Ready to plant some garlic? Let’s get started! Here are the basic steps to make sure your garlic grows healthy and strong.
Plant garlic by placing a garlic clove, pointed end up, in loamy, well-drained soil. In colder climates, plant garlic cloves 2-3 inches deep to prevent freezing. In warmer areas, 1-2 inches deep is sufficient. Space garlic cloves 6-8 inches apart to promote proper bulb growth.
Planting garlic might seem simple, but there is more to it if you want to grow the best garlic possible. Before you start, there are some important things to keep in mind.
KEY CONSIDERATIONS BEFORE PLANTING GARLIC
While it is important to place and space garlic cloves correctly, there are also other details, such as location, soil, and timing that are important for garlic success.
Location, Location, Location
Before planting garlic, it is critical to select an appropriate location. Ideally, this spot should receive a minimum of six hours of sunlight daily. Adequate sunlight is essential for the healthy development of garlic bulbs, leaves, and roots. Too little sunlight may result in stunted growth and small garlic bulbs.
Additionally, be sure to choose a place with soil that has good drainage to avoid excessive moisture. Garlic bulbs will likely rot when bulb soil is too moist. Plus, garlic is prone to fungal diseases in damp environments, making good drainage imperative for successful cultivation. Optimal air circulation further supports garlic health, as stagnant air can promote disease.
Considering the slope of the earth where you plant your garlic is important. Ensuring the ground you choose is level or elevated will prevent issues such as waterlogging or frost damage, which can harm garlic plants.
The Dirt on Garlic Soil
Once a suitable location is identified, it is a good practice to enhance the soil quality of your future garlic bed. The soil you choose to plant garlic in should not be compacted. Garlic cloves will need enough give in the soil to be able to grow into large garlic bulbs. Sandy loam, a well-draining soil that holds just enough moisture to keep garlic happy, is a favorite of many gardeners. A mix of sand, silt, organic matter, and sometimes clay, this soil is a loose soil that crumbles when poked.
To be ready for garlic’s early growth stages, mix your soil with high quality compost before planting garlic. Compost provides essential sulfur, derived from decomposing organic matter, which is vital for garlic’s vigorous growth and development. Compost also provides nitrogen to soil, something growing garlic has a mid to high range demand for. We cover more details about fertilizing garlic in its different growth stages in the article, Watering Garlic: Do’s and Don’ts for Healthy Plants.
Another important factor in soil preparation is the pH level of the soil. Garlic plants prefer a slightly acidic to neutral pH range of 6.0 to 7.0. Testing the soil pH with strips before planting ensures that the soil acidity or alkalinity is within the optimal range for garlic cultivation. You can use wood ash to raise soil pH or you can use aluminum sulfate and sulfur to lower soil pH.
When to Plant Garlic
For garlic heads to divide into cloves, a cold stratification period is necessary. When garlic lacks a cold period, the bulb you harvest will be more like an onion than a garlic bulb. Gardeners generally plant in the fall to capitalize on winter for cold stratification. If you choose to plant garlic in the spring, plant it as early as possible so it can experience at least some of the cold. Ideal cold stratification would last 30-40 days for garlic.
| GROWING ZONE: | WHEN TO PLANT GARLIC: |
| Zones 0-3 if frost has not set in yet | Early to late September |
| Zones 3-5 | Late September to early October |
| Zones 5-7 | Mid to late October |
| Zones above 7 | Late October through December (See notes below for warmer climates.) |
Warmer Climates: In a warmer climate, growing garlic is trickier. You may have more success with specialty varieties such as creoles and Asiatic garlics. Unlike in zones 0-7 that have a cold winter, you will probably see growth from your garlic all winter long in a warm climate. With your garlic in growth stage, you will need to be careful about making sure it has water during dry spells in the winter.
Select Cloves to Plant
Ideally, you’ve held onto your best garlic bulbs from your summer harvest. Keep in mind that even though your selected garlic bulb is large and robust, every clove in the bulb is not ideal for planting. You want to plant the healthiest and largest cloves from the bulb. It is best to save smaller cloves for kitchen use in the near future. While selecting the cloves you will plant, pick out the damaged, rotted, moldy, dried, or insect-ridden cloves. Discard them in a place that is not near your garden.
Planting Cloves in the Ground
It is advisable to keep garlic cloves within their bulbs until you are ready for planting, as this helps preserve their viability. On the day you are ready to plant garlic, pry your garlic bulbs open and separate the cloves from the bulb. Leave the protective papery covering on the cloves. Plant cloves with their papery skins intact to protect them during the planting process. For those planting multiple varieties of garlic, preparing identification markers in advance will make accurate identification during growth and harvest a cinch.
