Growing Garlic

Allium sativum : Amaryllidaceae / the onion family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N 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

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16 Apr 23, Michelle (USA - Zone 9b climate)
In my zone, because it's warm, you need to do cold stratification in the frig before planting. I tried before with store garlic and it didn't work, now I bought softneck, put in the frig a few weeks and they are doing great.
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07 Dec 22, Paula (USA - Zone 10a climate)
I have never chilled mine and they do okay. I don't know the type as I have as I started with grocery store bulbs, but I have read that soft neck varieties do better in warm climates.
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04 Dec 22, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Probably make no difference. The thing is to use mature aged bulbs. Fresh new bulbs may not be as good as bulbs that have been out of the ground for a few months.
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16 Oct 22, Holly (USA - Zone 5b climate)
Can I plant garlic bulbs in pots (that will remain outside throughout winter) in zone 5b?
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20 Oct 22, (USA - Zone 5b climate)
If you can grow it in the ground you can grow it in a pot usually.
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14 Oct 22, David Kalet (USA - Zone 10a climate)
I just moved to Naples Florida. I am looking for hard neck and soft neck varieties that would grow here. I am thinking that planting on December 21 and harvesting June 21 maybe a good start. It doesn't get frosty here, but perhaps vernalizing the bulbs in the refrigerator for 40 days may work. Appreciate any thoughts.
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18 Nov 22, Ruth A Hersh (USA - Zone 9a climate)
Garlic grows GREAT here in Florida, but only the soft neck varieties, & you must give them 8 weeks artificial winter in a refrigerator prior to planting. Preferably one without ripening fruit as they put off gasses that can hurt your garlic whilst chilling.
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06 Nov 22, Dave in California Zone 10A (USA - Zone 10a climate)
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.
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20 Oct 22, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
If you had looked up Garlic for your CLIMATE ZONE 10a you would see that they do not recommend any planting time. You don't have the climate for it, is what that says.
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18 Nov 22, Ruth A Hersh (USA - Zone 9a climate)
Garlic grows fine in zone 10 as long as you refrigerate aka false winter it for 8 weeks prior to planting, & it MUST BE Softneck in zones 9 & 10.
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This is a transcript of a article on growing garlic in central Australia (desert). It is on ABC Rural News and may be a help to you. Trials reveal potential for garlic-growing in Northern Territory Posted 7 Oct 2016 MAP: Alice Springs 0870 A trial exploring the capabilities of seven garlic varieties in the red centre is showing some early positive results. Seven varieties of garlic are being trialled at the Northern Territory's Arid Zone Research Institute (AZRI), alongside the standard industry garlic variety, Glen Large. The Alice Springs environment will demonstrate how varieties that have never been grown commercially in the Northern Territory respond to extreme cold and extreme heat. Central Australian Horticulture Development Project manager and researcher Stuart Smith said despite challenges such as poor water quality, the results so far had been positive. "We're hoping, because we're just south of the Tropic of Capricorn, we're just a bit a little subtropical, that we're in the right area," he said. "We've got the right heat profile, right day length and we're able to grow some good bulbs. "If it'll grow here, it'll grow anywhere. "Central Australia is a bit isolated from the rest of Australia so it doesn't have the pests and diseases of the other garlic-growing areas." Plan to get garlic onto market early in season Mr Smith believes there is a market opportunity for garlic that grows early in the traditional growing season. We thought we could get a few varieties to come early on the market, so we can get some good prices for them and replace the imported garlic," he said. The first successful harvested trial crop has reached a stage of maturity that would be ready for market. "It's got a code name called AF. We're getting some good-sized bulbs out of this," Mr Smith said. "I estimate we're getting 6-8 tonnes per hectare." The DPI's Stuart Smith and agriculture minister Ken Vowles stand in a field of garlic PHOTO: Stuart Smith and Primary Industries Minister Ken Vowles discuss the garlic crop trial near Alice Springs. (ABC Rural: Katrina Beaven) Mr Smith said the early trial results were encouraging despite poor water quality and salty soils. "We have to keep watering them pretty constantly to keep moving the salt out of the root zone," he said. "The water we're using at AZRI is pretty low quality. "Most of the water other people are using in horticulture around the Central Australian region is a lot better quality than this." Mr Smith said the research results would also add value to what was being learned by a grower at Orange Creek Station, south of Alice Springs, who is conducting a commercial garlic trial this year.

- John

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. Gardenate is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.
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