Planting garlic is easy…
Unless you’re 34 weeks pregnant, and then I would equate it to running a marathon.
I had the best of intentions to put in a fall garden this year, but my body passionately disagreed. Just walking is wearing me out lately, not to mention doing the acrobatics required for planting and cultivating a garden plot.
So I decided to compromise and just stick with planting garlic instead. Because garlic is non-negotiable in my kitchen, and I neeeeeeeed it.
While you *can* plant garlic in the spring, almost all gardening experts agree garlic planted in the fall gives the highest yields and best-tasting bulbs. So that’s the route I took this year.
When to Plant Garlic
When should you plant garlic? Welllllll, it depends on who you talk to. Some folks recommend planting it during the full moon in September, others shoot for several weeks before the first frost, and some gardeners wait until after the first frost to put their cloves in the ground.
I put my garlic in last week, as a planting time of mid-September to mid-October is recommended for our zone (Zone 5). I also suspect we’ll have our first hard frost soon, and I didn’t want to let my belly get much bigger, so I opted to plant a wee bit on the early side.
However, it’s best to avoid planting it too early, as garlic needs cold temps for proper root formation.
Here’s a list of when to plant garlic according to what zone you live in.
The Scoop on Seed Garlic
Much like onions or potatoes, garlic is grown by planting seed stock (cloves), versus actual seeds from a packet. Can you just plant the garlic bulbs you find at the store? Possibly, and some folks do… But I much prefer using seed garlic from a reputable source. Why?
- Grocery store garlic (table garlic) might be a variety not well suited for your growing season
- Sometimes grocery store garlic is treated with growth inhibitors to extend shelf life, which makes sprouting much more difficult
- Grocery store garlic may carry diseases which could be introduced into your soil
- Compared to all the neat varieties of seed garlic available out there, the table garlic sold at most stores is pretty boring…
Once you purchase good-quality seed garlic, you can definitely save back bulbs each year to perpetuate your crop, and avoid having to purchase new seed garlic each year.
This year, I got my seed garlic from Great Northern Garlic. I decided to try two different varieties, which brings me to my next point:
Softneck Garlic vs. Hardneck Garlic
I suffered from hardcore decision fatigue when I was shopping for seed garlic this year… Hardneck, soft neck, big cloves, little cloves, purple, white, red… Ack! After staring at my computer screen for a ridiculous amount of time, I decided on two varieties: a classic Silver White bulb (softneck), and an flavorful Romanian Red bulb (hardneck).
Softneck Garlic: Most of the garlic you’ll find for sale at the Farmer’s Market or grocery store will be the softneck variety. Softneck garlic stores well and can easily be braided. The cloves are a bit smaller, and are often layered on the bulb. Softneck garlic prefers slightly warmer growing temps, BUT, they say it can still be grown successfully in colder climates as long as you use sufficient mulch. So, I figured I’d give it a try.
Hardneck Garlic: Hardneck varieties need cold winters to thrive and tend to not last as long in storage as softneck varieties. However, hardnecks are reported to have more flavor, and they also produce garlic scapes, which can be used for all sorts of recipes (like garlic scape pesto). My hardneck seed this year had 4-5 big, beautiful cloves on each bulb, with a hard stem growing up through the middle.
I’m curious to see which variety does better for me… I’ll keep ya posted.
To figure out how much garlic you need for your plot, this page has some helpful guidelines.
How to Plant Garlic: Step by Step
After you’ve selected your varieties and figured out your planting time, it’s time to plant!
Garlic likes rich, well-drained soil in full sun. I chose a spot in my garden where the summer veggies were done.
I cleaned out the previous plant growth and pulled any weeds. This particular section of my garden was a little skimpy on the mulch, so I decided to rake the little bit of leftover mulch to the side, and then spread a layer of compost on the top.
Because of my lack of mulch in this area, and how dry it’s been, I had to use my shovel to loosen the soil in the rows.
Separate the cloves from the bulb. Each clove will produce one new bulb– cool, eh?
