How to Plant Garlic
Garlic is simple to grow and a great crop for beginning gardeners. All you need to know are some simple tips on how to plant garlic and the best time to plant. After implementing the key guidelines, you’ll be on your way to an abundant garlic harvest!
Timing is EVERYTHING
The most important thing to know about garlic is when to plant. Garlic should be planted in the Fall, six weeks prior to ground freeze.
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The reason for planting prior to ground freeze is garlic does best when it can develop some roots and anchor itself before going into dormancy.
Note: Ground freeze is not the same thing as your first frost. There are several factors involved but the ground usually freezes after several consecutive hard frosts and when temperatures stay below freezing all day.
In northern states, the best time to plant is around mid October. A good way to remember the time is to plant garlic on or around Columbus Day.
On the other hand, southern states can plant after October 15th. However, even as a southern gardener it’s best to plant by the end of November at the latest.
Where to Buy Garlic Bulbs for Planting
A successful garlic harvest starts with high quality, healthy, and robust seed. Consequently, the best garlic is found online, locally, or at a farmers market.
A company that specializes in selling seed garlic is a safe bet. I like Keene and The Farm on Central.
Garlic purchased from a grocery store isn’t recommended. For more details on why, see the FAQ section below.
It’s also important to know what kind of garlic to buy. Here is some info on hardneck vs softneck garlic.
How to Plant Garlic | Step by Step
I’ve put together a very basic guide of how to plant garlic below. Please read the notes after the steps for important additional information.
How to Plant Garlic
- Buy quality garlic seed
- Separate garlic bulbs into cloves
- Sterilize and do a fertilization soak (OPTIONAL- see below for steps)
- Make holes or a furrow in the ground. A 3 inch deep hole is generally sufficient. This allows for around a two inch garlic tall clove and around one inch of soil over top. Plant garlic 6-9 inches apart.
- Plant garlic pointy side up.
- Cover with soil. No more than 1 inch.
- Add 3-6 inches of mulch on the garlic. The ideal mulch is straw, but other options include chopped leaves, compost, wood chip mulch, hay, or other shredded organic material. Heavy mulches like compost and wood chip mulch should be applied to a 3 inch maximum depth. In cold, northern climates, lighter mulches like straw and chopped leaves should be applied at the full 6 inch depth.
Additional Planting Notes:
- Mulch is essential and cannot be skipped. Compost counts as a mulch too.
- I personally do not plant garlic based on a simple formula of “3 inches deep” stated above. This is because garlic sizes vary widely and I’ve had better success adjusting each planting hole to fit the size of the garlic. It’s more important to be consistent with how much soil covers the tip of the garlic. For southern areas, a ½ inch of soil covering garlic tips is the sweet spot -especially if you are working with clay soil. In northern areas the soil freezes. Therefore it’s better to cover garlic with an inch of soil. Again, mulch is essential and the planting depth is based on the assumption you will add mulch.
- Most sources say to leave the papery skin on the garlic to help prevent rotting. However, you can plant it with or without the skin with success. We personally leave ours with the skin on but always have a few where it will fall off. They all grow just fine.
Sterilization and Fertilization Soak (Optional Pre-planting step)
Sterilizing and fertilizing the garlic is optional. However, it’s a very common practice for garlic seed growers. Garlic seed companies need to grow high quality, large garlic year after year. I learned about this process from Keene Garlic and I tried it myself this year.
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Why do an extra step?
Sterilizing the garlic kills mites and other microscopic bugs on the garlic. Additionally, It can kill possible surface fungal spores.
The next step, soaking the garlic in a liquid fertilizer gives the garlic a boost in growth.
How to sterilize garlic:
- Place garlic in a bowl with sterilizing liquid (options below).
- Immerse all cloves in liquid and let soak for 10 minutes, then drain.
Options for sterilizing the garlic:
- Isopropyl Alcohol 70%
- Cheap Vodka
- Hydrogen Peroxide 3%
Do not dilute any of these sterilizers. You can soak garlic in batches and keep reusing the liquid.
How to do a fertilization soak:
- Place garlic in a bowl of diluted liquid fertilizer. Follow the recommended dilution rate on the side of the fertilizer. For example, the fish emulsion fertilizer I use says to use 2 tablespoons of fish emulsion for every 1 gallon of water.
- Let soak for at least 30 minutes or up to 12 hours. Drain, then plant.
Examples of fertilizer options:
- Fish emulsion
- Kelp meal
- Compost tea
I also use a soil prebiotic called Ultra in addition to the fertilizer but it’s optional. (Use code BECKYTSH for a discount)
Frequently Asked Questions
No, it’s perfectly normal to see some growth on the garlic before spring. This is especially true in southern areas where the ground doesn’t freeze, or doesn’t freeze until January or February.
In these areas, a little bit of green is actually a good sign because that means the garlic has put down roots and is growing well. Even in northern areas, sometimes a warm spell can mean a little bit of green growth occurs above ground.
Fall green growth will die off in cold climates but don’t worry, it will resprout in the Spring!
It’s possible to plant garlic in the Spring but it’s not recommended. Here are a few things to know:
The garlic bulb will be small.
It may not even develop into a bulb because it will not go through a cold period. You can mimic a cold period by putting garlic in the refrigerator for at least 3 weeks prior to planting.
It will be very difficult to find good quality garlic seed to plant in Spring.
A garlic harvest is better than no garlic at all. However, if you really want to grow garlic and have it be worth the time and effort, wait and plant in the fall.
Planting garlic from the grocery store is not recommended for several reasons. One reason is because it is often treated so it doesn’t sprout.
Another reason not to plant grocery store garlic is it’s generally small. Small garlic will likely produce the same size or even smaller heads of garlic after growing.
It’s also not tested for diseases so you could be bringing home disease to your garden.
All that said, I’ve had several people tell me that they have successfully grown garlic purchased from a grocery store. Try it at your own risk 🙂
Ready to harvest? Here’s information on how to harvest, cure, and store garlic for long term storage.
