How to grow garlic
Written by: adekun on 18 September, 2008 10:31 pm - Filed under: herbs ?
Elephant garlic ready for splitting
Garlic is an undemanding herb to grow. Sticking a few cloves in the ground and waiting should suffice. In spite of this, the title of this entry is perhaps equally a question. I wanted to jot down a few thoughts for reference; to clarify or simplify. My objective is to be self sufficient in garlic. Japanese grown garlic sells for ¥400 a head, it makes a valuable commodity. I expect to continue giving a good proportion of each harvest away as gifts and want to retain sufficient stock to cover the subsequent planting.
Garlic with a good month to go
Since the initial trial, the following practice has been used:
- choose a sunny spot
- ensure good drainage
- add plenty of compost
- plant 15 cm apart, 5 cm deep ^
- mulch if bad frost/snow due
I’ve tried to precede autumn plantings with; cow and chicken manure, potatoes or brassicas, and lastly red clover. I’m unclear of their nitrogen requirement, so just scatter compost on the surface during spring.
This year, at the end of August, the cloves were set much earlier. I want to harvest before the rainy season in June and keen to see the results of a full nine months. The plants get lifted (some riskily pulled) when half the leaves have browned.
In the future I want to find a use for the bulbils, as well as introduce a spring planting for pest control. There could be a return of rust. 
Some sources advise that you should buy garlic for planting rather than from the grocer. I guess difference is the bulk of the stuff from the nursery is covered in fungicide. What to do with green garlic? Those with some old garlic kicking around the kitchen might want to try planting it.
WF
19 September, 2008 #
very timely…I just bought some seeds on e-bay : ) and will be planting this weekend. You had a nice harvest it seems.
btw, I got some peanuts. How is your peanut experiment going? Pic on my blog.
Piedro Molinero
19 September, 2008 #
You had a very nice harvest of garlic.
Actually not a lot of people are growing their own garlic here although it is such an easy to grow plant whic is rewarding with a very healthy harvest.
Personalized Bags
20 September, 2008 #
I am going to go try this today! I really never knew it would be this easy to grow garlic. I’m pretty excited about seeing those bulbs next summer.
TopVeg
21 September, 2008 #
Thanks for the info in the bulleted list which looks straight forward.
Sorry to be thick, but I still do not know what to do with green garlic - in fact - what is green garlic?
adekun
21 September, 2008 #
Reading some of entries and comments elsewhere, I think it’s me that appears thick. It’s worse than normal, not sure what has happened this week. Maybe I need a long break or at least a long uninterrupted sleep.
It’s nice to read all the comments and pleased if it gets a couple of people to try growing some. I saw your peanut pics WF, I think an update is a little way off; they are just sitting there.
Green garlic seems to be something else. I meant old garlic that has started to turn green. I stuck some in the ground and they up in a week. I’ve since reworded the ending a little.
Patrick
25 September, 2008 #
It’s not a good idea to use fresh manure on garlic under any circumstances. The nitrogen manure contains is soluble, and is absorbed too fast by the plants. It stresses the plants out and makes them more susceptible to rust. It also causes the tops to grow big and green at the expense of the roots. This is true with many other plants as well.
The mulch like straw does more than protect against frost. In fact garlic is very frost tolerant, and grows very well in places like Siberia. The mulch helps even out temperature changes, and is important no matter what your climate is. A layer of about 15cm will also smother all but the strongest weeds, and the garlic won’t have any problem growing through it (but loosening it a little in the spring with your hands to help the garlic get through it is a good idea). It’s VERY important to keep garlic weed free as it grows. Surely you have access to cheap rice straw?
Garlic can be grown very intensively. this year I planted 10-15cm apart in rows 25 cm apart, and it worked pretty well. Mostly the bulbs need enough space in the ground so they don’t touch each other as they grow.
Garlic appreciates a bit of foliar feeding (applied with a sprayer directly on the plants about once a week), starting early spring, but you should stop with this 4-6 weeks before harvest (mid June or so). I often use purchased fish mix, but home made alternatives like compost or nettle tea should also work fine. Søren of In the Toads Garden used foliar application of milk (10% nonfat milk, 90% water) successfully against rust this past year. Milk is also a foliar feed.
Garlic also needs to be kept well watered, until one month before harvest when it should be left to dry out if possible.
Putting lots of compost on the ground is very important. On the surface is fine, it doesn’t need to be dug in.
Garlic does need a lot of nitrogen, which is one of the reasons for foliar feeding. Like I said above, you should avoid manure. Compost has some nitrogen, but not enough. Beans are an excellent way to fix nitrogen into the ground, but beans and garlic grown side by side will stunt each other’s growth. The best thing to do is prepare the ground used by garlic with a crop of beans or other nitrogen fixing crop before the garlic goes in. Even if you don’t have enough nitrogen, you will probably still get a good crop, so don’t worry too much about it. Better too little nitrogen than too much.
Crop rotation is very important with garlic! Never use the same ground more than once in 3-4 years or more. Many garlic growers make it a point to never use the same ground twice.
Yes, direct sunlight is important. If possible good drainage is also a good idea, but I know someone who has had pretty good luck with garlic on pretty wet ground. You might experiment a bit with drainage.
Patrick
25 September, 2008 #
Sorry, a couple more things.
You should always plant your largest cloves from your largest bulbs, in order to keep your growing stock strong. The left over cloves can be planted in a different place, and harvested early as spring garlic. Like spring onions, but the taste is garlic not onion! Maybe this is what you were thinking about as green garlic?
Just about any source of garlic can be planted, but the best thing is to replant what grows in your own garden because it will acclimate itself from one year to the next and get stronger. Some supermarket garlic is treated to keep it from sprouting, and so won’t germinate in your garden. The best is to find a source of garlic that was grown near you, like a local farmers market. You do not need to purchase special planting stock. Grow what tastes the best!
Be sure whatever you plant appears free of rotting or other disease! Many commercial garlic farms are full of plant diseases. Some garlic diseases are very serious, and it’s important not to introduce them into your garden. If you wouldn’t want to eat it, don’t plant it, but if it’s only sprouting and a little green, that’s okay.
Bulbils can be planted just like cloves, but they will grow smaller. They usually need to be regrown 2-3 years before the develop full sized bulbs.
adekun
25 September, 2008 #
I’m overwhelmed Patrick with your journal of pointers. It is really helpful and as firmed up plenty of ideas I wasn’t so sure on. I’ll have a think on this over the weekend. Thanks very much.