In my experience, growing garlic in the fall is a hands-off experience once planted. Garlic is one of the easiest first foods you can grow for self-sufficiency due to how it prefers to be planted.
I see growing garlic as a gateway into regenerative gardening practices. Regenerative practices are usually followed when we plant garlic in the fall. These practices include crop rotation, mulching, cover cropping, and keeping the soil planted.
Follow this guide for my tried-and-true techniques to grow garlic, and enjoy a bountiful harvest of fresh garlic in your own garden.
Planting garlic is a straightforward process.
However, if you understand the finer details, you'll be more likely to get a bigger harvest. Apply regenerative practices for even more success.
I’ll share my techniques for planting garlic and break down the steps in this guide.
To plant garlic, you’ll first need to select healthy garlic bulbs from a reputable source. Reputable garlic growers test for diseases that could otherwise transfer to your crop. The ones to look for are bloat nematode and white rot fungus.
It’s important to note that tested garlic does not mean that it is guaranteed to be disease-free. However, it’s great reassurance that you’re less likely to bring disease into your garden.
Here is a list of Organic Seed Garlic companies that test their garlic for disease and other pest issues:
In my experience, garlic cloves from the grocery store do not grow well.
You'll have a much bigger harvest if you buy garlic seed from a trusted source. Whenever I’ve planted sprouted garlic from the store, the bulbs end up pretty small.
Simply put, a seed garlic distributor cares about different things than a food garlic farmer.
Seed garlic growers look for disease resistance, bulb size, vigor, and overall resilience. If you buy your garlic from a local source, they also grow garlic that is adapted to your area and growing conditions.
In zone 9 or above, Filaree Farm recommends softneck garlic. Softneck varieties favor warmer conditions. The exception is the Creole hardneck varieties, which prefer warm weather.
If you live in zone 4 or below, it’s recommended to grow hard neck garlic, as it thrives in cooler climates. The types of hardneck garlic that do best in colder climates are Purple Stripe, Porcelain, and Rocambole.
If you’re in zones 5-8, you’re in luck - you can successfully grow both varieties!
Hardneck garlic will provide you with garlic scapes in the spring. Softneck garlic has the advantage of long storage in your pantry.
My favorite hardneck garlic to grow is Music.
When the Music garlic variety is grown in the fall, it reliably produces large bulbs for me. Music has large individual cloves too. As someone who cooks with garlic, I prefer fewer but larger cloves to many small cloves in my garlic heads.
Since Music is a hardneck variety, it provides you with the tasty bonus of garlic scapes in June. Music is often seen as the best garlic variety to grow, and it usually sells out at garlic suppliers. Order it early if you can!
My favorite softneck garlic to grow is Lorz Italian.
This variety also grows large heads and large cloves of garlic. I have been saving my own Lorz Italian garlic for a few seasons now. Since it's adapted to my growing conditions, it seems to perform better and better for me each year. I originally sourced my Lorz seed stock from Filaree Farm.
My favorite garlic for spice level is definitely Georgian Fire.
Georgian Fire is a hardneck variety that maintains its heat after its cooked. I have a high heat tolerance with garlic and often use full heads of garlic when cooking. But when I cook with Georgian Fire, I only need to use a few cloves to get the same garlic taste.
Best garlic variety for fun and mild flavor:
Elephant Garlic is a fun variety to grow. As its name suggests, the bulbs on elephant garlic are absolutely humongous.
Elephant garlic is actually a leek, so it has an extremely mild flavor. This variety is a great choice for someone who wants to grow garlic but prefers something less spicy.
Elephant garlic usually produces scapes for me in my growing zone (7ish).
One downside to elephant garlic is that it does not store for very long. Due to its short storage time, I always use this variety first for cooking. I find that elephant garlic cloves do lend themselves to saving for planting next year. I save the biggest cloves and so my elephant garlic has been growing a little in average size year after year.
Best garlic varieties for cold climates:
Ariel of Simple Living Alaska says she has luck with German Extra Hardy White, Music, and Polish Hardneck garlic.
4’ x 8’ raised bed: 104 garlic plants | purchase 1.5 - 2 pounds of seed garlic
3’ x 6’ raised bed: 66 garlic plants | purchase 1 pound of seed garlic
35” diameter grow bag: 48 garlic plants | purchase 3/4 - 1 pound of seed garlic
19.5” diameter grow bag: 18 garlic plants | purchase 1/4 pound of seed garlic
According to Filaree Farm, there are about 45-75 cloves per pound of garlic, depending on the variety of garlic that you have purchased.
Softneck varieties are 65-70 cloves per pound
Hardneck varieties are 45 cloves per pound for Asiatic; 55 cloves per pound for Purple Stripe; 60 for Turban; and 75 for Creole.
Before you plant you garlic, it's essential to understand its ideal growing conditions.
In general, garlic thrives in soil that is loamy and amended with organic matter.
