Learn how to grow garlic & harvest garlic successfully

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You can learn how to grow garlic!

It isn’t hard to learn how to grow garlic. And, this is one of the most rewarding crops gardeners can grow. But, getting it to produce big bulbs that store well takes timing and patience.

We’ve been growing our own garlic for decades.

Because we’ve been growing our own garlic successfully for years, we have lots of practice. And that means we’ve got great info to help you choose, plant, harvest, cure and preserve a great crop.

Following are a few more than five simple things to know to grow garlic just about anywhere:

First, which type of garlic do you want to grow?

Garlic comes in two basic varieties. These are hard neck and soft neck. Plus, there’s the elephant kind. But, that’s not even really garlic, so we won’t get into it here.

You might choose soft necks because they are easier to braid. And, they often store longer than hard necks will.

Or, you might want to learn how to grow the hard neck form. That’s because this garlic is extra tasty. And, it may be easier to peel. Plus, hard neck garlic produces two crops. They grow garlic scapes. And, they also produce bulbs.

The best varieties of garlic to grow include:

We thought you might like to know which varieties of garlic we believe are best. That’s because we’ve grown several varieties of both soft and hard neck garlic over the years. And in that time we’ve winnowed our favorites down to just a few.

Some garlic varieties we love best include:

Great Hard neck garlic varieties:

Chesnock: This variety produces several large cloves as well as a few smaller ones surrounding the inner “hard neck”. It is great to roast!

Metechi: This garlic variety produces big purple, striped cloves with about 6-8 big cloves per bulb. They’re richly flavored and store quite well for a hard neck.

Musik/Music: This garlic variety produces huge cloves with only about 4-5 cloves surrounding the inner “hard neck”. The cloves are easy to peel & the flavor spicy-hot.

Soft neck garlic we like to grow:

Inchellium Red: This soft neck varieties was originally found in Washington state. It produces several smaller cloves that cure and store well.

When to plant garlic in your garden:

In the Northern Hemisphere, garlic is planted in fall, not spring. So, being prepared for that is really important. And that includes ordering your garlic “seed” in summer. In fact, ordering it as early as possible in summer should mean you’ll be able to get exactly the kind of garlic you want. If you wait too long, favorites will likely sell out before planting time arrives.

How to order seed garlic right now:

Order your garlic now from Renee’s Garden Seeds via this affiliate link & help support us!

It won’t cost you anything extra to make your purchase this way. However, when you purchase via our affiliate links, we’ll receive a small percentage payment. These payments go a long way toward helping us bring you free helpful gardening articles like this one. So, thanks!

How to grow garlic in small or large gardens:

We’ve successfully grown abundant garlic crops in pots. But you need really big containers for this to work.

Growing garlic in containers comes with some added benefits:

1. You can move your garlic around to chase the sun.
2. You can easily tuck it away from rotting rains too.
3. You don’t have to give up in-ground gardening bed space for months & months.

But, as with anything you grow in a pot, your space will be limited. So, your garlic harvest may also be smaller as well.

So, we do prefer to grow garlic directly in the planet. That way, it can reach deep to draw the nutrients and water it needs to really plump up.

Can I plant garlic in the same place every year?

Ideally, garlic should not be planted in the same bed every year. Instead, try to plant you garlic in a different location each year. Then, after at least 2-3 years, garlic can be replanted in a prior planting location.

Why should I move my garlic planting location each year?

Moving where you plant garlic (or any crop) is called “crop rotation”. This refers to rotating (or changing) one crop for another following the first crop’s harvest.

Rotating crops improves your garden and your harvests in a few ways including:

• Different crops deplete or add to the soil, so changing what is growing in a bed helps keep soil balanced.
• Keeping the same crop in the same place may build up disease issues. So, for instance, if your garlic grew rust this year and you replant garlic, you might perpetuate the rust disease issue.
• Pests may come to know what to expect in your garden bed if you grow the same thing over and over again. And that can lead to long-term problems keeping them away.

How long garlic takes to mature:

Garlic remains in the ground around 9 months before the bulbs are harvested. That means you need to have a garden bed ready for it in autumn. And, that spot won’t be available again for other crops until the following summer sometime.

But homegrown garlic is worth giving up the garden space. However, if you don’t have a lot of in-ground area to dedicate to this long-growing crop, keep reading for more solutions!

When to harvest garlic at the perfect moment:

First, you’ll want to know when to harvest garlic scapes from hard neck garlic. Soft neck garlic does not produce garlic scapes.

In late spring, garlic scapes show themselves. That’s because they’re flower shoots that rise up from the center of hard neck garlic.  So, when you see them rise up and begin to curl, snip them out. They’re delicious!

But, knowing when to harvest garlic bulbs is a little trickier. The first thing to look for is browning bottom leaves. But, just because the plant is browning doesn’t always mean it’s ready to dig. That’s because sometimes leaves will brown prematurely if they are stressed or under watered. So, you may choose to pull one to test the crop status.

And, don’t wait too long. If you do, the heads will move into a growth phase that won’t be good for curing or storing. That’s because the tight bulbs begin to burst from the protective layers that become papery when you store garlic. And once that bursting begins, soil and moisture gets into the cloves of garlic. So that means curing is near impossible, and your garlic won’t dry for storage.

How to cure your garlic for long storage:

If your garlic grew into perfect bulbs that didn’t split open, curing comes next. First, dust off (or rinse if you must) as much dirt as you can from the bulbs.  But try not to get them really wet. Then hang them bulb side down to dry in a warm, dark spot. (If you want garlic braids, braid them and then hang them to dry.)

Don’t dry them in the sun!

You can use the garlic fresh, before it’s dried. But, properly dried garlic will keep for months.

Once your garlic has dried, you can store it as is, hanging. Or cut off the tops and store just the bulbs. Either way, keep it in a dark, dry spot for best storage.

Need more detailed garlic growing instructions?

We get it. Garlic growing can be a bit confusing. So we’re here to help with garden coaching solutions and online programs.

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