Growing Garlic

Plant in the fall and you’ll find that your bulbs are bigger and more flavorful when you harvest the next summer. Garlic grows best in rich, well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter  such "chicken manure " and free of weeds.How to grow garlic

Looks nice. With enough space looks like you can propagate lots of garlic!

My clay soil stays heavy even when I mix in lots organic matter, and also gets lots of competition from other plants that flourish in winter rain. I’ll try it in pots next time as mine didn’t grow at all previously.

I have lots of compost, leaf mould and aged horse manure for a potting soil, and unlimited styrofoam broccoli boxes (35 litres/9 gallons) to grow things in.

Tim I’ve done great with clay soils with deep wood chips during the fall through spring. I remulch when the tops are killed back lightly. When the bulbs are harvested  in early summer i grow melons in the same bed. Onions too. Made a movie. Sorry thumb typing.

https://permies.com/t/127043/Wood-chip-fall-onions

This is my first year growing garlic.  I must have misinterpreted something I read, or watched because I thought I was suppose to divide the cloves, which is right, but I thought I was suppose to peel the paperish shell off too, which is wrong.  Do you think they will still grow, or should I buy more and plant again?

Jen, as long as they start actively growing very soon I.e. good planting schedule they should be fine. If you have issues with slugs or borers you might lose a bunch. I’m way too lazy to do anything but divide them but I’ve had some that were actively growing and had broken out of their paper and they did well.

Garlic planting coincides with the falling of leaves, so this makes it easy to apply a thick layer of mulch if mulch - an alternative to the wood chip method. The garlic will poke through the leaves, don't worry. Garlic competes badly with weeds, and a thick mulch layer should be a big help against those weeds. Try keep a layer on until late spring, then make sure it's gone for the last 4 to 6 weeks until harvest, because the bulb growth needs warmth, so you don't want an insulating layer at that point, you want instead the sun to warm up the soil. I'm a heavy clay gardener as well, alliums in general cope well with clay. Although the pots you're mentioning seem big enough to do a good job as well. Small pots are definitely to be avoided, as they can easily get to dry, to wet, give more swings between hot and cold, and this'll mean the garlic plants get stressed easily. And of course plant food will run out easily. But 35 ltrs sounds ample, and shouldn't give these problems.
Be aware that within the garlic species there are groups of varieties with very different climate needs. Garlic can grow in very diverse climates, but the varieties that do a great job in, say, Alaska, will be different varieties from the ones people grow in Morocco. In that respect the differences between different garlics are far greater than the differences between different potatoes, or beans, or name any crop and the differences won't be as big. While visually garlic bulbs all look more or less similar. This may also be why garlic sometimes fails; not having the right type for the climate you're in, because you thought garlic was garlic.        

Mulch will help to prevent the garlic roots from being heaved out of the ground by alternate freezing and thawing!

When garlic leaves begin to grow, it's so important to feed the plants to encourage good bulbs growth!

I use composted chicken manure to fertilize my garlic. Composted chicken manure not only helps to build the health of the soil by adding organic matter and increasing water holding capacity but it also acts as a fantastic fertilizer adding vital nutrients.Organic Fertilizer

Chokri Hizem wrote:I use composted chicken manure to fertilize my garlic. Composted chicken manure not only helps to build the health of the soil by adding organic matter and increasing water holding capacity but it also acts as a fantastic fertilizer adding vital nutrients.Organic Fertilizer

I attended a talk by an organic fertiliser company and they said that the smaller the animal’s digestive tract, the better quality manure they make for fertiliser. So you’re onto a good idea by using chicken manure.

Does the nitrogen stop bulbs from growing well like it does to fruit and vegetables from flowers?

I grow garlic to use the greens- snipping them off every so often.
Is there any different approach I need to consider as opposed to growing them for the bulbs?

It'll mean that you can plant almost any time you want. For bulbs you're bound to a particular time path, including a decent spell of exposure to cold. You wouldn't need to worry about that at all if it's just the greens you're going for. Any season you can plant, I suppose.
Personally I'm just familiar with growing for bulbs, but I've understood varieties in the Turban group of garlic grow fastest, so they might be a good choice. The Artichoke group makes quite broad leaves, that might also be something to consider. Or getting Elephant garlic if you can; big foliage there. I know people who'll use some of their Elephant garlic plants purely for the greens.
Maybe it'll also be interesting to plant bulbils for greens. With bulbils I mean of course the aerial bulbils which grow from the infertile flower heads of garlic. Some varieties may produce too small greens, and I don't know every variety, there are hundreds after all, but I've seen my Pskem, a Marbled Purple Stripe, grow relatively large plants from bulbils. The advantage with growing from bulbils would of course be, that if you let one plant develop its scape, you're left with lots of free bulbils.  

ive got either wild garlic or it was planted decades ago

comes back every year and i harvest some, not all, in the spring after seed pods break open

i only bought some because they were at the local ag supply store- it is late spring here, which is totally not the time I would expect to plant garlic. But I put them in and they're growing, so I guess it's working.
I will try to leave some to get bulbils, that's a great idea. As for kinds, unfortunately here we have only one kind of garlic (typical for all our veggies, I can only get varieties if I bring in seeds from abroad), but I guess at least i know it's suited to the region!