Soil that leans to far towards clay will have poor drainage and can cause fungal issues. Compacted clay can also prevent garlic bulbs from forming as large as they would in loamy soil.
If your soil is extremely compacted, you may want to loosen it with a broad fork. Another alternative is to plant your garlic in grow bags or a raised bed.
Soil that leans towards too sandy may not retain enough water for the garlic to thrive. Those with sandy soil can amend their soil with compost to add organic matter.
If you do have sandy soil, try purchasing your garlic from Deschutes Canyon Garlic. Deschutes grows their garlic in sandy high desert conditions, so their garlic will be more adapted to your soil type.
Garlic is best planted in the late autumn before the ground is too frozen to work with. For me, I plant my garlic out the week of Thanksgiving here in zone 7ish, and this date would work well for zone 8 as well.
Here are some general recommendations. Keep an eye on your weather report and plant your garlic before temperatures dip down below 25 at night.
Zones 9-10: wait until December to plant your garlic
Zone 7-8: plant garlic mid November
Zone 6: late October- early November as the best time to plant garlic
Zones 4-5: mid-October is the perfect time to plant your garlic
Zone 3: plant your garlic in early October
Zones 1-2: plant your garlic in late September
You can plant garlic in the spring. However, I don’t recommend it unless you missed your opportunity to plant garlic in the fall.
In my experience, spring garlic needs a lot more care and attention. We have a healthy supply of rain from fall-spring, but summers are very dry. So for me garlic planted in fall is a plant it and forget it kind of crop.
Also, I’ve found that spring garlic does not yield large bulbs. This is because it doesn’t have as long of a growing time as fall planted garlic.
Lastly, spring garlic takes up space in my garden. I’d personally rather have that space go to other vegetables.
Planting Depth and Spacing:
I plant my garlic cloves twice as deep as they are tall, around 4 inches deep. Plant them 1 hand distance apart from each other (4”-6”).
Mulch your garlic heavily with organic straw.
Organic straw does not contain any persistent herbicides that can ruin future crops.
Straw mulch protects your garlic crop from the cold, retains moisture, and helps to build organic matter for future crops. As a bonus, straw mulch will eliminate any weeding that you’d otherwise need to do around your garlic plants.
If you don’t have access to organic straw, I have also mulched garlic with a thick but loose layer of fallen autumn leaves. This worked a charm here in my zone 7ish garden.
Planting garlic tips:
Garlic is a great crop to plant in containers. It's a low maintenance crop when grown in the fall when your containers may otherwise be empty.
Even though garlic is a root crop, its roots do not reach very deep into the soil. For this reason, almost any container or grow bag will be well suited for growing garlic.
If you have the space for a 35.5” wide grow bag, this 60 gallon grow bag would be perfect for planting garlic. It’s 14 inches tall, and by my calculations would be able to fit around 48 garlic plants per bag.
The same link will also let you select at 15 gallon grow bag that is 19.5 inches in diameter. A 15 gallon bag of those dimensions could grow 18 garlic plants.
Regenerative gardeners keep the soil covered as much as possible. The mulch that you add to your garlic bed will help you to achieve that goal.
When the soil is covered with mulch, it retains moisture and protects the crop from extreme weather conditions. Mulch also helps the microbial communities in the soil to thrive, and feeds them organic matter. This means that not only will your garlic crop be bountiful, but your soil will be improved for your next planting.
Your fall-sown garlic will be harvested in June or July. It’s the perfect time to follow your garlic planting with a cover crop of Lady Phacelia. Cover crops are a regenerative practice that adds organic matter to your soil. This technique also keeps the soil planted to maximize photosynthesis and sequester carbon.
Otherwise known as Bee’s Friend, Lady Phacelia produces heaps of biomass. As the name suggests, it is a magnet for an assortment of bees. Plus, it’s beautiful. I've found that Phacelia has an lovely texture when its dried for floral arrangements.
Add compost before you plant garlic to increase soil organic matter levels. Compost also helps balance out the structure of both clay and sandy soils.
Crop rotation is a regenerative gardening practice that reduces pest and disease issues. Studies show that a 3-4 year break from certain plant families makes for healthier crops. Crop rotation avoids a lot of disease and pest issues.
Garlic is a part of the allium family. Be sure not to plant it in areas where other alliums have been recently planted. These other alliums include:
I’ve found garlic to be a great follow-on crop for winter squash and brassicas. In my growing zone, this makes sense for me because I harvest these two crops right before I plant garlic. This means the space in my garden is clear and ready for planting. Winter squash and brassicas in different families from garlic. This makes crop rotation simple in the garden.
No-till garden practices preserve soil structure, moisture, and microbial activity. This can enhance garlic root development, nutrient uptake, and water retention. All together, the yield and health of your garlic is improved.
When soil is tilled, it releases its sequestered carbon back into the atmosphere.