Plant the cloves 4-6″ deep, and about 6″ apart (I might have fudged a little bit on that part… *ahem*)
Remember, always plant the pointy side UP!
Put a layer of mulch over the top, (I used hay– just like I do for my deep mulch gardening method), and that’s it!
The garlic will grow a little bit, and then just hang out over the winter when the temps drop.
You shouldn’t have to water it much– in fact, too much water can be a detriment. I plan on pulling back some of the mulch next spring when the stalks start popping up, and I might end up side-dressing the rows with a bit more compost, too. I’ll also need to keep it well-weeded, as garlic doesn’t like to compete with weeds… But I suspect my mulching will help with that.
Harvest happens in July or so. And before that, you’ll have some lovely garlic scapes to harvest and enjoy. Don’t forget to make the ultimate homesteading decoration for your kitchen: learn how to make a garlic braid!
More Gardening Tips:
- Growing Potatoes: Your Definitive Guide
- Where to Buy Heirloom Seeds
- How Many Plants Per Person in the Garden
- Preparing Our Raised Beds for Spring Planting
- How to Garden in a Cold Climate
Awesome! I’m going to order some today. My neighbor, back in the city, grew it in his flower beds. We eat a lot of garlic (just roasted four heads this morning) so I’m excited to give this a try. Thanx!
Looooooove roasted garlic!
I planted some organic garlic cloves from the grocery store last spring. It was sprouting so I just stuck it in the ground! I have about 4 tall plants out there now. I didn’t know to wait for fall! What I need to know now is when to harvest. Any suggestions?
You can harvest next year in july. That is how we did it this year. And we have a lot of dirty bulbs now hanging on the porch for drying 🙂
Thanks Nic! You just saved my garlic! I was planning on heading out to dig down and see if anything was there.
since you planted it this past spring it should be ready for harvest when ever the first 3 or 4 leaves turn brown. you don’t want to wait till they whole top dies back or you won’t get a good wrapper around your heads. here in southern PA fall planted garlic gets harvested in july the following summer. since yours was planted in the spring it will be later and smaller but still just as tasty. you also don’t want to leave it till next year as each clove in the bulb will sprout it own plant. these make great green garlic (like green onions only garlicky) in the spring and it’s a good habit to leave a few cloves in the ground each fall to enjoy the green garlic it produces in the spring. good luck and enjoy.
I have good luck planting all year long, I have a continuous harvest, especially the scapes. If you want some early don’t hesitate to use garlic like spring onions before it sets bulbs. Garlic is a good companion plant so it ends up all over my garden to help prevent bugs.
Hey Jill, great job on your homestead! I just wanted to share which garlic works great for us at our homestead in Wisconsin. We are zone 4. A hardneck variety called “Music” gives us a great product that we keeps very well. The scapes are very tasty also.
Good to know Mike– sounds delish!
That is awesome to hear i just got a pound of music seed garlic from a friend to add to my collection.
What is music seed garlic?
Music is a German variety. Prcelain is also, as I recall, from Germany. They are both white. The red skin varieties are said to be spicier. Try some!
Purple music is what I grow here in Powell, Wyoming. It does very well and I love it!
So here’s a silly question though. If I plant the garlic in my soon-to-be-empty vegetable boxes, then I can’t plant any vegetables there until I harvest the garlic in July? I would ordinarily have my plants in by the end of May…
Correct– you’ll want to plant the garlic in an out-of-the-way spot that you won’t need in the spring.
I have been growing garlic for the last several years. I also live in Zone 5, but in north Idaho. The first year, I bought starts, in the spring from a local nursery. They were the Silver White. I planted them in a raised bed. They were a dismal failure. So I did research and that fall, in two 4’x4′ raised beds, I planted some German Reds that I ordered. The next summer, we had great garlic. So every year, I plant in late Sept/early Oct. All my garlic is in raised beds and after planting, I mulch deeply with straw, which I thin greatly in the spring when the plants are about 2″ tall. For the last 4 seasons, I have grown Music, Polish Jenn, German Red and Chesnok Red. Last season and this season, I grew and harvested enough to plant my own seed stock! No need to order more. We are actually still finishing up eating last year’s garlic just as the new garlic is being put into storage. I will be planting in the next week again and the bed has a layer of rotted horse manure on it and is ready to go. My seed stock was from Red Gate Garlic in Montana and Papa’s Garlic in Idaho. Love growing garlic.