Beautiful, Bruce!!! ^mouth watering^

Saw this beautiful video for planting garlic!



Locally we can plant garlic in the fall or in the spring with very little difference in the final bulb (although fall planted ones do better in the drought).  

Garlic is such a valuable companion plant I plant it all over the place next to other plants, not just in a zone by itself.    It improves soil and does a great root exchange with most plants.   The charts say don't do beans with garlic, but I haven't found that to be a problem, I just don't put a lot.

The baddest (meaning best!) stuff is elephant garlic, and while it is milder than others, it puts off so many little bulblets that stay alive in dry clay soil, and shoot up into full-blown plants the second year.  The very tall purple flowers don't get any bugs on them, the way onion and chive flowers do.   It also stops gophers.  It's a little hard to pay that high price for the first bulb, but I have at least 100 of them growing around, especially around fruit trees to stop the gophers.

sounds like removing the scapes would solve that elephant garlic mini-bulbil issue. are there actually flowers on the flower heads? no bugs and lots of bulbils sounds like they’re doing only asexual reproduction. i haven’t grown elephant garlic, only ‘normal’ hardneck varieties, so take that with a grain of salt. no (or very few) true flowers is something you see in many hardneck varieties.

Greg, the bulbils  that start new plants are a good thing in my garden.  I bought 1 elephant garlic bulb about 10 years ago, and have intentionally planted them next to other plants and fruit trees because it is such a good companion plant, the gophers go around.  

I did not mean it was invasive.  It's not.  It's some of the best stuff out there, plenty to cook with, plenty to improve the garden with.  These pictures in this thread show garlic all growing in the same spot.  I was just pointing out that growing it all over the place has even more good uses.   I've tried other types of garlic, which do okay, but the elephant garlic comes up every time and does really well in drought conditions.

gotcha. baddest means goodest.

greg mosser wrote:gotcha. baddest means goodest.

Oh, yeah...sorry!

Radishes & Garlic are easy to grow.
I plant my garlic six inches apart, one inch deep in a raised bed in Fall & mulch when the garlic blades are one to two inches high.
I harvest when the blades are one third dry, from the bottom up & I remove the bloom buds, I gave away what I can not use.
I like a little heat in my garlic, but no heat in my peppers, pepper heat stay to long.

"The raw taste is strong with a nice hotness that is not unpleasant. A good salsa garlic or salad warmer. NOTE: Maximum allowable order size for this variety is 5 lbs."
https://filareefarm.com/georgian-fire/

Cristo Balete wrote:Garlic is such a valuable companion plant I plant it all over the place next to other plants, not just in a zone by itself.    It improves soil and does a great root exchange with most plants.   The charts say don't do beans with garlic, but I haven't found that to be a problem, I just don't put a lot.

The baddest (meaning best!) stuff is elephant garlic, and while it is milder than others, it puts off so many little bulblets that stay alive in dry clay soil, and shoot up into full-blown plants the second year.  The very tall purple flowers don't get any bugs on them, the way onion and chive flowers do.   It also stops gophers.  It's a little hard to pay that high price for the first bulb, but I have at least 100 of them growing around, especially around fruit trees to stop the gophers.

That's great to know about elephant garlic stopping gophers. We have tons of gopher holes all over and I'm a bit concerned about what they will do to our plants. We just moved to this property last June, and it was mostly just a big huge lawn for many years. I bought and planted a few elephant garlic bulbs around my brassicas this last fall, mainly because I thought they were so cool, and to try and confuse bugs. They were $3 per bulb at my local natural foods store, so I am glad to know they will reproduce well.

Does regular garlic repel gophers, or just the elephant garlic?

I usually pick the largest cloves for planting in fall, medium ones for cooking and use the greens off the small cloves. I plant them densely in a flower pot by the window and get two crops, first one just the leaves and the second one as shallots. Every other week I start a batch. It is also something enjoyable to see green things growing in winter. I also grow them in the dark, that way the leaves are yellow, but sweet and tender.

