Tips on growing garlic (Photo by Jane Gates)
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Have you ever considered growing your own garlic? It really isn’t difficult to do. Here are some tips on growing garlic.
If you have a sunny spot in your garden where you can create a bed of rich soil with good drainage, you can grow garlic. There are different varieties of garlic that do better in different climates. Choose the one best for your area. In warmer-winter climates garlic will do well planted in either autumn or early spring. In colder climates, plant it in early spring as it will not survive a killing frost.
Garlic is usually grown from single cloves broken apart from the parent bulb. Plant each clove with the wider end down. The pointed tip is where the green leaves will sprout. Set cloves about two to three inches deep and cover them completely. Give them ordinary water. Each clove is a little storage unit, just like other bulbs and the plant will grow out long leaves and roots from the bottom, using up all the nourishment in the ‘bulb’ as it grows. You can use cloves from a bulb of store-purchased garlic, but ordering a variety that is right for your specific climate is likely to bring you more success.
Garlic is a member of the allium family just like the edible onion and the decorative garden onion which is planted for its showy flowers. Garlic will send up long hollow leaves and a spherical flower composed of little white and green florets. Once the plant starts to die down, like all bulbous plants, it will form new storage at the roots for next years’ growth. This will be your new head of garlic cloves. So, you want the leaves to die down enough to form a nice, big head of cloves.
The trick is to harvest the garlic before the bulb of cloves starts to split apart. The timing will vary on the kind of garlic you have planted and your climate conditions during the past growing season. Once most leaves have turned yellow, start to explore the bulb by digging carefully around it and testing it with your finger. When a large solid head is formed, dig it up, tap off soil gently, and allow the bulb to ‘cure’ for a week or two in low light and dry, well circulated air. Once dry, you can rub off the remaining soil and store your garlic.
Have fun checking through catalogs that offer different varieties of garlic. You might want to sample a few varieties if you are a garlic fan and have the garden space to grow a lot. Most garlic is categorized as hardneck or softneck. The softneck varieties are the easiest to braid. Buy the variety that will grow best in your garden conditions. And save some of the healthiest cloves to plant for next years’ harvest. Make sure to make room for garlic in your garden, or even consider growing it in pots.
Also see: How to grow garlic
Comments
Hadn't thought of garlic, thanks.
Maybe it will keep some critters out of the garden that don't like the smell? Personally, I like the smell--specially in a veggie garden.
I've never grown garlic and didn't realized you could plant the cloves from bulbs you purchase in the grocery store.
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