Growing garlic begins with choosing suitable planting cloves and a local planting date. This five-step guide covers bed preparation, planting and early care. Your climate and variety determine the timing, so check regional guidance before starting.
How to Plant Garlic in 5Â Easy Steps
Step 1:
Do some research to see when it is the optimal time to grow garlic where you live. Fall planting is common in cold-winter regions, but the right date and variety depend on your climate.
Step 2:
Decide where you want to plant the garlic and make sure you prepare the soil beforehand. For instance, you should know that garlic requires a lot of sun. However, some shade won’t damage it, as long as it is not for a very long time. You have to make sure that the soil is crumbly and has a good drainage capacity. For that specific purpose, improve drainage where necessary; soil texture alone does not decide whether garlic can grow. Another extra tip would be to make the soil even more fertile by adding suitable compost or well-rotted manure as needed.
Step 3: Choose planting cloves
Garlic is normally grown from cloves, often sold as seed garlic, rather than true seed. Choose healthy planting stock suited to your climate from a reputable supplier. Discard damaged or diseased cloves and separate the bulb shortly before planting.
Step 4:
Plant the actual garlic. Break the garlic head into several cloves making sure you don’t damage their base since this is what makes them grow. Then, push the cloves into the soil two inches deep, remembering that the tips should be in an upward position. Leave about 8 inches between every clove you plant, to give them plenty of room to grow.
Step 5:
Take care of the garlic you’ve planted. What is the best way to do that, you ask? Well, first of all, after you’ve planted the cloves, you should cover them with mulch. For instance, use clean straw or leaf mulch appropriate to your climate. Do not use fresh manure. Base fertilizer on your soil test and local growing guidance. Feed during early growth when needed, rather than automatically fertilizing in autumn because you planted in spring. Avoid late nitrogen that can delay bulb development. Adjust watering to rainfall and soil moisture instead of a rigid once-a-week rule; keep the bed moist during active growth without waterlogging it.
Keep a record of the variety and planting date so you can compare results next season. Check local harvest and curing guidance as the bulbs mature.
Image Source: here.
Regional reference: University of Minnesota Extension’s garlic guide. Its planting and feeding calendar is for Minnesota; use local extension advice for other climates.
