Do you want to learn how to grow garlic? Once you’ve learned how to grow garlic, you will take one step towards self-sufficiency and never have to buy it again.
Growing garlic is easy and rewarding.
I think it makes a great crop for beginners because it is so hands-off and garlic is small enough to fit in just about any garden space.
I’m going to walk you through the process of planting, tending, and harvesting garlic.
When to Plant Garlic
Garlic can be planted at the same time you plant your spring-blooming bulbs like daffodils and tulips, or 6 weeks before a hard frost.
I like to schedule a bulb-planting day and get it all done at once!
Our temps stay cool for a while in the fall, so I normally plant my bulbs near my last frost date in mid-October.
If you want to know more about frost dates, check out this post.
Planting garlic at this time allows the crop to establish roots before the ground freezes so that it will grow quickly in the spring.
Start with Good Seed Garlic
The key to growing good garlic is starting with good seed garlic.
You can choose between hard-neck or soft-neck garlic.
Garlic grows from the cloves of a head of garlic. Seed garlic is garlic that was grown to be replanted and was inspected for pests and disease before being sold to consumers.
Hard-neck garlic has a hard central stem that goes through the center of the bulb. It also produces flower scapes in the spring which can be cut and eaten. Typically, hard-neck garlic will be easier to peel and have a stronger flavor, but will not last as long in storage. Hard-neck garlic requires vernalization, or a cold period, to grow well and does best in northern states.
Soft-neck garlic has no central stem and a “soft neck” that can be braided. It has a milder flavor and keeps longer. Most grocery store garlic is soft-neck. This type is also recommended for growing in warm regions.
Elephant garlic is technically a leek, but it tastes just like garlic and is planted the same way as garlic. It grows a gigantic bulb, splits into cloves, and grows a scape just like hard-neck garlic. I grow this every year, mostly for fun, but it also does taste good. Elephant garlic grows well in warm regions, and I’ve discovered that it can somewhat perennialize if you continue to replant the tiny cloves that grow alongside the bulbs.
Learn more about the differences between these types of garlic and which you should grow in this post.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you buy through my links, I could earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. I only discuss products that I love and think you’ll love, too. I’m glad you’re here and thanks for reading!
Where to Buy Seed Garlic
Your local nursery or big box stores should sell seed garlic. You can also buy garlic from reputable online seed companies like the ones listed below in the fall.
If you cannot find seed garlic from any of these places in the late summer or fall, you could try organic garlic from your local grocery store. You will need to find garlic that is sold as a whole head with cloves that are plump and full without any damage.
I’ve also planted garlic that was starting to sprout in my pantry and had success that way!
Prep Your Garlic Bed
Garlic will grow best in loose, well-draining, fertile soil in a location that gets full sun (at least 8 hours per day).
Because the bulbs grow in the ground, the soil needs to be loose enough for the bulbs to expand easily as they grow.
If your soil is hard or compacted, you can aerate it by sticking a broadfork into the soil and wiggling it to loosen your soil.
I prefer not to till my soil, but you can use a tiller if you have very a compacted garden bed.
Be Sure to Fertilize
Garlic is a hungry crop and will use up all the nutrition in your soil.
I like to use a generic bulb fertilizer like Bulb-Tone and a sprinkle of bone meal in each hole where I plant my garlic.
I also rake compost into my garlic bed before planting to add beneficial microbes and bacteria as well as nutrition to grow the best garlic.
You’ll want to have a mulch layer ready to cover your newly planted garlic cloves to get them all tucked in for winter, as well.
How to Plant Seed Garlic
Planting your seed garlic is the next step in how to grow garlic.
Carefully break your seed garlic heads into individual cloves. Try to leave the paper intact if you can.
Keene Garlic, (where I bought my original seed garlic), recommends double-soaking your garlic in a sterilizer, like peroxide, isopropyl alcohol, or cheap vodka, and then in a separate solution of liquid fertilizer and water before planting.
Most years, I’ve done this, and once I did not, and I haven’t seen enough of a difference to notice. But I do usually try to do this double soak.
Once the garlic has soaked, plant the individual cloves pointy side up in small holes 3 inches deep and spaced 6-8 inches apart.
I use a dibber to poke all the holes in the ground, sprinkle fertilizer and amendments, and then place a garlic clove in each hole.
Cover the cloves with soil and then add a few inches of mulch on top. This will help supress weeds in the spring and also give your garlic some protection from the frost.
In the past I have used straw, shredded leaves, and shredded bark as a mulch layer. These should all work fine for you.
Don’t worry if your garlic starts to grow in the weeks after you planted it. The tops will get some damage from winter frosts, but the bulbs and roots should remain intact and grow vigorously in the spring.
How to Grow Garlic
There are three key tasks to complete to care for your garlic plants the following spring.
