Plant garlic in autumn. Just like tulips, garlic cloves planted in fall quickly develop roots, so the little plants are well established by the time cold weather stops their growth. Then they start growing again as soon as the soil warms in early spring, and produce a harvestable crop by the middle of summer.
In the North, late September or October are the best times to plant garlic cloves. It should be done at least two weeks before the first frost of the season, and must be done before the ground freezes. In the South, October is an ideal time but you could wait until November, December or even January.
In general, garlic is ready for harvesting when the lower leaves start to brown. The only way to be sure is to dig up a few bulbs to check their progress. If the cloves fill out the skins, it's time to pick the garlic. Harvesting typically occurs during the late spring to the mid-summer months.
Garlic is best planted in fall or early winter. Split open the bulb and separate the cloves. Plant only the largest, healthy ones.
Fertilize every three to four weeks. Fertilize your garlic again just before the bulbs swell, around mid-May. By all accounts, however, do not fertilize with high nitrogen foods after May, as this may stunt the bulb size. Keep the area around your garlic weed-free since it doesn't compete well with weeds.
Seasol dilution with my Facultative Anaerobic Microbes and Garlic Seed Inoculum. Presoaking encourages germination, adds beneficial nutrient and protective microbe coating to your cloves. solution to spray onto planted garlic before mulch is applied.
Be sure and amend the soil with well rotted manure or, preferably a quality compost. If possible spread 2 to 1 inch of compost over the entire planting area and work it into the first few inches of soil. As with most garden crops, garlic grows best when the soil pH is between 6 and 7.
Garlic is one of the easiest crops to grow, and learning how to grow garlic is simple. Even better, once you've grown it, you can regrow garlic year after year from your own bulbs.
Pre-plant soaking treatments to reduce some diseases and pests. Stem and bulb (bloat) nematode: 1. Soak the separated cloves for 30 minutes in 100°F (37.7°C) water containing 0.1% surfactant (soap).
If left in the ground too long, the over-mature bulbs can split open, leaving them susceptible to molds and dehydration. Perhaps somewhere there are soils loose and loamy enough to enable garlic to be pulled out of the ground by the tops without tearing or breaking any stems.
Garlic has a moderate to high demand for nitrogen, so fertilizer can be incorporated before planting. Apply phosphorus and potassium according to soil test results and incorporate both before planting. Planting in October will help get roots established before the ground freezes.
Planting depth makes all the difference. At a minimum, sow each clove three inches deep and then be sure to spread six inches of mulch or more. If you're not planning to mulch, sow at least five inches deep.
Water thoroughly after planting, and regularly thereafter—about once a week. There is no need to water fall-planted garlic over the dormant winter months if there is regular rain/snowfall.
The more time garlic has to grow before forming bulbs, the larger the heads will be. Planting garlic in the spring leaves less time for garlic to grow, so spring garlic will be smaller than its overwintered counterparts and will not have the classic cloves.
It is possible to grow garlic from supermarket bulbs, but it's not recommended as there's a risk of virus infection. If you buy from proper planting stock, it should be virus free. And you can also choose a variety that has been bred especially for our climate.
Garlic, like potatoes, is multiplied by vegetative reproduction rather than by sexual reproduction (seeds). Individual garlic cloves are planted and they each produce a bulb in which the cloves all have the same genetic makeup as the original clove.
How long does it take garlic to grow? On average, you'll be waiting about nine months from seeds to harvest. The good news: once you get these bulbs in the ground, there's little to do but wait. Follow these easy tips to plant, grow, and harvest garlic in your home garden.
If you keep a whole head of garlic unpeeled it will last close to six months. (That is, if you store it properly. More on that later.) A single, unpeeled clove will last about three weeks.
And again, garlic is very winter hardy; cold weather doesn't bother it one bit. In fact, the taller the sprouts are above ground at Christmastime, the better the plants will do over winter.
Too much water can also cause the garlic bulbs to rot. Early to mid July is the time to stop watering until it is time to harvest.
If you have any leftover coffee grounds, a handful on top of the clove will help it grow, as garlic likes an acidic soil pH. But, if you are not growing the garlic near a sidewalk, a foundation or in a rocky area, this shouldn't be a concern.
In early spring, tiny green shoots will emerge from the soil. Soon, they'll grow into large green stalks. If you've grown hardneck garlic in your pot, they'll produce a scape (curly flower stalk) in early summer.
Garlic has a better survival rate when mulch is applied. Mulch insulates and prevents the freezing/thawing action which can heave cloves out of the ground. If snow cover can be assured, that can be adequate mulch, but we would still recommend mulch to protect the garlic.