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| Credit: Shelley Pauls |
How to Grow Garlic
Introduction
Garlic is a hardy perennial that grows best in well-drained soil. It's also one of the easiest vegetables to grow, making it a great addition to your garden. Garlic can be grown from seed or bought in the store, but it will only produce enough garlic for you to use in one season. To get the most out of your garlic harvest, you'll want to choose a sunny spot with fertile soil and keep plants watered well throughout their lives.
Garlic cloves should be planted in fall or early spring.
If you are planting garlic in the fall or early spring, choose a sunny spot and dig a hole that is four inches deep. Plant each clove (with its tip facing up) six inches apart, spacing them three-quarters of an inch apart.
If you are growing your own garlic from seeds, start them indoors six weeks before transplanting outside. Place transplanted seedlings in pots filled with potting soil mixed with sand or peat moss until they have sprouted leaves (this will take two weeks). When your seedlings reach this stage, transplant them into their final locations: 6-inch deep holes spaced 3-inches apart; rows spaced 4 inches apart; or beds of 8-10 plants per foot of row space--depending on what type of plant you're growing!
Garlic likes fertile soil that drains well.
You'll want to plant your garlic in fertile soil that drains well. Garlic likes fertile, well-drained soil that is rich in organic matter and pH balanced: It should be free of weeds and pests. Do not plant your garlic near rocks, as they can cause damage to the bulbs.
Choose a sunny spot to plant garlic.
When choosing a location for your garlic, you should make sure that it gets at least six hours of direct sunlight every day. This will help the plant grow faster and produce more heads. The best locations are those that receive plenty of sun, but not too much heat. Garlic can be grown in partial shade or even full shade, but this may affect the taste and texture of your crop.
Plant garlic cloves about 4 inches deep and 6 inches apart, with tips facing up.
Garlic is a hardy plant that grows well in many climates, but it takes up space. Plant garlic cloves about 4 inches deep and 6 inches apart, with tips facing up.
Plant garlic in fall or early spring after danger of frost has passed. The soil should be fertile and well drained and in full sun or partial shade depending on the variety you choose to grow (more info below).
Garlic will produce more cloves if bulbs are divided into individual cloves before planting, giving each clove plenty of room to grow.
If you’re planting garlic bulbs, it’s important to know that planting multiple cloves together is the best way to get bigger plants and more garlic. Planting entire bulbs will result in smaller plants without much of a chance at producing any cloves.
Planting individual cloves is advantageous because each one will develop into its own bulb and produce its own clove. This means that each bulb has more room to grow than if they were planted as an entire clove—and this can mean big savings on food costs if you have lots of friends who love fresh-baked bread!
Mulch your garlic with straw or leaves in winter for the best harvests.
Mulching your garlic with straw or leaves in winter is a great way to protect it from frost, which will help keep it from drying out. If you have access to straw and don't mind using it as mulch, this is the best way to go!
If you can't or don't want to use straw, try layering leaves over the tops of your garlic plants as they grow taller. This will also help prevent evaporation of water by keeping moisture in the soil (more on this later).
Give garlic ample water and fertilize with a balanced fertilizer every six weeks.
Garlic is a hardy plant that can be grown indoors or outdoors. It's best to plant the bulbs in spring or early summer, and harvest when the scapes have reached 3 to 4 inches long. Planting garlic near other plants will help it spread its flavor and aroma throughout your garden or flowerbed.
If you're growing garlic in containers, make sure they have plenty of sunlight and water them regularly until they're established (about six weeks). Once they're actually growing, give them fertilizer every six weeks with a balanced granule fertilizer like 20-10-20 or 10-10-10—you'll want about an inch per bulb for optimal growth!
Harvest garlic when half the leaves have died back.
Harvest garlic when half the leaves have died back.
Don't wait until the tops have completely died back; this will make it difficult for you to see what's going on inside, and you'll be less likely to get a healthy clove from your harvest. Also, don't harvest too early or late in order to avoid killing off all of your plants' roots (and resulting in poor germination rates).
Carefully brush or wash off soil from harvested bulbs and let them dry in the sun for one or two days before storing.
After harvesting, carefully brush or wash off soil from harvested bulbs and let them dry in the sun for one or two days before storing.
Store garlic bulbs at cool room temperature (60°F to 70°F), away from direct sunlight and heat sources like radiators, stoves or furnaces. You can also store them in a cool basement or other storage area where they will be out of sight but still accessible to you when needed.
When storing garlic that has been stored previously and not refrigerated, keep it away from moisture; moisture may cause mold growth on the bulb surface during storage periods exceeding one week at room temperature (60°F)
Let bulbs cure for two to four weeks before using them in recipes.
Before you can use your garlic, it must cure for two to four weeks. This process will help the bulbs harden up and become more sturdier.
Garlic should be dry and firm before being stored in the refrigerator or freezer for later use in recipes. If your bulbs aren't completely dry when storing them, they'll spoil quicker than usual because of moisture loss through evaporation from their surface (which also causes mold growth). To keep a supply of fresh-looking garlic without letting them rot away on their own while waiting out the curing period:
Check their moisture level with an iceberg lettuce leaf test—the best way I've found so far! You can also check this using a kitchen scale—just put one end down on top of another end until there's no more wobble left between them (this usually happens when there's less than an ounce per pound). If both tests say exactly what you want them too then proceed with storage instructions below!
Growing garlic is easy as long as you plant it at the right time of year, give it enough space and water it properly.
Garlic is a perennial plant, meaning it will grow back year after year. You can plant it in fall or spring and it will be ready to harvest by early spring.
Growing garlic is easy as long as you follow these steps:
Plant your cloves of garlic at the right time of year (late winter/early spring). If you plant too early, there won't be enough time for them to mature before frost hits and your crop dies off. If you wait until later on in the season, however, then there's no guarantee that your bulbs will sprout at all—and if they do sprout up well and look good when they're young but then get eaten by bugs or disease before they're fully developed into big bulbs with lots of cloves inside them...then who knows where those baby cloves might end up! It's better not to risk anything than lose everything over nothing...so just go ahead & start planting now! :)
Conclusion
Growing garlic is an easy way to get more of this delicious herb in your diet. It’s also a great project for beginning gardeners, since all you need are a few cloves and some soil. While the process may seem complicated at first, it really isn’t all that different from other types of plants—and once you get the hang of it, it will be second nature!
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