When planting garlic cloves, orient them with the pointed end upwards. They will still grow if you plant the pointed end downward but they will be misshapen as they grow. They should be buried at a depth at least twice their height. In colder regions, cloves should be planted 2-3 inches deep to prevent freezing. Warmer climates may require planting at a depth of 1-2 inches.
Generally, planting garlic 6-8 inches apart is sufficient to leave room for weeding and to ensure the garlic roots and leaves do not have to compete with neighboring plants for nutrients, water, and sunlight. You can plant hardneck and softneck garlic types together.
Three garlic planting techniques that work:
- Use a trowel to create a crevice in the soil. With the trowel still in the soil, drop a clove, pointed side up, into the crevice. When you remove the trowel, the soil around the garlic clove will collapse, covering it. A great tool that allows you to easily see how deep you are planting garlic is a measurement marked trowel.
- Cloves can also be placed in a shallow trench that is two times as deep as the cloves are tall. Cloves should be spaced 6 to 8 inches apart, depending on the variety. Fold soil into the trench to cover the cloves.
- Another common garlic planting method involves using a dowel or stick marked at the appropriate planting depth to poke holes for uniform planting. While this method may compact the soil slightly below the clove’s roots, proper soil selection can mitigate any adverse effects on root growth. After dropping cloves into the holes, pointed side up, collapse soil into the holes to cover the cloves.
After your garlic is in the ground and covered with soil, apply a layer of mulch to preserve moisture. Lightweight mulch, such as straw, allows garlic to push through in the spring. Water deeply so that the water can reach the bottom of the garlic cloves where the root base will be growing. You can learn more about the proper watering of garlic in our article, Watering Garlic: Do’s and Don’ts for Healthy Plants.
COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID
By learning about these pitfalls, gardeners can avoid common problems that could lead to disappointing garlic harvests.
- Planting in compacted soil: Garlic cloves needs room for expanding roots and room to develop into a large bulb. Also, compacted soil can hold too much moisture next to garlic bulbs, making them rot.
- Planting in areas with too little sunlight. For robust garlic bulb development, the garlic needs enough time in the sun, 6-8 hours, for ideal photosynthesis.
- Taking the papery outer layer off of cloves: Compounds, such as quercetin, kaempferol, and rutin, in the papery, outer clove covering protect cloves from premature sprouting (sprouting without roots), and harmful disease. Plus, the compounds attract beneficial bacteria. The paper is also a protective layer to shield the clove from fungus and rotting.
- Planting too shallow or too deep: Though planting cloves 2 times as deep as they are tall is a good rule of thumb, consider your climate. In colder regions, cloves should be planted 2-3 inches deep to prevent freezing. Warmer climates may require planting at a depth of 1-2 inches.
- Using store-bought garlic: It is worth the investment to purchase seed garlic from a nursery or farmer’s market. Store-bought garlic has usually been sprayed with a growth inhibitor to prevent it from sprouting in the store. This is going to hamper the growth of your garlic in the garden. However, some online gardeners recommend buying organic garlic bulbs because they should be free from growth inhibitor. Those could be found in a grocery store.
- Planting cloves too close together: Avoid competition for nutrients, water, and sunlight by giving garlic cloves enough space for roots and leaves to spread.
- Overwatering or underwatering: Garlic needs consistent moisture but can rot if overwatered. Balance is key so it is important to consider garlic’s growing stages, and your climate and seasonal moisture. Read more about watering garlic in our article, Watering Garlic: Do’s and Don’ts for Healthy Plants.
- Ignoring soil quality: Garlic prefers well-drained, fertile soil. Poor soil can lead to poor growth, rot, or disease.
- Not removing weeds: Because garlic plants are tall and thin, sunlight reaches the ground near their base, inviting weeds to grow. Weeds compete with garlic for nutrients and water so keep your garlic bed weed-free.
- Planting in the wrong season: Garlic is typically planted in the fall for a summer harvest. Timing is important for good bulb development and varies slightly on your growing zones.
- Forgetting to mulch: Mulch helps retain moisture and regulate soil temperature. It also helps to keep weeds down.
- Not rotating crops: Planting garlic in the same spot year after year can lead to soil diseases. Rotate your crops to keep the soil healthy.
IN CONCLUSION
By selecting the right location with adequate sunlight and well-draining soil, preparing the soil with compost, and planting cloves at the correct depth and spacing, you’ve set the stage for healthy garlic growth. Remember to monitor moisture levels, manage weeds, and avoid common planting mistakes so your garlic thrives. Happy planting!