Blessings to you and with your imminent birth.
Great info Linda– thanks for sharing! My goal is to be able to have my own seed stock, too! 🙂
I’m in Idaho but when I googled Papa’s Garlic all I got was locations for Papa Murphy’s & Papa John’s. Do you have an address? Thanks
Oh dear! I did not realize that I put the wrong name down for the Idaho garlic source. It is My Dad’s Garlic and they are located in Rupert, Idaho. Their website is http://www.mydadsgarlic.com The owner, Rose is very helpful. Sorry about that mistake.
I love your “how to” articles. Thanks for noting pointy side up. Years ago I ordered a complete front yard of flowering bulbs and not one of them came up in the spring. I planed them all upside down. And they say labels are just for dumb people!
So glad you like the “how to’s” Pat! And yes, the pointy side up part is important! 🙂
I’m curious about the “seeds” that grow in the top of the garlic plant above ground (they look like teensy heads of garlic). Can these be used for planting?
Those are actually the true garlic seeds and growing them from these can be done, but they take several seasons of growing, harvesting, and replanting to get good size heads of garlic. It is much faster to use the method that Jill gave, which is actually cloning because each clove reproduces itself as opposed to growing from a true seed.
The scapes are usually removed before the flowers get their heads and the seeds, but I have let some go to seed as the flowers are quite unique. Do not forget to use the scapes in your cooking. They are way milder than the garlic cloves but are delicious. Gourmet restaurants pay a premium for garlic scapes.
You can use the seeds/flowers for seasoning also and the leaves are great minced. I have used them for many years. I also always leave some of the bulbs in the ground and they grow when they are ready to.
I planted garlic around two sides of our yard because the neighbors had dogs that had enough fleas for packs of dogs! The garlic helps keep the flea and tick population away from my yard.
Yes they can– just takes longer.
Jill, thank you so much for this recent info on Garlic. I went to the site on how to grow and learned a lot. I just got a variety sampler from a grower in Kentucky and will try my luck at growing them. The challenge, I live in Florida, zone 9. So the research info was great. I lived 25 years in Colorado and never grew much of anything. Down here in Florida my motto is if I can plant it I will. Wish you could see my Loofah vines right now. Any extra hints on Garlic growth would be great. Thanks, Jeff
Jill, Thanks for the great info. Is the planting depth a typo, or do you plant 6″ deep? I thought 1-2″ was correct?
Also, Do you plant them 6″ deep in dirt, then a layer of mulch or hay over the that?
Thanks for the info! Can you plant in a raised bed, or must you plant in the ground? I’m in VA (zone 7).
Susan, see my post to Jill above. I grow mine in raised beds and so does the Red Gate Garlic in Montana.
Yep– raised beds will work too.
Great Northern Garlic says that (with apologies) they are not selling garlic in 2016!! I went right to their site when I read your post this morning so you might want to do a “PS” or something…boo hoo
Saw that too. Jill, do you have other recommendations?
Same here. Waiting for other recommendations. Thanks:)
I found some on Gardens Alive http://www.gardensalive.com/category/garlics
We are very much still selling seed garlic at Great Northern Garlic! The link in this post is to a different garlic farm. Oops! You can find us at http://www.GreatNorthernGarlic.com
Oh dear… fixing that link now!
Thanks so much Jill!
Your links to purchase seed garlic go to a website that is not selling garlic this year.
Hi,
I have growing my garlic last 16 years and I love the garlic which is the best medicine for any diseases which you can use. Regarding garlic seeds. What I do is to take the best garlic which comes out of the ground and save as a seed to grow in the garden and every year your seeds quality will improve and you don’t have to buy seeds any where. I enjoy your web page with interesting ideas. This year unfortunately, our season is not great. No cucumber still only flowers on plants although I have lots of bees,butterflies etc but no luck.