Hello Permie mates, im in southeast Australia. Long time reader, first time responder. Id like to share my experience of Garlic growing. Our region has hot summers and cooler than average temps in winter than a lot of the state of Victoria and is very dry. We are off grid, we have stand alone solar power with battery storage and 100000lt of tank space for drinking water and 25000lt of dam water storage to water our gardens comprising of 2 cracked concrete 25000 litre tanks that can only hold half capacity before they leak out. We have a good catchment into our dams from the bush. Some years like this La Nina year are great for catchment although our last 8 weeks have been extremely warm and dry. But I digress. Garlic...Last year I thought i was smart and planted early, as the weather was still warm i continued the garden watering regime that led to my garlic plantings all rotting in the ground, which i found extremely confusing because in previous years, leaving it late to harvest and the dried leaves dying off and making it impossible to find the grown garlic, I just left it in the ground and it sprouted the following year, although im unsure how much i may have lost due to rotting. So, a later planting of garlic ensued and produced a wonderful crop of this years garlic. Im going to give some pot growing a go this year, seems strange to be thinking about planting when i havent thought about preserving the last lot yet, which i will slice in the mandolin slicer and dehydrate. in betweek processing tomatoes, eggplant, beans and zucchinis. Take care Permies

My garlic did grow, the bulbs were on the small side, but the cloves were pretty big, so I consider it a win.
This year I planted much earlier. I actually built a raised bed just for my garlic.  Did plant garlic on one side and onions on the other, and a few volunteer borage.  I'm very into mass planting, and planting a variety of veggies, herbs, and flowers. In my garlic bed I also planted peas, lettuce, pansies, stock, and calendula.  It looks beautiful, and everything seems to be growing well.

I recently read garlic hates companions, and should be planted by itself.  I was wondering if anyone has experience with this.  Have I made a mistake?  What's done is done, but now I'm curious what I can expect.  Thanks

I am thinking of mulching with rice hulls this Fall.
This will be for my garlic & onions, I think the small hulls will not interfere with growth of bulbs.
Maybe some Fall radishes, also.
https://www.amleo.com/rice-hull-bale-7-cubic-feet/p/RHB7

I live in an area that grows a lot of rice. I have thought about using the hulls for mulch. It seems like a great mulch. Light weight, takes a while to break down I can get them pretty cheap, the only thing that has kept me from it is the wind.  We get some pretty strong winds here and there, and I was afraid the rice hulls would just blow away.  I'm very interested to see how it works for you. I hope you post results.  Thanks

Garlic scape season! The scapes are so delicious I like them better than the bulbs.

When the scape emerges and starts to curl, it's time to harvest. Some people may use a pin,  I usually just squeeze at the base, between the lowest two leaves. When you feel the snap, the whole length of scape will come out easily. Do it in the morning when plants are hydrated and scapes are crispy.

Edited to add: now I changed my way of harvesting scapes to pulling them when the end of cap is 2-3 inches from the leaves. I can do this with one hand and standing up. The scapes is more tender and the garlics waste less energy growing.

Haha I live in zone 3 and garlic is just beginning to emerge.

I always grow it under a thick layer of mulch and have found that after a few years the generations get better and punching through it. I don't water it because it's protected by so much mulch, and I don't add anything to the soil apart from the mulch.

I'll use straw, hay, or leaves. Whatever I can find.

Last year we had some volunteer potatoes show up in a garlic bed and the garlic were really happy about that so this year we will be interplanting potatoes with some garlic to see if it also helps keep the deer off the potatoes.

This is the first year we tried garlic (planted last fall). Just got the scapes (have to figure out what to do with them) which is so fun! There was also a row that seemed to just be wilting in the last few weeks. Not completely dried leaves, but absolutely just...fell over. So I did pull those and some of the bulbs even looked decently big, so I'm pretty happy about that. I used some for soup last night and it's kinda amazing how easy it is to de-paper fresh cloves.  Anyway, quite pleased with how things have gone so far, and looking forward to the rest of the garlic to be ready for harvest! (I'm of Italian descent, we basically survive on garlic).

Oh, question: has anyone tried dehydrating things like garlic in an air fryer? We planted soooo much garlic and were thinking of turning some into garlic powder, but we don't have a dehydrator (I say we - I share the garden with my mom who lives nearby and she has an air fryer).

Hi,
Can anyone tell me if they've had luck growing garlic in South Florida (zone 10)? Or onions? I tried Egyptian walking onions this summer & they all died.

In the coming econopocalypse, I'd really like to grow both of these so if you have any suggestions, especially for which garlics to try, I'd be grateful!
Thanks!