grow to eight or ten inches and cut the entire clump at that stage.
Can I plant garlic next to strawberries?
Garlic makes an excellent companion for strawberries. Research shows that double rows of garlic spaced between strawberry plants reduced spider-mite numbers by 45 to 65 percent.
Can I plant garlic next to tomatoes?
Yes, and doing so benefits the tomatoes because garlic naturally repels many common garden pests.
Can you dry garlic in the sun?
You can cure garlic outside to help it store longer, but never set it in direct sunlight. The heat will scorch the cloves and spoil their flavor, leaving you with burnt, unusable bulbs.
Instead, choose a cool, shady location where air can move freely and lay the bulbs out in a single layer.
Good places for curing garlic include a screened porch, the shaded area beneath a tree, or a well-ventilated garage. Avoid washing the heads; the soil helps seal the skin and drying is faster when excess moisture stays put.
Leave your garlic to cure in a warm, dark area for four to eight weeks. It is ready when the stems and roots turn brittle and the roots feel hard to the touch.
When curing is finished, move the bulbs into a well-ventilated container and store them in a cool, dry place; they will last for several months.
Aim for a storage room that stays between 55F and 65F, has about 60 percent humidity, and allows steady air flow. Cooler air can make the garlic sprout, while warmer air often shrivels it.
Can you eat garlic bulbils?
Yes, you can peel garlic bulbils and eat them just like the tiny cloves they resemble, or you can tuck them into the garden row in place of a standard clove.
After a single season they turn into a small round bulb not much bigger than a daffodil skimmer, and if you let them sit or move them to fresh soil for one to three additional seasons, they usually swell into a full head of garlic with distinct cloves.
Because the bulbil forms at the tip of the scape-green and resembles a tiny teardrop-it allows gardeners to sidestep many soil diseases that plague larger bulbs sold at market. Since the bulbil itself carried no underground pathogens, planting them cuts the odds of spreading infections already lurking beneath the surface.
Can you eat garlic fresh from the ground?
Absolutely, fresh-from-the-ground garlic can be eaten the moment it is pulled, provided you rinse off the dirt and remove the thin outer skin. Just be aware that until it cures for a week or two, that wet bulb will not store nearly as long as the drier heads sold in shops.
Garlic pulled straight from the soil should be eaten soon after harvest if you want to enjoy it at its freshest.
Can you eat garlic scape flowers?
The scapes, seeds, and blooms all belong to the edible part of the garlic plant along with the familiar bulbs wrapped in their thin skin. Just keep in mind that letting the plant flower forces it to store energy in the flower head instead of swelling the bulb, a trade-off that some gardeners would rather avoid.
The unopened bud works in the kitchen just like a clove; if you let it open, the delicate flowers can also go into the pot.
Pick the buds just after they part to find them at their best; you can still eat them as the seed pod swells, but the petals become tougher.
Give the flowers a good rinse to clear away tiny bugs or grit, and then toss them raw into salads or stir-fries.
Not every variety will set flowers, however; most hardneck types produce long curly scapes that finish in blooms, while softneck garlic simply refuses to flower no matter how long it grows.
Can you eat garlic straight out of the ground?
Yes, you may pull garlic from the soil and use it the same day without curing, but forgoing that step means losing the long shelf life curing provides.
Before cooking, rinse the bulb to remove dirt and peel away the thin skin. Because this uncurled garlic spoils sooner, save it for meals planned within a few days.
Can you eat garlic without curing?
Technically, no one must cure garlic before it reaches the table. Curing simply dries the bulbs so they resist rot and store far longer. While cleaning, peeling, and cooking straight from the garden, do so only when you intend to use the head almost at once.
Can you eat raw garlic scapes?
Yes, you can consume garlic scapes raw, although they are equally enjoyable cooked. The scape is the sturdy central shoot that curls upward as it matures. Cut the curling stems off just before serving so they stay fresh long enough for your meal.
After that, toss the cut pieces into salads or sprinkle them on a hot baked potato much like you would chives. While the taste echoes raw garlic cloves, it remains noticeably gentler on the palate.
If you have more garlic scapes than you can use today, freeze the extras. Wash each one, trim the ends, and chop them if you prefer smaller pieces; otherwise, leave them whole.
Drop the cleaned scapes into boiling water for half a minute to destroy surface bacteria, then plunge them into ice water to halt cooking. After a minute in the ice bath, drain them and arrange the scapes in a single layer on a baking sheet.
Transfer the tray to the freezer until the scapes are solid, then pack them into a rigid airtight container or a heavy-duty freezer bag.