Thanks
I’ve not tried growing from seed– but now I’m wanting to try. 🙂
Last fall I took a video class from Ira Wallace, an instructor with the Southern Exposure Seed Co-op. She gave great tips. One wowser tip was that garlic germinates between about 40 and 50F. So if you are plagued with sprouting garlic syndrome in the spring or early summer, put the un-sprouted garlic in a darkish, well ventilated spot that stays ABOVE or below those temps. Works like a charm into late summer. I save some of the crop I harvest and dry in late July/early August, to plant in late Sept. Ira, being a southern gardener was unable to comment on the value of mulching in northern climates. University of Minnesota says it is optional except in years that turn out to be severely cold or variable in temperature (what else do we get lately!?) so I’m with you on the hay mulch which will also protect crops from brief warm spells that might otherwise thaw and kick plants into a premature growth spurt, then kill them in the next sub-zero period. Regarding varieties to try: When I lived in Madison WI the ag extension station there held an annual harvest festival where they raised funds by selling plant cuttings and fresh seed. I picked up some obscure varieties, including Korean Red (small and eye-popping pungent) and some Northern European varieties. Its been fun keeping those varieties going to use in pickles or to surprise my spicy-hot-food loving husband. Exact names were written somewhere in my pre-homestead garden notes. Yay for Ag extension agents, especially the growing number of organic specialists!
A garlic storage tip that has worked great for us. This tip was inherited from a great elderly lady that has a tip for just about everything 🙂 I as crazy as it sounds would lose garlic to sprouting or rotting before we would get it all eaten. I plan to plant our own this year but up until now we have been the consumers of garlic from the store or farmers market. Anyways, I freeze it. I break apart the bulb into cloves leave the skin on and put it into a ziploc baggy. I pull them out as needed. The skin comes of easy and we either chop or crush it with ease. No more wasted garlic! And yes it keeps its wonderful favor.
That’s so helpful to know. We’ll be planting for the first time this fall, and I was beginning to wonder how I’d store the garlic without it sprouting. Thanks for the tip!
SMART– I love this idea!
Thanks Jill, loved all the info. On plant planting Garlic. I, live in Il. And I, think I might give it a try. We love garlic also. We go to BI. Mich. and ther is a a place that serves a Sweet Garlic Salad. Loaded with Garlic. And it is delicious. The garlic is sweet and does not leave a garlic breath afterwords. I, also need to find out where I, can purchase garlic seed in my area. Thanks for all. Love your site
Good luck Carole!
I was wondering if anyone heard of soaking garlic in vodka to make it sprout faster… Anyone? Also is it best to plant the smallest cloves or the bigger cloves in order to grow it?
Forgive me if this has been asked & answered already, but has anyone tried to grow garlic in a planter? I’m in Virginia – zone 7 – and don’t have a garden area yet — it’s in the plans for next year (hopefully!). Thanks!
I am growing mine in planters this year– so far, so good! The plants look great.
I don’t have a yard – I live in an apartment building. Could these be grown in plant pots!!
“To figure out how much garlic you need for your plot, this page has some helpful guidelines.” – This link doesn’t work anymore.
Where is your garlic pesto recipe?
How do you know when garlic is ready to harvest?
I’m wondering how you store your garlic? I’ve bought it from the grocery store and kept it in a cool dark place in my kitchen, and it definitely does not last longer than a couple months…
I live in Zone 9B, and in the winter, we get a ton of rain (last winter, I had probably 35” of rain.) should I plant my garlic in a large planter and keep it out of the rain for the winter? And what is the optimal time for me to plant?
Hi there! In my climate (New England) we plant garlic in the fall (around mid-September in our climate, just before the frost hits), but your situation sounds really different from mine. I’m not fully sure how you would go about planting fall garlic in your climate. Is there a local gardener that you could consult? Or maybe an employee at your local farm and garden store?