How to Plant & Take Care of Garlic
- 1). Choose the garlic variety. Garlic comes in three types with many varieties afforded each one. Softneck garlic sports large bulbs with 12 to 20 cloves and a mild flavor. This strain of garlic grows best where winters are mild. Softnecks keep up to eight months in a cool, dry environment. Hardneck garlic produces medium to large bulbs with six to 12 cloves, which taste spicy-sweet. Store hardnecks, which grow well in colder climates, for three to eight months where the temperature does not rise above 40 degrees. Some elephant garlic varieties produce baseball-size bulbs with four to six cloves. Elephant or buffalo garlic cloves produce a mild flavor and roast well, and are hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 5 if provided with heavy mulch in the wintertime.
- 2). Select an area of the garden that gets a minimum of six hours sun daily. Prepare the autumn garlic bed garlic bed after the first frost of the year by tilling or digging the area 12 inches deep. Rake a 1-inch layer of mature compost into the row. Incorporate a light dusting of wood ashes if a soil test indicates an acidic soil. Garlic production requires a well-drained soil high in organic material with a pH level between 6.0 and 7.5. Check with the local extension agent for information about resources available for soil testing.
- 3). Plant garlic cloves in the fall for best results. Garlic planting can occur in early spring as soon as the ground is workable, with less-than-optimum harvest. Garlic growers claim success with plantings as early as September and as late as Thanksgiving. Wait until the last minute before separating bulbs into individual cloves suitable for planting. Separate the cloves by gently pulling them apart with your fingers. Hoe the prepared row approximately 4 inches deep, placing cloves, pointed end up, 8 inches apart. Allow at least 18 inches between rows. After setting the cloves in the furrow, fill the row with 3 to 5 inches of soil and mulch. Garlic grows quickly after fall planting, setting roots before the winter freeze, and resuming growth in April. To prevent damage from winter thaws and refreezing, mulch the bed with 4 to 6 inches of straw. When growth is spied in early spring, pull the mulch back to facilitate thawing and growth.
- 4). Harvest garlic's green tops in early spring. Cut them off using a sharp pair of scissors or pruning shears. Use the tops in recipes in the same ways as you would use the garlic cloves. Gardeners may also pull a few early bulbs for use as garlic scallions. If you planted a hardneck variety, look for a round stalk or scape, which generally shoots up in mid June. When the scapes curl, snap them off. This practice directs energy to producing garlic bulbs. Since the scapes contain garlic oil, don't throw them away; instead use them just as you would the bulbs. Bulb harvest occurs in July when the green leaves begin dieing from the bottom up. Harvest when the weather is dry and four leaves of the plants are dead and the remaining five are green.
- 5). Handle garlic with care when curing and preparing for storage. When digging bulbs, use a garden fork and place the freshly dug product in the shade away from the damaging rays of the sun. Cure garlic for two weeks before storing by placing the bulbs out of the sun on racks in a shed, barn or garage where they get good airflow. When cured, braid some of the foliage and hang in the kitchen for ease of use, taking care to keep the temperature between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, at low humidity. If hanging in other storage areas, place the braids where temperatures range between 32 and 35 F. If not braiding, remove stalks and place bulbs in airtight containers.