That initial freeze lets the pieces stand apart, so later you can grab only the amount you need without prying a frozen block apart with a knife.
Can you grow garlic from a single clove?
Absolutely, one clove is all you need. Keep the thin outer skin intact, place the clove pointed tip upward, and bury it two to three inches deep.
Pick a spot that receives six to eight hours of sunlight daily and drains well; add compost if the soil seems tired. When planting a row, space each clove about six inches apart.
Water regularly enough to keep the soil moist, but never soggy. Settle the clove in the fall, and you should be lifting fresh bulbs by June.
Can you grow garlic in just water?
You can start garlic to collect tender shoots and green tops in plain water, but a full bulb never forms without a proper hydroponic setup.
To try the water method, take a small glass-a shot glass works-stand one unpeeled clove upright, and add water until it almost but does not quite submerge the base.
Swap the water for fresh liquid every day and push the glass onto a sunny windowsill. When the shoots reach a few inches, use clean scissors to snip what you need, toss the spent clove, and repeat with another if more greens are desired.
Can you plant a whole garlic bulb?
If you want garlic to thrive, plant only one clove at a time and space them roughly six inches apart instead of setting the whole bulb, which holds several cloves.
Placing the whole bulb in the ground leaves plants too close together and forces them to compete for nutrients, water, and light.
That crowding eventually yields small, stunted heads because the cloves simply lacked room to size up.
If you already buried a full head and sprouts have started, carefully pull it up, separate the cloves, and replant them at the proper distance as soon as you can.
Can you plant garlic in the same spot?
It is best not to grow garlic in the same location two seasons in a row; rotating the crop reduces the risk of soil-borne diseases that can ruin the harvest.
Do you dry garlic before braiding?
Do not let garlic cure all the way before braiding or the stems become too stiff and brittle to weave easily; let them wilt for a few days, braid the soft stems, and finish drying while the bulbs hang.
Do you harvest garlic before or after it flowers?
Garlic sometimes sends up flowers before bulbs are ready, and you can pinch off the scapes or simply let them blossom. If you planted in fall, lift the bulbs in June or July; spring plantings are ready a week or two later. Watch for leaves that start yellowing and wilting-that sign tells you the job is done.
Do you peel garlic before planting?
You do not need to strip the papery skin from each clove before putting it in the ground. If a clove happens to shed its wrap naturally, planting it still works with no harm done.
Removing the outer layer in advance can bruise the garlic and expose it to rot or pests. Keeping the skin intact shields the clove and helps it grow into a healthy bulb, so leave it on whenever you can.
Do you soak garlic cloves before planting?
Soaking garlic cloves before planting is not required for a good crop, yet a brief soak can help guard against diseases and deter certain pests.
If you wish to use one of these treatments, keep the cloves unpeeled but break apart the head into individual sections. The instructions follow.
- Fungal Disease: On planting day, soak the unclad cloves for 15 to 30 minutes in plain room-temperature water. After draining, cover them with rubbing alcohol for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Fusarium Wilt: Mix one part bleach with nine parts water, soak the cloves briefly, then roll them in wood ash. Add more wood ash to the soil at planting.
- Mites: submerge the garlic cloves in plain water overnight. If you wish, add to each gallon either 1 tablespoon liquid seaweed or 1 heaping tablespoon baking soda. Just before planting, drain the cloves, pour on enough rubbing alcohol to cover them, and soak for 3 to 5 minutes. Plant the cloves as soon as this soak ends.
- Stem and Bulb Nematode/Bloat Nematode: Soak cloves in water that is one percent soap and has been heated to 100 degrees Fahrenheit for half an hour before planting. Alternatively, raise the mixture to 120F and reduce the soak time to 20 minutes. Afterward, transfer the cloves to cool room-temperature water for 10 to 20 minutes. A quicker option is a 1-part bleach to 9-parts warm water bath for 10 minutes, followed by a rinse in warm water. Once treated, you can air-dry the cloves for 2 hours at 100F or plant them right away.
Does garlic go bad?
Like nearly every other food, garlic will spoil if it sits around too long. When you stash whole, unbroken bulbs on your counter or in a cool pantry, the garlic can stay fresh for three to six months-and individual cloves usually survive about one to two months.
Store chopped garlic in the fridge, and you should use it within a week; garlic preserved in oil should be eaten within two to three months. For even longer life, many cooks freeze chopped cloves or puree them into ice-cube trays.
