Plan ahead
Planting Garlic: What to Know First
Garlic is the one you plant in fall and harvest the next summer. A little planning now, in the middle of summer, sets you up for fat bulbs later. Here is what to know before you plant.
The short answer: garlic goes in during fall, roots over winter, and comes out the following summer. Buy seed garlic rather than grocery bulbs, pick hardneck for cold winters (big cloves, edible scapes) or softneck for mild ones and longer storage, and plant cloves pointy end up, about 2 in deep and 6 in apart.
Garlic runs on a long clock
Most vegetables are a season. Garlic is nearly a year. You plant cloves in fall, they root and rest through winter, and they size up into bulbs by the following summer. It's the signature member of September's overwintering category. That long runway is why it is worth thinking about now, before the good seed garlic sells out. Onions run on a long clock too, and the variety choice matters even more.
Buy seed garlic, not the grocery kind
Plant garlic sold as seed garlic, from a nursery or seed supplier. Supermarket garlic is often treated to stop it sprouting and may not suit your conditions. Seed garlic comes in named varieties, which brings us to the choice worth making.
Hardneck vs. softneck: how to choose
- Hardneck varieties handle cold winters well and send up a curling scape in spring that you can eat. They tend to have big, easy-to-peel cloves.
- Softneck varieties store longer and do better in mild-winter areas. These are the ones you can braid.
How deep and how far apart
When your window opens in fall, plant cloves pointy end up, about 2 in deep and 6 in apart, then mulch. Verna will flag that window for where you garden, so you are not guessing at the date.
Quick questions
When should I plant garlic?
In fall, once your window opens, so the cloves can root before winter and size up into bulbs by the following summer. The right weeks differ a lot by climate, and ordering is a late-summer job either way, before the good seed garlic sells out.
Can I plant garlic from the grocery store?
Better not to. Supermarket garlic is often treated to stop it sprouting, and it may not suit your conditions. Seed garlic from a nursery or seed supplier comes in named hardneck and softneck varieties, which is where the real choice lives.
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