Garlic can be planted in the fall and will be ready for harvest in the early summer of the following year if you follow these basic guidelines.
Our favorite crop to raise is garlic. This is a perennial that we haven’t missed since we initially planted it in our first garden 11 years ago.
But that’s not all; we’ve been replanting the same seeds since the first bulbs we planted back in 2010. Garlic is not only simple to grow, but it improves with each year’s harvest as you pick out the best bulbs to transplant.
An essential ingredient in many cuisines thanks to its nutrient-packed pungent strength, garlic is essential. In most locations, it’s preferable to plant it in the fall. Planting, producing, and harvesting a superb crop of garlic is easy using Ben’s time-tested methods.
Garlic’s Ease of Gardening
In order to produce a high-quality garlic harvest, what are the necessary steps? That may very well be the most exciting aspect of all. Easy to sow and cultivate in the garden, garlic is one of the best crops to grow. It naturally repels most pests and requires minimal upkeep. Also, watering and fertilizer are not necessary very often.
Here’s a look at how to cultivate your own amazing harvest this fall, with a short video tutorial near the end.
What You Need To Know About Garlic Planting
For hard neck garlic in the Midwest and Northern states, the ideal time to plant is in the early fall. Planting season in Ohio begins in the early weeks of September.
This gives it time to establish itself in the cool temperatures for a few months. After that, it goes into hibernation for the winter, waking up again in the spring. By the end of June or the first week of July, it is usually ready for harvest.
Soaking The Garlic Seed Before Planting It.
A garlic bulb’s cloves are each like a seed. Once it’s planted, the bulb will begin to form.
We collect the largest bulbs in June and use them as “seeds” for the next year. In a nutshell, larger cloves mean larger mature bulbs when harvested. Siberian hard neck garlic is one of the varieties we plant here.
Each clove should be thoroughly separated before planting. Keep as much of the papery skin as possible intact at all times. Skin acts as a barrier for garlic until it sprouts, preventing it from decaying until then.
Pre-soaking the bulbs is a little-known technique.
Before planting, soak your bulbs overnight to help them sprout and grow well. Add a teaspoon of baking soda to a quart jar of water. Drop the cloves into the mixture and give it a good stir.
Garlic sprouts and ground rot are both avoided by this soaking method. Many parts of the country have a lot of rain in the fall, and a little extra protection for garlic can go a long way.
Preparation of the Ground
Garlic thrives on rich, well-drained soil, as do the majority of other vegetables. Compost should be added to the soil before planting in order to improve the quality of the soil.
Garlic thrives in a composted environment. In addition to supplying nutrients, it helps to loosen the soil, which promotes healthy bulb growth. With root crops, loose soil can make the difference between full-sized veggies and stunted crops.
Garlic Planting Guide
Traditional rows raised beds, or raised rows can all be used to plant garlic. Spacing is the key. Within rows, bulbs should be 4′′ apart, and between rows, they should be 4′′ apart.
Starting at the bottom, start by digging a 3 to the 4-inch trench. Add roughly an inch of compost to the trench’s bottom. When planting, gently press each bulb into the compost.
We next sprinkle a teaspoon of worm castings around each bulb as we plant it. Nutrients for the bulb are readily available from this source. For the past few years, our bulbs have been nothing short of spectacular! It’s a terrific little secret that will help you produce more bulbs.
Planting the Seeds
Garlic cloves should be planted with the pointed end up and the flat end down. The sprouting end of the seed is located at the tip of the seed.
Finish by covering the cloves with any residual soil and tamping it down. Do not tamp down the earth; instead, simply spread it out to fill the trench to the same level as the surrounding soil..
After planting, we cover our crops with a 1′′ layer of straw. This keeps weed seeds out of the soil while yet allowing the garlic to grow. The bulbs and mulch will settle in better if you water the crop after applying a light layer of mulch on top of them.
Pests/Diseases
- Unlike other vegetables, garlic does not have a problem with pests or diseases in the garden (in fact, it is an effective pesticide). One thing to watch out for is white rot, but you should also be on the lookout for onion bugs.
- Fungus White Rot attacks garlic when the temperature is cool and wet. There isn’t much you can do except rotate your crops and clean up the region after harvest to control or prevent that problem. The spores can remain dormant in the soil for a long time. The fungus attacks the roots and the base of the leaves.
Species to Consider
What kind of garlic should you grow? ” Softneck and Hardneck garlic are the two most common varieties.
If you live somewhere with particularly harsh winters, consider planting hard neck types. It is necessary to remove the “scapes,” or flower stems, that they create in order for the bulbs to grow to their full potential. In the early summer months, the scapes are a delectable addition to salads and stir-fries. One ring of cloves grows around a stem in hardneck variations; there is no layer of cloves in softneck forms. While hard necks may withstand freezing temperatures, they don’t keep as long or as well as other varieties. Softnecks have a more subdued flavor. Korean Red, Duganski, Siberian, Music, Chesnok Red, German Red, and Spanish Roja are some of the more common hard necks. Cloves of these types have both an underground bulb and a flowering stalk that produces miniature bulbs at the end.
The braided kinds are those with softnecks, which, as the name implies, remain soft after harvest. Because it is less winter-hardy than other sorts, softnecks are especially advised for those who live in warmer climates. In contrast to hardnecks, they have a more robust flavor and tend to produce larger bulbs because their energy isn’t being redirected to the bulblets at the top. “Silverskin,” “Inchelium Red,” “California Early,” and “California Late” are all examples of softneck types.
The huge Great-headed (Elephant) garlic behaves like a hardneck kind despite not being a true garlic. In spite of its diminutive stature, it packs a powerful punch. Once growth begins, most varieties can be harvested in around 90 days.
If you want a strong garlic flavor, stay away from great-headed (Elephant) garlic. In comparison to other types, this one is less hardy and more closely linked to leeks than any other. The flavor is onion-like rather than garlic-like. There are usually four cloves in each bulb.
The Secrets of Garlic Planting – Mulching for Weed Control and Winter Protection
During the fall, we apply a few more inches of straw mulch in order to protect the crop from the harsh winter weather. Shredded leaves are another option, but make sure to cover the crop with something to prevent weeds from growing.
Mulch growth might be hindered if weeds are allowed to take precedence. Garlic yields will be lower and the bulbs you harvest smaller if you have a weedy area.
Drought doesn’t seem to affect garlic too much. It will thrive if it receives an adequate amount of rain. During the fall, if the weather is exceptionally dry for more than 10 to 14 days, water the crop.
Garlic Planting Secrets for the Spring
As spring arrives, the garlic crop will emerge from its winter slumber and continue to flourish. A small amount of mulch is used in the spring to keep weeds at bay. Before harvesting, the only thing that needs to be done is to keep the weeds at bay.
Then, how can you know when to harvest garlic? Because of regional differences, harvest periods can vary. Early summer is when the crop’s tops start to turn brown. The garlic crop is ready for harvest and curing after two-thirds of the tops have browned off.
During the first few weeks of July, in east-central Ohio, this is the case most often. Depending on where you live, it might be anywhere from late June to late July.
To prepare it for storage, garlic must cure for a few weeks after it is harvested. You don’t want to remove your crop by washing it! To avoid premature decay, allow the soil surrounding the cloves to dry naturally.
