I want to grow garlic this year

[Virginia Dawn]

Could someone who has btdt walk me through the process from start to finish?

It would be greatly appreciated.

Also, can I use garlic cloves from store bought or do I need to buy a particular kind/s to plant?

[Karen sn]

Hey there Virginia Dawn. No experience with garlic but I wanted to pop in and see what ever became of the bully situation. Also - if you get any good advice here - I might try it in my garden this year.

[Shannon]

Garlic is a bulb and is usually planted in the fall. You can use regular garlic cloves, no special plants are necessary! :) There are different varieties of garlic though, so if you like a certain type you might look into that.

Good luck.

Shannon

[Doran]

Could someone who has btdt walk me through the proces from start to finish?

It would be greatly appreciated.

Also, can I use garlic cloves from store bought or do I need to buy a particular kind/s to plant?



I love garlic and used to grow more of that than any other single crop at the farm. Now for the bad news -- for a really good crop of garlic this summer, you needed to plant it last fall. :001_huh: Garlic does best when allowed to mature slowly, establishing roots during late fall and not much top growth, then getting really lush and big in the spring, harvested in early summer (or late spring, depending). You're in Virginia, yes (your board name always made me wonder whether it was a location or a name). If so, your growing season would be much like Maryland, and full maturity would be sometime late June/early July.

I have honestly never tried to grow garlic from a spring planting, but my understanding is that, while you'll likely get something out of it, your heads will be very small. Still might be worth it and better than store bought.

Store purchased garlic will work for seed, but there are far more tasty varieities out there. So, go ahead and search the gardening catalogs to your heart's desire, place an order in summer, and you'll be ready to plant this fall.

Basic steps:


split heads of garlic into individual cloves
plant the largest cloves, reserving smaller ones for "garlic greens" or cooking
plant cloves about 2" deep in rich soil, in individual holes, pointy end up
cover immediately with soil
once the row is planted, cover entire row with a thick layer of leaf or straw mulch **
fertilize with a liquid seaweed/fish fertilizer in early spring as leaves become abundant, and again as plants reach full height of 18" or so
garlic is ready to harvest when about 2/3 of the leaves have started to turn yellow, or when there are approximately 8-10 "wrappers" of skin surrounding the mature head (yes, you can count them)
pull garlic at stage mentioned above by prying up with a digging fork
be careful not to drop or bang garlic heads as they bruise rather easily and bruised spots will spoil in storage
do not try to clean yet, but you can gently tap off clumps of dirt as needed
set it onto racks to dry completely before cutting off tops (you may use garlic right away, but it needs time to dry and cure in order to store well)





(**this is only going to be necc. for your fall planted garlic as it keeps the garlic from heaving up out of the ground - keeps ground temp more stable)



Doran

p.s. I started this reply and then got interrupted. Sorry if it repeats something others have said --- there were no other replies when I first set out to help. :)

[Virginia Dawn]

Rats! I was hoping they grew like onions. Well, then I will start them this fall. Thanks for the info.