The Complete Garlic Guide: When to Plant, What to Grow and How to Store It

Garlic is the crop I recommend to anybody who thinks they are not a gardener. You put it in the ground in fall, you walk away, and the following summer you dig up something better than anything at the grocery store. There is almost nothing in between.

It is also the crop that taught me the most about patience. It sits underground through every cold snap doing work you cannot see, and then one spring morning there it is.

I have grown a lot of different varieties over the years and in different places. What I have landed on is softneck, and the reason is storage. It keeps for months longer than hardneck does, which means garlic I pulled in June is still good in my kitchen in the winter. That is the whole point for me.

Here is everything I have learned about growing it.

When to plant garlic

Garlic goes in the ground in fall. It needs a long cold period to build roots and set a big bulb, so planting it in spring gives you a small disappointing harvest.

The rule that works anywhere is this: plant two to four weeks after your first fall frost, once the soil has cooled but before the ground goes hard. You want roots, not top growth, before winter. In our part of East Tennessee, which is zone 7B, that window runs from late September through early December, with mid October to November the sweet spot. Colder gardens plant earlier and warmer gardens plant later: roughly September in zones 3 to 5, October into November in zones 6 to 7, and November into December in zones 8 to 9. In zone 9 and warmer you will also need to chill your seed garlic in the refrigerator for several weeks first, because it needs cold it will not get outside. You want the cloves in the ground about three to four weeks before your first hard freeze, so they have time to put out roots without pushing up much top growth.

Frost risk here starts around the middle of October and it is close to certain by the first week of November. If you are further north or up higher, move everything a week or two earlier.

If you are reading this in October, you are right on time. If it is late November, plant anyway. Late garlic beats no garlic.

Softneck or hardneck

This is the decision people get stuck on, so let me just tell you what I do and why.

Softneck, which is what I grow

Softneck handles a mild winter better than hardneck does, and it holds up to our humidity, which matters more in the South than people expect. It stores six to eight months, sometimes longer. It has no stiff stem running up the middle, which is why it is the one you can braid.

The tradeoff is that softneck does not usually send up a scape, so you lose that bonus harvest in June. Cloves also tend to be smaller and there are more of them per bulb, so there is a bit more peeling.

Hardneck, which is worth growing if you want scapes

Hardneck wants a proper cold winter, so it is happier north of us. It gives bigger cloves that peel easily and it has more of that sharp complex flavor people chase. It also sends up a scape in early summer, which is a genuine second harvest and delicious.

The catch is storage. Hardneck keeps four to six months, so it is gone by the time softneck is still going strong.

If you are in zone 7 like me and you only plant one, plant softneck. If you are gardening somewhere genuinely cold, zone 5 and north, lean hardneck instead. Hardneck is the cold-hardy side of the family and it handles a hard winter better than softneck does. Warmer than zone 8, softneck is the safer bet. If you have the room, plant a little of both just for the scapes.

Where to get seed garlic

Plant seed garlic, not grocery store garlic. Supermarket bulbs are often treated to stop them sprouting, they are usually grown in a completely different climate, and they can carry disease into your beds. It sometimes works. It usually disappoints.

Where I buy:

• Hoss, which is where this year’s came from
• Johnny’s Selected Seeds
• Keene Garlic, which is where I go when I want organic varieties
• Wood Prairie Family Farm, which has some really good ones

Varieties worth knowing

I have grown a lot of these over the years, and part of the fun is that your climate and your soil will help you decide. A variety that is somebody else’s favourite three states away may not be yours. Try a few, keep notes, and let your garden pick.

Three I like:

• Chesnok Red, a hardneck. Beautiful purple striping and it roasts better than almost anything.
• Early Purple Italian, which comes in early and is a good one to have when you are impatient.
• Gilroy, a fun one, named for the garlic capital of the country.

Buy small quantities of two or three the first year rather than a lot of one. You will learn more in a season that way than from anything you read, and one of them will turn out to be the one you keep replanting.

Order early. Good seed garlic sells out by late summer, and the varieties worth having go first.

Whoever you buy from, pick firm bulbs with tight papers. Pass on anything soft, shrivelled or bruised.

How to plant it

Prepare the bed

Garlic wants loose, well draining soil with plenty of organic matter, and a pH somewhere between 6.0 and 7.0. Work compost in before you plant. Garlic sitting in heavy wet ground all winter is the main way this goes wrong.

If you are building a bed from scratch, this is a good place to use what came out of the compost pile.

Break the bulbs apart

Separate the bulbs into cloves the day you plant, not before. The papery skin on each clove is its protection, so leave it on. Plant the biggest cloves and save the small ones for the kitchen. Big cloves make big bulbs, every time.

Depth and spacing

• Depth: about 2 inches here in the South. In colder zones go 3 to 4 inches for insulation.
• Spacing: 4 inches apart, in rows 6 to 8 inches apart.
• Direction: pointy end up, flat root end down. That is where the shoot comes from.

Then mulch it

Mulch is the part people skip and it is the part that matters most. It holds the temperature steady through the freeze and thaw cycles that heave cloves right out of the ground, it keeps weeds down, and it holds moisture.

Straw, shredded leaves, pine needles or compost all work. Two to three inches is plenty here. Colder zones want four to six.

Then you walk away until spring. That is the whole plant it and forget it part, and it is not an exaggeration.