There is an alternative to tillage. In compacted soil, use a broadfork to loosen the soil. This has worked great for my garden in the past.
For most gardeners, fall planted garlic gets enough rain to thrive.
This means less work for you, and less of a strain on your water bill, well, or water storage system.
Regenerative gardening focuses on healthy soil, healthy food, and a healthy planet. This means no synthetic pesticides or herbicides. Synthetic inputs create soil that is void of the normal microbe-plant relationships. These chemicals are also made from petroleum products. Overall, synthetic inputs add greenhouse gases into the environment.
Garlic is a pretty robust crop that responds well to organic inputs.
According to Michigan State University, garlic thrives with the following fertilizer schedule:
MSU stresses that fertilizer application should stop around May 1st. Late fertilization can cause garlic to not be ready for harvest at the appropriate time.
Additionally, the PNW handbook notes that too much nitrogen application can cause ideal conditions for garlic rust to develop.
I definitely recommend that you seek out diversity in the garlic that you plant. Source your garlic from local growers. Experiment with new varieties, hardnecks and softnecks, and even wild types of garlic.
Avoid overwatering or waterlogged conditions that can lead to rot. Practice crop rotation and maintain good garden hygiene to prevent disease recurrence.
White Rot
White rot looks like a white fungus or film on your garlic plants.
Your chances of white rot greatly decrease if you source your garlic seed from a source that tests for this disease.
You can also prevent rot with a heavy application of mulch to protect the garlic from heavy rainfall. If you live in an area with excessive rain and clay soil that is prone to being water-logged, you can try to grow garlic in containers. You can also grow your garlic under a plastic row cover to protect it from the rain.
If you do get white rot, plant your garlic in a different area for the next several years and do not save seed from this crop. Throw the debris from the crop away, do not compost it.
Cornell University recommends solarizing the area if you have hot summers. Cover the area with a black plastic tarp for at least a month during the warmest time of the year.
Cornell also recommends following the garlic with brassicas to prevent the white rot from returning.
Nematodes
Like white rot, you're less likely to bring in harmful nematodes if your garlic comes from a trusted source.
Cornell University says that you'll want to avoid planting any alliums in that area for several years.
Garlic Rust
Garlic rust is an issue that can affect garlic harvests. Garlic rust, as shown in the photo above, causes damage to the leaves of the plant, which in turn can stunt plant growth.
According to the PNW Pest Management Handbook, rust thrives in cool, moist, and humid conditions. If the temperature hovers around 60 degrees with high humidity and constant rain, those are the perfect conditions for rust to develop.
The PNW Handbook recommends crop rotation, and removing all volunteer garlic or allium plants from the infected area until the disease is fully erradicated.
They also share that you can prevent rust if you increase the space between your garlic plants. Over-application of nitrogen fertilizer can also cause rust to thrive.
Some common roadblocks in growing garlic include pests like aphids or onion maggots. These pest respond well to organic pest management practices.
Heavy rainfall or extreme temperatures may also affect garlic growth.
In most areas of the Northern Hemisphere, garlic is ready for harvest in July.
The key indicator that garlic is ready to harvest is its leaves. When you see 2-3 leaves have browned and died back, the garlic is ready to harvest.
As you harvest the garlic, shake off any excess dirt, but do not wash or peel the garlic plant.
I like to bring out a large box or wheelbarrow when I harvest garlic to make it easy to bring inside. If possible, keep track of the varieties of garlic so you can assess which performed best.
Once you have brought the garlic inside, group the garlic into bunches of 5-8 bulbs. With an elastic, secure the garlic leaves together and hang them in a well-ventilated area to cure. I like to tuck labels with the garlic's variety name into the elastic as well. In this way I can see which garlic I like the taste of best too.
I like to save seed from the biggest bulbs of the different varieties of garlic that I grow. I put these aside in a different area of my pantry and label them with their variety name. In 3-4 months, I'll plant these out with the rest of my seed garlic.
I definitely notice that the garlic bulbs I grow from saved seed perform better, since they are adapted to my growing conditions.
It's also fun to think about how garlic multiplies itself.
July Year 1:
Save one bulb of garlic from your harvest with 8 cloves
Autumn Year 1:
Plant 8 cloves to yield 8 plants
July Year 2:
Save those 8 garlic bulbs with a total of 64 garlic cloves
Autumn Year 2:
Plant the 64 garlic cloves
July Year 3:
Harvest 64 garlic heads containing 512 garlic cloves
Autumn Year 3:
Plant 512 garlic cloves and grow enough garlic for you and your community
When you grow garlic in a regenerative way, you're also supporting the health of the soil and the planet. Garlic is an easy crop to grow, and a perfect way to start a practice of regenerative and sustainable techniques in the garden.
After a few years of practice and saving seed, you can become self-sufficient in this pantry staple crop.
Are you a new gardener? You might like my resource of the best books for gardeners here.
