Growing Garlic

Allium sativum : Amaryllidaceae / the onion family

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
								P	P

(Best months for growing Garlic in USA - Zone 5a regions)

P = Plant cloves

September: Garlic can overwinter. Cover with a good layer of mulch . In areas where frost persists into March/ April, expect to harvest your garlic in June/July.

October: Garlic can overwinter. Cover with a good layer of mulch . In areas where frost persists into March/ April, expect to harvest your garlic in June/July.

Easy to grow. Plant cloves. Best planted at soil temperatures between 50°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
Space plants: 4 - 5 inches apart
Harvest in 17-25 weeks.
Compatible with (can grow beside): Beets, Carrots, Cucumbers, Dill, Tomatoes, Parsnips
Avoid growing close to: Asparagus, Beans, Brassicas, Peas, Potatoes

Your comments and tips

26 May 09, patsy (Australia - temperate climate): I have just put in my cloves but this time in large pots where tomatoes have just finished up. Soil was well fertilised home made from compost with added magnesium. Cloves are Australian as the Chinese are apparently bleached. Looking forward to great garlic, fingers crossed. Good for the chooks too. Natural wormer:)
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20 May 09, David (Australia - temperate climate): Kembo: Power feed? something like seaweed solution? If so then you are wasting money! To make strong garlic water less frequently, when the cloves start to form let the plant dry out a couple of times. Not sure why you would want to though? Wet sweet garlic straight from the garden is superb.
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18 May 09, Sandy (Australia - temperate climate): I may be moving house shortly, but would still like a crop of garlic this year. Can I plant garlic in pots, so I can take the plants with me? Selfishly, I don't want to leave them for the next occupants! Thanks.
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11 May 09, kembo (Australia - temperate climate): Have planted a few cloves of garlic and they're sprouting nicely but wondering what else they need in the way of fertilizer. We power feed every 3 or so days and water regularly. Soils pretty good. We want to make sure they're good and pungent when they're ready to eat, any hints?
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04 May 09, Barb Burnet (Australia - cool/mountain climate): I have planted 2500 garlic cloves in prepared raised ( well drained soil) with lots of grass mulch . 4weeks later little shoots appearing daily. Needs warm sun and plenty rain.Good luck.
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19 Apr 09, kembo (Australia - temperate climate): thanks for all the tips, haven't tried garlic but we love it so we're looking forward to growing our own :)
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18 Apr 09, brenda (Australia - sub-tropical climate): The website of the organic garlic growers I bought my garlic from is www.snog.com.au They do mail order. (Super Natural Organic Garlic) Good luck.
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18 Apr 09, brenda (Australia - sub-tropical climate): On the Gold Coast at present try to buy organic Australian garlic at the farmers markets. I just bought some in Noosa, so they should have it on the Coast.
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13 Apr 09, Patricia (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Hi Steve, I'm in Canberra and I didn't peel the individual cloves.
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13 Apr 09, Gerry (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Steve, no you don't need to peel garlic cloves before planting, just break up the head and plant individual cloves. Paula, try any specialty shop like spice shops, asian grocers, delicatessens, markets etc, you should be able to get decent local stuff for $30/kg or less. I have an arrangement with a small local supermarket who sell local garlic. They keep all of the loose cloves from the bottom of the garlic bin for me to buy less than 1/2 price.
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Replying to:

David, I also live in Zone 10A but in California (hot and dry, average 10 inches of rain per year), and please IGNORE the Aussie who thinks we do not check our Zone 10A recommendations. I have been container gardening here for a couple years and am still learning, with notable mistakes being not knowing correct planting/harvesting times (I now use this website over anything on a seed package), overcrowding, and overwatering. I have successfully grown garlic in Zone 10A, from store bought garlic cloves that were sprouting tiny green shoots, and they produced but the heads and cloves were only about half the size as the original store-bought, which might be caused by the climate, or more likely from be the mistakes I was making trying to grow new things like crowding, overwatering, and not knowing when to plant or harvest. Anyway, give growing garlic a try and my best advice is to avoid overwatering. I had a lot of cloves rot instead of growing and I think it was because of overwatering. After doing more research I'm trying to grow garlic again by planting some in NOV, and some in DEC, and really monitoring the watering. Even though my garlic was half sized, it still tastes great, so I would rather have half sized garlic I can grow myself than not growing garlic.

- Dave in California Zone 10A

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Growing Garlic

Allium sativum : Amaryllidaceae / the onion family

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Keep your garden growing - see what to plant right now

Growing Garlic

Allium sativum : Amaryllidaceae / the onion family

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