Through winter and into spring

Garlic needs almost nothing over winter. Rain will handle it. You may see green shoots come up during a warm spell, and that is fine, they can take the cold.

Once things warm up and it starts growing in earnest, give it about an inch of water a week. Stop watering roughly two weeks before you plan to harvest so the bulbs firm up and the papers dry properly.

A nitrogen feed in early spring helps size the bulbs. Stop feeding by about May, because late nitrogen grows leaves at the expense of the bulb.

Scapes, if you planted hardneck

In late spring hardneck garlic sends up a curling flower stalk called a scape. Cut it off. If you leave it, the plant spends energy on the flower instead of the bulb, and you get a smaller harvest.

The scapes themselves are the reward. Chop them into eggs, grill them whole, or blitz them into a pesto that is better than the basil version. It is a free second harvest weeks before the garlic itself is ready.

Softneck usually will not give you scapes, which is one of the few things I miss about it.

When and how to harvest

Garlic comes out in June here, give or take. The signal is the leaves. When the bottom three or four have gone brown but five or six up top are still green, it is ready. Each leaf is a layer of paper on the bulb, so if you wait for all of them to brown, the papers break down and your garlic will not store.

Loosen it with a fork rather than pulling it. The stems will snap off a stuck bulb and then you are digging for it.

Do not wash it. Brush the loose dirt off and leave the rest.

Curing, which is what makes it keep

This is the step that decides whether your garlic lasts three months or nine, and it is the one most people rush.

Lay the whole plants out somewhere dry, shady and airy, tops and roots still attached. We spread ours out in rows where the air can move around them. A garage, a barn, a covered porch, anywhere out of direct sun with some breeze.

Leave them two to four weeks. You will know they are done when the necks are dry and tight and the outer papers rustle.

Then trim the roots close and cut the tops back to about an inch, or leave the tops on if you want to braid. Softneck braids beautifully because there is no stiff stem in the middle, and a braid hanging in the kitchen is both storage and decoration.

Storing it

Cool, dark, dry, with air movement. A mesh bag, a basket, a braid on a hook. Not the refrigerator, which tells the bulb it is winter and makes it sprout.

Softneck will hold six to eight months and often longer. Hardneck goes four to six. That gap is the whole reason I lean softneck.

If a bulb starts to sprout, it is still perfectly good to cook with. Use those first.

Save your own seed garlic

Here is the part I like best. Once you have grown garlic one time, you never have to buy it again.

At harvest, set aside your biggest, healthiest bulbs and do not eat them. Those are next year’s seed. Cure them the same way, keep them with the rest, and break them apart at planting time in the fall.

Do that a few years running and something quietly good happens. The garlic adapts. Each generation is grown from the bulbs that did best in your soil, in your weather, with your winters. After three or four seasons you are not growing a catalogue variety any more. You are growing your version of it.

It is the same thing that happens when you save seed from the flowers that did well, or divide the perennial that thrived. What you grow on purpose keeps giving back.

Garlic questions we get asked

How do I know when to plant garlic in my zone?

Work from frost, not from a date somebody else gave you. Plant two to four weeks after your average first fall frost. That puts most zone 3 to 5 gardeners in September, zone 6 to 7 in October and early November, and zone 8 to 9 in late November or December. In zone 9 and warmer, chill your seed garlic in the refrigerator for four to eight weeks before planting, because it needs a cold period it will not get in the ground. Not sure of your zone? The USDA map at planthardiness.ars.usda.gov takes your zip code. Outside the United States, the frost rule still works.

When should you plant garlic?

Fall, two to four weeks after your first frost. In East Tennessee, zone 7B, that means late September through early December, with mid October to November being ideal. Aim for three to four weeks before your first hard freeze.

What is the difference between hardneck and softneck garlic?

Hardneck has a stiff stem, produces scapes, has bigger easier peeling cloves and a stronger flavour, and prefers a cold winter. It stores four to six months. Softneck has no central stem, can be braided, has more and smaller cloves, handles mild winters and humidity better, and stores six to eight months or more. In zone 7, softneck is the safer bet.

How deep do you plant garlic cloves?

About 2 inches in southern zones, 3 to 4 inches where winters are colder. Pointy side up, 4 inches apart.

Can you plant garlic from the grocery store?

You can, but do not. It is often treated to prevent sprouting, it is usually grown for a different climate, and it can bring disease into your beds. Seed garlic is not expensive and it is worth it.

What are garlic scapes and should you cut them?

Scapes are the curling flower stalks hardneck garlic sends up in late spring. Cut them, both because leaving them shrinks your bulbs and because they are delicious. Softneck does not usually produce them.

When do you harvest garlic?

Around June here. Wait until the bottom three or four leaves have browned while five or six above are still green. Every green leaf is a wrapper on the bulb, and you want those wrappers intact for storage.

How do you store garlic?

Cure it first, two to four weeks somewhere dry, shady and airy. Then keep it cool, dark and dry with some air movement. Never the refrigerator, which triggers sprouting.

Do I have to buy new seed garlic every year?

No. Save your biggest bulbs from each harvest and replant those. Over a few years the garlic adapts to your ground and gets better.

Now that’s BombDiggity.

Planning your vegetable garden? Our Growing Vegetables guide brings all of our crop, heirloom, soil and seed starting posts together, and Garden by the Season shows what to do and when.