How to grow garlic

Allium sativum · Amaryllidaceae · Vegetable

Garlic is a cool-season vegetable in the Amaryllidaceae family, almost always sown straight into the ground where it will grow. It wants full sun (six or more hours of direct light) and modest, occasional watering. From sowing to first pick is about 240–270 days. It is one of the toughest crops here, standing through hard frost and often improving for it.

Grower’s note: Plant cloves 2-4 weeks after the first fall frost, pointy end up, and mulch. Hardneck types need this cold period; softneck types suit mild-winter regions and braid well. Harvest the following summer when the lower leaves brown.

Sowing

Sow about 2″ deep, into soil between 32–75°F — germination is quickest near 55°F. It is slow and often erratic to germinate (14–56 days). It does not transplant well, so sow it in its final position rather than starting it in pots.

Spacing & layout

Give each plant about 6″ along the row with roughly 12″ between rows. On a square-foot grid that is 9 per square foot. Allow at least 12″ of loose, workable soil for the roots. It grows well in containers at least 8″ deep.

Fitting it to your season

As a cool-season crop, garlic does its best growing in the mild weather of spring and fall and tends to bolt or turn bitter in summer heat. A second sowing in late summer, timed to mature as the weather cools, is usually the better crop of the year — and light frost only sweetens it.

Quick facts

When to plant garlic

Companions

Common problems

Pests: onion maggot, onion thrips, stem nematode.

Diseases & disorders: white rot, rust, basal rot.

Same family (Amaryllidaceae)

Rotate these so they don’t follow each other in the same bed year to year.

Figures are typical home-garden ranges from Cooperative Extension planting guides, cross-checked against multiple state sources. Your variety and conditions will vary.