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Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Garlic
Planting
Garlic thrives in full sun, so select a planting site that receives 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day.
Feed the soil with compost or aged manure. For bigger bulbs, we also love to add an organic amendment such as bonemeal or a higher-potassium fertilizer.
It’s very important that garlic doesn’t sit in wet soil. If your garden soil is high in clay or drains poorly, garlic grower Robin Jarry of Hope, Maine, suggests growing in heavily mulched raised beds instead. “I plant in raised beds for good drainage and then mulch with about 6 inches of old hay after the ground freezes. I never water my garlic—I like low-maintenance vegetables!” Raised beds should be 2 to 3 feet wide and at least 10 to 12 inches deep.
When to Plant Garlic
Probably the most important factor in growing bigger bulbs is when you plant.
Garlic is most often planted in the fall (between late September and November) in areas that get a hard frost. Plant garlic cloves 6 to 8 weeks before the first fall frost date, before the ground freezes.
Garlic does best if it can experience a “dormancy” period of colder weather—at least 40˚F (4°C)—that lasts 4 to 8 weeks. When planted in the fall, garlic bulbs have time to develop healthy roots before temperatures drop and/or the ground freezes, but not enough time for the garlic to form top growth. Then, by early spring, the bulbs “wake up” from their dormancy and start rapidly producing foliage, followed by bulbs, before the harshest heat of summer stops their growth.
You can plant garlic cloves in mild climates as late as February or March, but the resulting bulbs won’t be as large. However, you can still enjoy the garlic scapes during the summer. (Scapes are the plant’s tender green shoots with a mild garlic flavor. Enjoy on eggs, in salads, as a pizza topping, or in stir-fries!) If you plant in the spring, wait until after the soil can be worked, and it crumbles apart easily.
| Hardiness Zone | When to Plant Garlic | |
|---|---|---|
| Zones 1 to 6 | Early October | |
| Zones 7 and 8 | Late October to November | |
| Zones 9 and 10 | November to Early December | |
| Zones 10+ | Put Cloves in Fridge for 10 Weeks Before Planting |
How to Plant Garlic
- Immediately before planting, work a couple of tablespoons of 5-10-10 complete fertilizer, bonemeal, or fish meal into the soil several inches below where the base of the garlic cloves will rest.
- Select large, healthy cloves that are free of disease. The larger the clove, the bigger and healthier the bulb you will get the following summer.
- Don’t break apart until one or two days before planting—crack open on the day of planting whenever possible. As soon as the cloves are separated from the root plate, they begin to deteriorate. We keep the husks on; some gardeners take the husks off, but we haven’t seen that it matters too much.
- Plant cloves 4 to 8 inches apart and 2 inches deep in their upright position (with the wider root side facing down and the pointed end facing up).
- Plant in rows spaced 6 to 12 inches apart. Depending on the variety, a 10-foot row should yield about 5 pounds of the fragrant bulbs.
Growing
- Gardeners in areas where the ground freezes should mulch garlic beds heavily with straw or leaves to ensure proper overwintering. Read our mulching guide for more info!
- Mulch should be removed in the spring after the threat of frost has passed. (Young shoots can’t survive in temps below 20°F/-6°C on their own. Keep them under cover.)
- In the spring, as warmer temperatures arrive, shoots will emerge through the ground.
- Cut off any flower shoots that emerge in spring. These may decrease bulb size.
- Garlic is a heavy feeder. In early spring, side-dress with or broadcast blood meal, pelleted chicken manure, or a synthetic source of nitrogen such as a pelleted fertilizer.
- Fertilize again just before the bulbs begin to swell in response to lengthening daylight (usually early May in most regions). Repeat if the foliage begins to turn yellow.
- Keep the planting site well weeded. Garlic doesn’t do well with competition—it needs all available nutrients!
- Water every 3 to 5 days during bulbing (mid-May through June). If May and June are very dry, irrigate to a depth of 2 feet every eight to 10 days. As mid-June approaches, taper off watering.
Harvesting
- Harvest from fall plantings will range from late June to August. If you planted in the spring, calculate your approximate harvest date based on the “days to maturity” of the garlic variety you planted.
- In general, the clue is to look for yellowing foliage, but this isn’t the case for all garlic varieties. Harvest when the tops begin to yellow and fall over, but before they are completely dry.
- Before digging up your whole crop, it’s a good idea to sample one bulb. Lift a bulb to see if the crop is ready. We often dig up a bulb before the tops are completely yellow (in late June or early July), as some garlic types will be ready earlier. The garlic head will be divided into plump cloves, and the skin covering the outside of the bulbs will be thick, dry, and papery.
- If pulled too early, the bulb wrapping will be thin and easily disintegrate.
- If left in the ground too long, the bulbs sometimes split apart. The skin may also split, which exposes the bulbs to disease and will affect their longevity in storage.