To check whether your garlic is still good, peel a clove and look closely at the flesh. Dark spots, yellowing, or bruising are all signs that spoilage has begun. If you find green shoots sprouting from the middle of a clove, it is still edible but should be used right away or composted.
Does garlic need direct sunlight?
Garlic itself prefers full sun. When you plant it, aim for six to eight hours of direct light each day so the bulbs grow large and firm.
Does garlic need to be watered?
Yes, garlic plants should receive a deep soaking once each week during dry weather, and the soil must stay evenly damp without becoming waterlogged.
Do you have to plant garlic every year?
Although garlic is usually treated as an annual crop, you can encourage it to return each spring by removing only the largest bulbs at harvest and leaving the smaller ones in place to finish dying back.
How deep do I plant garlic?
Set each clove with its pointed tip facing up, burying it two to three inches beneath the soil surface for sturdy growth and good drainage.
How do I grow bigger garlic?
Set each clove-pointy side up-two to three inches beneath the soil so it has room to grow and develop roots.To harvest noticeably larger bulbs of garlic, start by planting only the biggest, healthiest cloves you can find.
Avoid store-bought garlic because it may have been chemically treated to prevent sprouting, defeating your purpose.
These hefty cloves are not just bigger they tend to shrug off drought, late frost, and erratic drainage better than their smaller siblings.Before planting in fall, loosen the soil to at least a spade depth and mix in well-rotted manure or quality compost until the blend contains roughly 13 percent organic matter by volume.
Garlic also craves extra nitrogen, so consider sprinkling blood meal or another fast-release source across the bed a week before planting.Adding potassium at the same time encourages larger bulbs and helps prevent white rot later in the season.
Space the cloves six to eight inches apart to give each plant room to swell, and cover the row with a generous layer of straw or leaf mulch to hold moisture and regulate temperature.
How do I grow garlic from a bulb?
Carefully pull apart the bulb into individual cloves without removing their thin skins, then choose a sunny spot that receives six to eight hours of direct light and has loose, well-drained soil rich in organic matter.
Place each clove upright, with the pointed end facing up, and bury it two to three inches deep. Space the cloves at least six inches apart to give each plant room to grow.
Soak the bed with water immediately after planting, then keep the soil evenly moist, never soggy. Plant in fall for a harvest ready in June.
How do you know when garlic is ready to harvest?
Garlic planted in fall is normally ready in June or July, while spring-planted bulbs mature a little later in the season.
To spot the right moment, simply look at the leaves; harvest time arrives when several outer leaves have started wilting and show a hint of yellow.
How do you know when garlic is ready to pick?
Timing and close observation together let you know when your garlic is primed for the basket. As a rule, fall plantings will be ready in June or July, yet spring plantings come due a little later.
Keep an eye on the foliage; once the lower leaves begin to droop and turn yellow, that is your signal to pull the entire crop.
How do you prepare garlic for planting?
Preparing garlic for planting is simple: take your seed bulbs and pull them apart into single cloves, doing so only if they are still whole.
Peel off one or two thin tunics to loosen them, but stop before you strip them bare. The cloves themselves need to stay unwrapped.
If you wish, you can give the seed garlic a brief soak that helps fend off some diseases and pests.
- Fungal Disease: Just before planting, soak the garlic cloves for 15 to 30 minutes in lukewarm water. Drain the water off the cloves, then cover them with rubbing alcohol and soak for three to five minutes. Plant immediately after the alcohol soak is complete.
- Fusarium Wilt: Mix nine parts water with one part bleach and soak the garlic cloves in this solution, then roll them in wood ash. When you plant the garlic, add more wood ash sprinkled into the soil.
- Mites: The night before planting, soak whole garlic cloves in lukewarm water. For added effect, stir in one heaping tablespoon of baking soda or the same amount of liquid seaweed. After a full soak, drain the water, cover the cloves with rubbing alcohol, and hold them under for three to five minutes. Plant the bulbs as soon as you finish the alcohol dip.
- Stem and Bulb Nematode/Bloat Nematode: Heat fresh water to exactly 100F and stir in enough soap to make it 1 percent. Place the garlic in this bath for thirty minutes. If you prefer, increase the heat to 120F and shorten the soak to twenty minutes. Afterward, slide the cloves into lukewarm water for ten to twenty minutes so they cool gently. For a quicker fix, combine nine parts water with one part bleach, soak ten minutes, then rinse in warm water. Once rinsed, either air-dry the cloves at 100F for two hours or set them straight into the ground.
How do you save garlic to plant?
If you want to set aside some bulbs from your own harvest for next years planting, leave them in the soil until they are fully mature and as large as they will get. Keep an eye on the leaves; when they start to yellow and collapse, that is your signal to act.
