Growing Garlic

Allium sativum : Amaryllidaceae / the onion family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
                P P    

(Best months for growing Garlic in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • P = Plant cloves

September: Garlic can overwinter. Cover with a good layer of mulch . In areas where frost persists into March/ April, expect to harvest your garlic in June/July.

October: Garlic can overwinter. Cover with a good layer of mulch . In areas where frost persists into March/ April, expect to harvest your garlic in June/July.

  • Easy to grow. Plant cloves. Best planted at soil temperatures between 50°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 4 - 5 inches apart
  • Harvest in 17-25 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Beets, Carrots, Cucumbers, Dill, Tomatoes, Parsnips
  • Avoid growing close to: Asparagus, Beans, Brassicas, Peas, Potatoes

Your comments and tips

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04 Nov 10, Garry (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Hey i am after some Russian Garlic Peter,Can you help me out ? [email protected]
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29 Mar 10, Cathii (Australia - temperate climate)
@Donna & Mathew ... I tend to just pick up a few heads of garlic from green grocers or supermarkets. You can find some 'seed' suppliers at the Canningvale Markets on Bannister road.
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27 Mar 10, Donna and Mathew Anderson (Australia - temperate climate)
Could you please advise on where we can buy Garlic seed supplies from in Western Australia. Starting to get very frustrated. We feel we have just about exhausted all avenues. Your help would be greatly appreciated
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12 Apr 16, lenard mcglew (Australia - temperate climate)
we also would like to know where to purchase the Australian garlic [preferably]
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26 Jan 16, Deb Ross (Australia - temperate climate)
I live in the New England area, Australia.I live in Inverell; I am wondering what would be the best type of garlic to grow in this area. Cold winters and hot summers. Any advice would be welcomed. Deb
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14 Mar 10, Miranda (Australia - temperate climate)
When is the right time to plant garlic and soil preparation for Melbourne climate.
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28 Dec 09, Vicki (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Has anyone had any experience of garlic virus? Is is easy to recognise, and is it a problem anyway? I've heard that it may affect keeping qualities, and also that it can be spread by aphids and/or thrips. I planted several varieties this year, and some were starting to develop yellow "stripes" (lengthwise) on the leaves. I'm not sure if I should be using any of this to plant next year, or whether it's safer to buy new bulbs. If so, does anyone know where I can get certified virus-free bulbs?
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26 Dec 09, (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
my garlic seems to have a head of garlic seed that has shot from the plant that grew well. this started in oct . i have harversted it all. The head is purple and has about 50 tiny garlic bulbs in it and the size of a 50 cent piece i assume this is a head of seed
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19 Dec 09, Julie (Australia - temperate climate)
Well, the large garlic seems to have come good after all! I gave up on it and left it alone, but when I dug up a few, they had fomed cloves after all. I'm sure now that if I had continued to water them they would have split.
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02 Dec 09, Julie (Australia - temperate climate)
Pete and Wendy, you might be right about the fertiliser. It was planted on time, and we had late rain, right through spring, so plenty of moisture. Though I thought it got enough feeding, the bulbs did turn out smaller than usual - very disappointing! But when I stopped watering and let it dry it had formed cloves. Not so the large garlic - I've given up on that. More like a leek with a bulbous end. Oh, well, better luck next year!
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This is a transcript of a article on growing garlic in central Australia (desert). It is on ABC Rural News and may be a help to you. Trials reveal potential for garlic-growing in Northern Territory Posted 7 Oct 2016 MAP: Alice Springs 0870 A trial exploring the capabilities of seven garlic varieties in the red centre is showing some early positive results. Seven varieties of garlic are being trialled at the Northern Territory's Arid Zone Research Institute (AZRI), alongside the standard industry garlic variety, Glen Large. The Alice Springs environment will demonstrate how varieties that have never been grown commercially in the Northern Territory respond to extreme cold and extreme heat. Central Australian Horticulture Development Project manager and researcher Stuart Smith said despite challenges such as poor water quality, the results so far had been positive. "We're hoping, because we're just south of the Tropic of Capricorn, we're just a bit a little subtropical, that we're in the right area," he said. "We've got the right heat profile, right day length and we're able to grow some good bulbs. "If it'll grow here, it'll grow anywhere. "Central Australia is a bit isolated from the rest of Australia so it doesn't have the pests and diseases of the other garlic-growing areas." Plan to get garlic onto market early in season Mr Smith believes there is a market opportunity for garlic that grows early in the traditional growing season. We thought we could get a few varieties to come early on the market, so we can get some good prices for them and replace the imported garlic," he said. The first successful harvested trial crop has reached a stage of maturity that would be ready for market. "It's got a code name called AF. We're getting some good-sized bulbs out of this," Mr Smith said. "I estimate we're getting 6-8 tonnes per hectare." The DPI's Stuart Smith and agriculture minister Ken Vowles stand in a field of garlic PHOTO: Stuart Smith and Primary Industries Minister Ken Vowles discuss the garlic crop trial near Alice Springs. (ABC Rural: Katrina Beaven) Mr Smith said the early trial results were encouraging despite poor water quality and salty soils. "We have to keep watering them pretty constantly to keep moving the salt out of the root zone," he said. "The water we're using at AZRI is pretty low quality. "Most of the water other people are using in horticulture around the Central Australian region is a lot better quality than this." Mr Smith said the research results would also add value to what was being learned by a grower at Orange Creek Station, south of Alice Springs, who is conducting a commercial garlic trial this year.

- John

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