- To harvest, carefully dig (don’t pull or yank stems by hand) up the bulbs using a garden fork. Avoid damaging the roots, especially the root plate (where they attach to the bulb). Lift the plants and carefully brush off surplus soil, but do not remove any foliage or roots before putting them to dry thoroughly.
How to Store Garlic
- Let garlic cure in an airy, shady, dry spot for about 2 weeks. Hang them upside down on a string in bunches of 4 to 6, or leave them to try on a homemade rack made from chicken wire stretched over posts. Make sure all sides get good air circulation.
- After a few weeks, the garlic should be totally dry and ready to store.
- The bulbs are cured and ready to store when the wrappers are dry and papery, and the roots are dry. The root crown should be hard, and the cloves can be cracked apart easily.
- Once the garlic bulbs are dry, you can store them. Brush off (do not wash) dirt, remove only the dirtiest wrappers, trim roots to ¼ inch, and cut tops to 1 to 2 inches.
- Bulbs should be stored in a cool (55°F / 13°C), dark, dry place, and can be kept in the same way for several months. Don’t store in your basement if it’s humid. Do not store garlic in the refrigerator, either, as it will be too cold and too humid.
- The flavor will increase as the bulbs are dried. Properly stored, garlic should last until the next crop is harvested the following summer.
- If you plan on planting garlic again next season, save some of your largest, best-formed bulbs to plant again in the fall.
Cooking Notes
- Learn how to make your own garlic powder to easily spice up a recipe.
- Roasted garlic bulbs are also a favorite of ours!
- Around the summer solstice (late June), hardneck garlic sends up a seed stalk or scape. Allow it to curl, then cut off the curl to allow the plant to put its energy into bulb formation. Use the scapes in cooking the same way you would garlic bulbs. We like to stir-fry scapes the way we cook green beans—similar, with a spicy kick! Note that they get more fibrous and less edible as they mature.
Catherine Boeckmann
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Great article on planting garlic. Just 2 sticky points, though...
1) You state early on (under "Planting Garlic - From a Clove") to plant 3 weeks AFTER first frost date, then a bit later (under "When to Plant Garlic") you state to plant it 6-8 weeks BEFORE first fall frost date... and,
2) You state in those same sections, respectively, that garlic "needs a cold period to grow—about ten weeks before 45°F (or 8°C)" and it "does best if it can experience a 'dormancy' period of colder weather—at least 40˚F (4°C)—that lasts 4 to 8 weeks." I would really appreciate clarification as to which of each is correct.
In addition, as a first time garlic grower, I think I put mine in several weeks late, and am very concerned about getting any harvest at all - I put them in Nov. 1 in Zone 4b (zip code 82834). Have I completely screwed up???
Thanks!!!
Hi, great site. One of our favorite things to do with the scapes is make garlic scape butter and freeze it, great for so many things, add other herbs as well!
Hello Catherine, would it be okay to put chopped garlic in an ice cube tray, top it up with oil and freeze? I would then put the frozen cubes in a freezer ziplock bag for further use? Thanks, Joanne
Hi, Joanne. Excellent idea! You should also coat the bottom of each compartment with some oil before adding the chopped garlic.
Totally irresponsible to not even mention botulism while encouraging this practice. Does the Farmer's Almanac encourage creating your own canning recipes also?
In the article it recommends to separate bulbs for a few days before planting. In Ben’s video he says to plant immediately after separating.
Can you give additional clarification?
Love your articles!
Hi Jude, I think the main thing is that you do not want to divide the bulb too early as the cloves will deteriorate once they’re not attached to the root plate. Don’t break apart until one or two days before planting. Crack open on the day of planting whenever possible.
I use garlic in the spring to keep the deer out of my flowers. They tend to like the early foliage of some plants (peppers, flowers, and hasta) so I sprinkle diced dried garlic around them to ward off those pesky deer and other animals. Works great, but can be expensive so that’s why I’m wanting to grow my own garlic
So..I purchased garlic from a farm last summer and put them in my fridge in a paper bag in September. I planted some of the garlic at the end of October in grow bags. I wasn't sure if I wanted to plant all of the garlic because I thought it would be too much for me(it was 4 different varieties with 3-4 bulbs each). Well the garlic I did not plant is still in my fridge and still looks the exact same as when I received them. Just wondering if I would still be able to plant those cloves?? or are they edible at all? I don't want them to go to waste. I live in Arizona Zone 9b
Hi Tracy,
You can certainly still plant your garlic, but you want to get it in soil as soon as possible so it can begin growing roots and become established before the hot weather truly sets in. It is best to plant garlic in the fall, but a spring planting in milder climates like yours is possible. And if all goes well you will be able to enjoy the garlic scapes this summer. Just know that the bulbs you harvest will not be as large as they would be if planted in the fall. Only time will tell if your garlic will produce, but it’s worth a try and you’ll know that those farm grown bulbs you bought last summer didn’t go to waste.