Use a fork or a hand tool to pry the bulbs loose so you do not slice into them, and lift them gently to avoid bruising. Remember to wipe or sterilize your tools between beds so you do not move disease around. After harvest, trim the tops back to about an inch above the bulb and store the cloves in a dry, cool place until planting time.
After you gather the harvested heads, let them cure in a warm, dark spot with steady airflow for ten to fourteen days. Do not cure them outside, or bright sun may scald the cloves and ruin the flavor.
The garlic is fully cured once the neck feels stiff, the inner stem is firm, and the outer skin has become papery dry. Be sure to set aside the largest bulbs as your seed stock for next years crop.
Stored in a breathable container at 30 to 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the bulbs should keep well for six to eight months.
How long do you hang garlic to dry?
Hang garlic to dry in a warm, dark place that gets plenty of ventilation for ten to fourteen days. You will know garlic has finished drying because the neck will tighten, the center of the stem will harden, and the outer part of the peel will be crisp and dry.
How long does it take for garlic to grow?
Garlic requires roughly nine months from the planting date until the bulbs are mature enough to pull. If you set cloves in fall, harvest arrives in June or July, while spring planting yields a bit later in summer. In general, softneck varieties finish faster than the hardneck types.
How much water do garlic plants need?
During dry spells, garlic should receive a deep soaking once a week so that the roots absorb moisture to full depth. The goal is soil that feels moderately damp but never waterlogged.
How tall do garlic plants get?
When fully grown, a garlic plant usually stands 18 to 24 inches, depending on the clonal line and growing conditions.
Is garlic a vegetable?
In cooking, garlic is treated more like a seasoning, yet botanically it is classified as a vegetable. It belongs to the onion family, Allium, which also includes onions, leeks, chives, and shallots.
Botanically speaking, the term vegetable simply defines the edible part of a non-woody plant, whether that be root, bulb, foliage, or stem.
Is garlic grown underground?
Although the tall green leaves and the curling flower scapes of a garlic plant reach for the sky, the cluster of cloves we use in cooking-much like the bulbous structure of tulips or onions-sits snugly in the soil.
Should you let garlic flower?
Whether you snip off the bloom stalks or let them bloom in a show of purple, neither choice really alters how big-the underground bulbs will swell when harvest time arrives.
Should you wash garlic after harvesting?
Once you lift the heads from the ground, a gentle brushing with your fingers removes most soil. Resist the urge to rinse them under running water; wet garlic takes much longer to dry and store properly. Finally, when you later peel a clove for cooking, any leftover grime will stay on the skin and never touch your food.
What can be planted next to garlic?
Garlic pairs well with a surprising number of other garden plants. For instance, a tight double row of garlic between strawberry beds cuts spider mite numbers almost in half.
In spring, low-growing spinach wedged between garlic rows crowds out weeds so the heads can size up faster. When garlic shares space with peppers, both crops benefit from improved soil health as they exchange nutrients.
With cabbage, garlic acts like an insect gatekeeper, deterring diamondback moths, cabbage worms, and other brassica pests. It also thrives alongside tomatoes, most herbs, celery, carrots, parsnips, beets, lettuce, and even peaches.
What can you not plant with garlic?
Despite its strong friendship with most vegetables, garlic inhibits the growth of asparagus, beans, parsley, and sage when planted nearby.
What fertilizer is best for garlic?
Because garlic is a heavy feeder, it should be planted in soil that has been amended with rich, well-aged compost. Gardeners can then top-dress with well-rotted manure, a balanced 10-10-10 blend, or blood meal several weeks after sprouting.
What happens if you don’t harvest garlic?
Leave garlic in the soil until winter kills the leaves, and it often sends up shoots again in spring; some growers take the biggest bulbs and leave the littler ones behind, hoping for an early crop the next year.
What happens if you plant a whole garlic bulb?
Planting an entire head of garlic instead of splitting it into individual cloves gives each shoot too little space to spread, starves the roots of air and nutrients, and usually ends up with stunted stalks and tiny bulbs that never divide.
If you have already set a whole bulb in the ground, lift it gently, pull apart the cloves, and replant them at once so the new seedlings have room to grow.
What type of garlic is sold in grocery stores?
In most supermarkets the bulb on display is softneck garlic, the type bred for long storage and easy braid.
Will garlic reseed itself?
Garlic rarely reseeds itself, but if you forget the patch and let it winter over, plants may die back, survive frost, and reappear year after year like a hardy perennial.