How to Grow Garlic

The one thing that decides your crop: garlic needs cold. Planted in spring without a cold period, it grows one round bulb instead of splitting into cloves.

When to plant

Autumn planting almost always beats spring. The bulb roots before winter, then grows away the moment temperatures rise.

Hardneck vs softneck

• Hardneck — better flavour, produces a scape (flower stalk), stores 4–6 months. Needs cold. Best for cold climates.
• Softneck — stores 8–12 months, no scape, easier to braid. Better for mild winters.

How to plant

1. Split the bulb into individual cloves just before planting — not weeks ahead
2. Plant the biggest cloves. Small cloves produce small bulbs. Eat the rest.
3. Pointy end up, flat end down. Wrong way up and it still grows, but slower.
4. Depth: 5 cm / 2 in of soil above the tip. Deeper in sandy soil, shallower in clay.
5. Spacing: 15 cm between cloves, 25 cm between rows
6. Mulch 5–8 cm with straw or leaves after planting

Do not plant supermarket garlic

Supermarket garlic is often treated with sprout inhibitors and may carry disease. Buy certified seed garlic, or use garlic from a growers' market. It costs more and it is the difference between a crop and a disappointment.

Care through the season

• Water in dry spells during spring growth
• Stop watering about 2 weeks before harvest — dry soil helps it store
• Cut scapes on hardneck varieties — they divert energy from the bulb. Cut when they curl. They are excellent stir-fried.
• Weed carefully — garlic has shallow roots and does not compete well
• Do not over-fertilise with nitrogen — you get leaves and small bulbs

When to harvest

Not when the leaves go brown. Harvest when about half the leaves are still green and the lower ones have browned. Too early and the bulb is small; too late and it splits and will not store.

Lift with a fork rather than pulling — pulling breaks the neck and ruins storage.

Curing and storing

1. Do not wash. Brush off dry soil.
2. Hang or lay in a dry, airy, shaded place for 2–3 weeks
3. When the skins are papery and the neck is dry, trim roots and cut the stalk
4. Store at 10–15°C, dark, with airflow. Not the fridge — it sprouts.

Hardneck stores 4–6 months; softneck 8–12. Save the best bulbs for next year's planting.

Common questions

When should you plant garlic?

Autumn for almost everyone - October to November in temperate climates. Garlic needs a cold period to split into cloves, so spring planting yields one round bulb.

How deep do you plant garlic?

About 5cm (2 inches) of soil above the pointed tip, pointy end up. Deeper in sandy soil, shallower in heavy clay.

Why did my garlic grow one big bulb instead of cloves?

It did not get enough cold. Plant in autumn, or pre-chill spring-planted cloves in the fridge for 4-6 weeks before planting.

Can you plant garlic from the supermarket?

Better not. Supermarket garlic is often treated with sprout inhibitors and can carry disease. Buy certified seed garlic instead.