How to Grow Garlic
Garlic At a Glance
Difficulty
Easy
Category
Vegetable
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Hardy
Cold Hardiness
Survives to -23°C
Plant Family
Amaryllidaceae
Growing Season
Cool Season
Plant Lifecycle
Perennial
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
In fall, around your first frost and about 4 to 6 weeks before the ground freezes, split a bulb into cloves and plant the biggest ones pointy end up, 5 cm deep and 15 cm apart. Roots grow before winter, and green shoots come up in early spring. Once the ground starts to freeze, cover the bed with about 10 cm of straw or shredded leaves.
Garlic is grown from cloves, not seed, and each clove you plant becomes a whole new bulb by the next summer. It needs a cold winter to split into cloves, so fall planting gives much bigger bulbs than spring planting. Buy garlic for planting from a local grower or garden centre, since grocery store garlic is often from warm places and may be treated to stop sprouting.
When To Start
Garlic likes cool weather. Sow it in early spring, as soon as the ground can be worked.
We do not have exact sowing dates for this one yet.
When should you plant Garlic?
Your planting dates depend on your local climate. Sign up and add your location to unlock personalized dates.
Your Garlic Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
Your Garlic Calendar
Set your location to turn these into exact dates and reminders.
Plant garlic cloves pointy end up, 5 cm deep
Around your first frost· every year
Lift garlic when the lower leaves turn brown
90 days after your last frost· every year· optional
Water your new garlic plants well while they settle in. Deep and slow is best.
About 1 days after you plant it
Checking on your garlic! A layer of straw or leaves over the bed helps protect the cloves through the cold.
About 80 days after you plant it
Your garlic is waking up. Pull any weeds around it, since garlic does not like to share its space.
About 160 days after you plant it
Picking time may be here: check your garlic.
About 240 days after you plant it
The Journey Ahead
Garlic's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Growing Tips
- 1Plant garlic in full sun, at least 6 hours a day.
- 2Mix compost into loose soil before planting, since garlic hates heavy, soggy ground.
- 3Water about once a week in spring when the soil is dry, then stop when the lower leaves start to yellow.
- 4Feed with compost tea or a thin layer of worm castings in early spring, when the shoots are growing fast.
- 5On hardneck types, snap off the curly flower stalks (scapes) in early summer so the plant puts its energy into the bulb, and eat them like green onions.
- 6Pull weeds by hand often, because garlic has thin leaves and cannot compete with them.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
~240
Days to Maturity
60 cm
Mature Height
15 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
Harvest Window
14 days
When to Pick
Harvest mid-summer when the lower 3 to 4 leaves brown; cut scapes earlier to size up bulbs
How to Harvest
- 1Garlic is ready in midsummer, when the lower 3 to 4 leaves have turned brown but 5 to 6 green leaves remain.
- 2Loosen the soil with a garden fork and lift the bulbs out, rather than pulling them by the stem.
- 3Brush off the soil, but do not wash the bulbs.
- 4Hang or spread the whole plants in a dry, airy, shady spot for 2 to 3 weeks to cure them (dry the skins so they store well).
- 5Trim the roots and cut the stems about 2 cm above the bulb, then store them in a cool, dark, dry place.
- 6Hardneck garlic keeps a few months and softneck garlic keeps longer.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
How to Save Seeds
Garlic hardly ever makes true seed, so you save cloves instead. At harvest, set aside your biggest, healthiest bulbs, since big cloves grow big bulbs. Cure and store them with the rest, then split them into cloves only on planting day. Saved this way, your garlic gets a little better suited to your garden each year.
Seed Production
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