subject: How To Grow Garlic: Growing Garlic Is Easy [print this page] How to Grow Garlic: Growing garlic is easyHow to Grow Garlic: Growing garlic is easy. Growing great garlic requires care, love, and attention. I have divided growing garlic into several categories:
1. Soil Preparation: Garlic will grow under a wide variety of soil conditions. When growing garlic it is said to prefer free draining loam with lots of organic matter. Building up our soil with green manures as part of your normal crop rotation is a very good idea.
2. When to Plant: This will depend on your area but generally a couple weeks before the ground freezes, you want to plant garlic so that the clove develops good root growth but it does not sprout above the surface. For me it is generally mid to early October.
3. Garlic Seed Selection (prepping cloves): Choose your best garlic seed. Cloves that appear healthy and strong. You will have to split all your bulbs into individual cloves. Throw out any cloves that are damaged or abnormal looking.
4. Planting Garlic: Plant garlic in beds with a minimum of 6 inch spacing I put
them in beds of four wide. I have done five and it worked just as well but I found four was easier to weed. If you have the room don't be greedy on your space. You will be happy and your garlic will appreciate the room. I plant about 3 inches deep. IMPORTANT plant with the tip up this is critical for hardneck garlic varieties.
5. Mulching Garlic: Mulching keeps in moisture, moderates soil temperatures and inhibit weeds (if you used good mulch without weed seeds). It also welcomes rodents and attracts deer and elk. All these factors need to be considered in deciding whether or not to mulch. I have been to many farms and have had mixed results some garlic farms never mulch, while other garlic farmers always mulch. Both have good results. When in doubt I always look to nature. Garlic will naturally be mulched somewhat as the dying vegetation lies down around the garlic for the winter.
6. General Care: Remember we are stewards of this special land and must leave it better than we found it for our children's sake. This means to grow organically dont apply any harmful anything. Growing garlic in your gardens is a perfect idea and the general care is the same for pretty much all vegetables. Use just enough water so that the soil stays moist but not too wet (do not over water), keep them weed free, and give them lots of love and sunshine, Garlic loves full sunshine.