First, check on your fall-planted garlic as the weather warms up. Once you see the tops actively greening and growing, fertilize the plants again with the same granular fertilizer you used at planting time.
You should also use a liquid fertilizer around the same time to give the crop an immediate boost of nutrition.
The more sets of leaves your garlic grows, the more “paper” it will be wrapped with at harvest time. This will prolong the storage life of your garlic.
Second, water your garlic plants if it hasn’t rained in several days. The rule is to provide an inch of water a week while it is growing to get the best bulbs.
Stop providing supplemental water once scapes appear (for hardneck garlic or once half the leaves are turning brown on softneck garlic).
Third, pull any weeds growing around your bulbs. Garlic is very greedy and wants all the nutrients and space to itself!
Garlic Scapes from Hard-Neck Garlic
Hard-neck garlic has one little bonus to it. It will grow edible scapes in the spring.
These are the immature flower heads of the garlic. Cut them off before they flower so that they don’t divert energy from the bulbs into the flower.
Flowering garlic will yield small garlic bulbs.
Many people consider garlic scapes a delicacy, so definitely cut these off and eat them. You’ve earned it!
You’ll want to harvest garlic scapes once the top has curled by cutting off the flower stalk. Leave the pointy leaves intact. The plants need this to continue growing.
Cut the tips of the scapes off (where the flower would be) and chop up the stem to use in place of garlic cloves in your recipes.
When to Harvest Garlic
If you’ve kept your garlic alive, way to go! You’re almost to garlic harvest time!
Check the size of your garlic by digging around the base of the leaves to see how big the bulbs is.
Typically garlic will start sizing up and splitting into cloves once the lower leaves have turned brown and crispy.
You need to wait for some of the leaves to die so that your garlic will split into cloves; otherwise, the garlic will end up looking like a small onion.
For softneck garlic, check the bulbs when one-third of the leaves turn yellow.
For hardneck garlic, including elephant garlic, wait until half of the leaves are yellow or brown.
Dig up the bulbs carefully without piercing or damaging the skin.
How to Cure Homegrown Garlic
The curing process helps garlic bulbs fully dry out so that they will store for a long time in your home.
Garlic needs to cure for 2-3 weeks, until the heads are fully dry and no trace of green remains.
To do this, lay garlic out in a single layer on a flat surface, ideally with slats and openings to allow for better airflow, in a well-ventilated, but shady location.
I usually cure garlic on a wire shelf in my garage.
Keep the stalks intact. You can brush some of the dirt off, but do not wash your garlic with water.
Most of the dirt will fall off once the bulbs are dry.
Turn your garlic every few days so every side can be exposed to air.
After curing, cut off the stalk and leaves an inch above the bulbs and store the trimmed bulbs in a cool, dry place. Cool temps from 40°F to 55°F are ideal for storing garlic.
Make sure the garlic bulbs get plenty of airflow.
Garlic can keep 6 months or more when properly stored.
In the fall, replant your largest garlic cloves and begin the cycle all over again. You’ll never have to buy garlic again!
Quick Recap of How to Grow Garlic
- Buy good quality seed garlic from a reputable seller like the ones listed previously.
- Prepare the garden bed by making sure soil is well-draining and gets full sun.
- Fertilize in the fall and spring with a phosphorus-rich organic granular fertilizer.
- Separate garlic heads into individual cloves. Leave the paper intact.
- Plant each clove pointy side up 3 inches apart.
- Mulch with straw, shredded leaves, or wood chip.
- Water plants in the spring and summer while it is actively growing.
- Cut off scapes in the spring (for hardneck garlic).
- Harvest in summer when the bottom half of the plant’s leaves turn brown.
- Cure for two weeks, or until garlic is very dry and no traces of green remain.
Garlic Braiding
If you grew soft-neck garlic, you can also try to braid the stems! The soft necks are flexible and will be easier to braid than hard-neck garlic.
This reminds me so much of Little House in the Big Woods, where Laura describes onions braided into long ropes. I loved that book series as a child!
I do this project outside because it can get messy with the leaves.
To braid garlic, take three bulbs and start braiding the three sets of leaves together.
Once you’ve braided an inch or so, begin adding another clove of garlic in with one of the three sections of leaves.
Keep going until you feel your garlic braid is long enough. Secure the ends with a rubber band or hair tie.
An elastic band will stay tight on the ends as they dry and shrink.
The garlic braids can be hung up once dry in your pantry or cellar.
Or maybe it’ll look so good, you’ll want to keep them on display in your kitchen, who knows?
Just remember to keep good airflow around the garlic braids and check on them until they are completely dry.
You don’t want to end up with moldy garlic after all the hard work you put into it.
Now You Know How to Grow Garlic
Growing garlic is a simple process, and once you’ve started to grow and save your own seed, you’ll never have to buy garlic from the store again.
That’s one less thing to be dependent on the grocery store for.
Do you think you’ll try growing garlic this year?
