Garlic Farming

AGRICULTURE

GARLIC

Step-by-Step Guide to Planting Garlic

Preparing Soil:

Garlic can be planted both in the ground and in raised garden beds. Garlic, like other vegetables, thrives best in fertile, loose soil. Work in plenty of compost before planting to help improve the soil.

Autumn is also a crucial time for those who plant in spring. This is the time to prepare your soil so that it’s at its maximum growing potential come March and April.

Compost is the ideal companion for growing garlic. Not only will it enrich the soil with nutrients, but it will also loosen the soil to promote healthy bulb growth. And just as with all root crops, loose soil can make a significant difference between having full-sized produce while harvesting, or ending up with stunted veggies.

Some gardeners will spread two or three inches of manure on their plot along with wood ashes, greensand, or another source of potassium. Bone meal or phosphate rock is also helpful in supplying phosphorus, a mineral crucial to good garlic stands.

Adding kelp meal or a good organic fish fertilizer helps ensure you have an abundance of the nutrients garlic needs. Spreading manure in the fall gives it time to mellow ahead of spring. Too much nitrogen will encourage top growth rather than bulb growth. Everything, as always should be in balance.

Preparing Garlic for Planting

Choose the biggest cloves to plant, as they will produce the biggest heads.

Before planting bulbs, soak them overnight to enhance sprouting and overall health. To do this, add a teaspoon of baking soda to a quart jar of water. After stirring, add the cloves and let them soak.

This soaking not only promotes garlic sprouting but also prevents ground rot. Many parts of the country can get heavy rainfall in the fall, so garlic can benefit greatly from a little extra defense against excessively soggy and wet soils.

There is no need to peel garlic cloves before planting them. Try to keep the skins intact, even if some of the papery outer layer does peel off. They guard against bacteria and assist in preventing sprouts from forming before roots have grown.

How to Plant Garlic

Garlic should not be planted where onions, garlic, or another plant from the allium family have recently been grown. Rotating the locations where crops are planted is crucial for preventing allium pests and diseases, with garlic being one example.

Hold off on separating the cloves of garlic from a head of garlic until the time comes to plant them. The most effective method for accomplishing this is to pull the head apart with your fingers, taking care not to damage the cloves individually.

The cloves (not the whole bulb) should be planted root side down, pointed-side up in furrows so that two inches of soil cover the top of the cloves. Space them six or so inches apart.

If you live in a particularly wet climate, plant your cloves at the surface and heap two inches of soil over the cloves to create a raised mound that will dry out more quickly. These same guidelines apply to spring planting.

Mulching fall garlic is important. Five inches or more isn’t too much. The mulch may not prevent some ground freezing but it will help prevent frost heaves and the like that will displace your garlic cloves.

Straw or leaves, so abundant in the fall make a good mulch if you later amend it with an organic nitrogen fertilizer in the spring. But any weed seed-free mulch will do.

We can’t emphasize that weed-free part enough. Young garlic plants are especially hindered when competing with weeds. Weeds will reduce the garlic’s bulb size if left unattended.

Work hard to keep your garlic patch free of weeds, fall, and spring. Read our article How to Keep Weeds Out of Your Organic Garden here.

Your fall-planted garlic may show shoots growing through the mulch ahead of winter’s onset. This won’t hurt the plants, especially if you apply more mulch ahead of the really cold weather. The shoots will go dormant over the cold season and then start growing again in the spring.

How to Harvest Garlic

Late July is often the time when garlic is ready to be harvested. However, this does vary somewhat depending on the growing season and where you live.

Garlic should be harvested in the summer when the leaves have turned yellow. To harvest, use a garden fork to ko dig the bulbs. Avoid pulling or tugging the steams out with your hands.

Curing and Storing Garlic

To extend the shelf life of garlic, dry it outside in the open air, but not in direct sunlight.

Your freshly gathered garlic can be ‘cooked’ by the sun as it’s prone to sunburn. This will degrade its flavor and make it more prone to sunburn.

Instead, find a dry, shady, well-ventilated area and spread your collected garlic bulbs out in a single layer to dry. Ideal locations for curing garlic include a porch, under a tree, or even a garage if there is sufficient ventilation.

Garlic doesn’t need to be washed and you shouldn’t be concerned about the dirt that may be stuck to it before drying it.

Allow your garlic to dry for at least a month. When the roots and greens are brown and dried out and the roots feel hard, it’s ready. Once the curing process is complete, it can be stored in an airtight container in a dry location for several months.

Your storage space should be between 55 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit, have an average relative humidity of 60 percent, and have ample air circulation. When it’s too cold, garlic can grow sprouts, and when it’s too hot, it tends to dry out.

And there you have it, that’s everything you need to know to plant garlic.