Growing Garlic

Allium sativum : Amaryllidaceae / the onion family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
                P P    

(Best months for growing Garlic in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • P = Plant cloves

September: Garlic can overwinter. Cover with a good layer of mulch . In areas where frost persists into March/ April, expect to harvest your garlic in June/July.

October: Garlic can overwinter. Cover with a good layer of mulch . In areas where frost persists into March/ April, expect to harvest your garlic in June/July.

  • Easy to grow. Plant cloves. Best planted at soil temperatures between 50°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 4 - 5 inches apart
  • Harvest in 17-25 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Beets, Carrots, Cucumbers, Dill, Tomatoes, Parsnips
  • Avoid growing close to: Asparagus, Beans, Brassicas, Peas, Potatoes

Your comments and tips

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18 Oct 11, angela (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi Greg,I bought a heap of garlic from a shop and havent used it,it is now October can I plant the shooting bulbs or do I just throw them away?Seems a waste.Thank you
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15 Oct 11, Stokkers (United Kingdom - cool/temperate climate)
Just wondering. Have any of you started garlic off in modules rather than straight in? I have seen onions started off this way.
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02 Oct 11, elise de Villiers (USA - Zone 5a climate)
Hello! We are in the Toronto, Canada area. We have some lovely garlic seeds - when do we plant these? And by which moon would it be ideal? Many thanks
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22 Aug 11, Brianna Dall (Australia - temperate climate)
Janis you can buy Garlic 'seed' gloves at any good garden nursery. Or if your local green grocery sells local Australian garlic you can just break off the gloves and plant those. It need to be Australian garlic, the import stuff has been treated to not germinate.
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04 Aug 11, (USA - Zone 5a climate)
what type of slow release organic furtlizer works best for garlic
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27 Jul 11, Ross Turner (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
It would appear that I am too late to get russian bulbs for planting this year from commercial supplier. If there is anyone near Ipswich in Queensland who is able to spare a couple of cloves, I would be very grateful.
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13 Jul 11, (Australia - arid climate)
If you have divided the bulb into cloves, plant in the ground with the pointy end upwards about 10 mm from the surface. Bruce
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11 Jul 11, Kate (Australia - temperate climate)
Trying my first lot of garlic; russian and another darker organic one. Do I need to do anything to the cloves before I plant them?
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01 Jul 11, Cygnetian (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I heard an interesting-sounding garlic-growing tip recently (unfortunately just too late for my plantings this year), which was to *not* firm down the soil/compost (or whatever you plant them in) at all, the idea being that the bulbs will grow bigger that way since they *(& their roots, I guess) aren't tightly packed into the growing medium.
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14 Jul 11, sara drummond (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I planted some in June but I aim to put some more in. bought the purple argentinean pack from safeways I know it mid July but I will give them a go today and see what happens in Novemver/December I will take your idea on board to keep the soil cover loose ... having fun in the garden sara
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Showing 711 - 720 of 919 comments
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my Zone 10A garlic, all in rectangular containers 24" length x 7.5" width, x 6.5" height, is sprouting well also, with some shoots up to about two inches. I had several garlic bulbs I intentionally kept in my refrigerator for a couple months, divided them into cloves, peeled them to avoid mold and decay, and kept the separated cloves open to the light at room temperature until they started sprouting. When the majority had tiny green shoots, I selected the best cloves (solid, no spongy or discolored parts) and planted them shallow with the very top of the clove showing as per advice from an internet container gardening site. I am really being careful not to overwater and it looks like all the cloves sprouted green shoots, but after a couple weeks I did have birds pull up maybe eight out of thirty or so of the newly sprouted cloves, so I replanted the missing ones with a more cloves, then added about an inch more soil over the top, and so far the birds have not raided again with the cloves now about two inches deep. Lesson learned: the internet advice for container gardening to plant the cloves with the tip showing is an invitation to be raided by birds. Solution: plant deeper, maybe two inches below the soil surface, even in shallow containers.

- Dave in California Zone 10A

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