Garlic Growing Basics

Are you thinking of growing garlic for the first time and need a quick snapshot of what to expect? Here you’ll find a condensed list of garlic growing basics.

• Plant your garlic in the fall, six weeks prior to the first freeze. This is usually mid-October for most of the United States but be sure to check the specifics of your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone. 
• Garlic is a heavy feeder. Plan to fertilize in the fall, early spring, and late spring. 
• Keep the garlic bulb intact until you are ready to plant. When you are ready, break apart the bulb into cloves. Plant each individual clove.
• Plant garlic in prepared soil about 3” deep and 6-9” apart with the tip of the clove pointing up and the root side of the clove pointing down. Cover with soil. Put 3-6” of mulch over your garlic so it is tucked in for winter. 
• The green tops of the garlic will start to pop out of the ground in the first part of spring. 
• In the spring- weed, weed, weed! Garlic does not like to compete with weeds for nutrients, water or space. Keep those weeds away for a better yield. 
• In late spring, pick the scapes of the garlic. This will refocus the energy on growing the bulb (and not the scape). You can eat the scapes- they are delicious!
• Harvest garlic in early summer when the 40% to 50% of the bottom leaves of the plant are brown. 
• Lay or hang the garlic to cure in a space with good air circulation and out of the sun. The curing process takes about three weeks. 
• Properly store your garlic- it will last for months. You can also replant this garlic again in the fall to continue your garlic growing.