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 10°C and 35°C. (Show °F/in)
  • Space plants: 10 - 12 cm 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

18 Nov 22, Ruth A Hersh (USA - Zone 9a climate)
Garlic grows GREAT here in Florida, but only the soft neck varieties, & you must give them 8 weeks artificial winter in a refrigerator prior to planting. Preferably one without ripening fruit as they put off gasses that can hurt your garlic whilst chilling.
06 Nov 22, Dave in California Zone 10A (USA - Zone 10a climate)
David, I also live in Zone 10A but in California (hot and dry, average 10 inches of rain per year), and please IGNORE the Aussie who thinks we do not check our Zone 10A recommendations. I have been container gardening here for a couple years and am still learning, with notable mistakes being not knowing correct planting/harvesting times (I now use this website over anything on a seed package), overcrowding, and overwatering. I have successfully grown garlic in Zone 10A, from store bought garlic cloves that were sprouting tiny green shoots, and they produced but the heads and cloves were only about half the size as the original store-bought, which might be caused by the climate, or more likely from be the mistakes I was making trying to grow new things like crowding, overwatering, and not knowing when to plant or harvest. Anyway, give growing garlic a try and my best advice is to avoid overwatering. I had a lot of cloves rot instead of growing and I think it was because of overwatering. After doing more research I'm trying to grow garlic again by planting some in NOV, and some in DEC, and really monitoring the watering. Even though my garlic was half sized, it still tastes great, so I would rather have half sized garlic I can grow myself than not growing garlic.
20 Oct 22, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
If you had looked up Garlic for your CLIMATE ZONE 10a you would see that they do not recommend any planting time. You don't have the climate for it, is what that says.
18 Nov 22, Ruth A Hersh (USA - Zone 9a climate)
Garlic grows fine in zone 10 as long as you refrigerate aka false winter it for 8 weeks prior to planting, & it MUST BE Softneck in zones 9 & 10.
11 Nov 22, Ken (USA - Zone 10a climate)
I'm in zone 10a. My garlic was planted 3 weeks ago. It is growing in the ground, in planters, and 6 are coming up in an old dish pan. It grows well here.
27 Nov 22, Dave in California Zone 10A (USA - Zone 10a climate)
my Zone 10A garlic, all in rectangular containers 24" length x 7.5" width, x 6.5" height, is sprouting well also, with some shoots up to about two inches. I had several garlic bulbs I intentionally kept in my refrigerator for a couple months, divided them into cloves, peeled them to avoid mold and decay, and kept the separated cloves open to the light at room temperature until they started sprouting. When the majority had tiny green shoots, I selected the best cloves (solid, no spongy or discolored parts) and planted them shallow with the very top of the clove showing as per advice from an internet container gardening site. I am really being careful not to overwater and it looks like all the cloves sprouted green shoots, but after a couple weeks I did have birds pull up maybe eight out of thirty or so of the newly sprouted cloves, so I replanted the missing ones with a more cloves, then added about an inch more soil over the top, and so far the birds have not raided again with the cloves now about two inches deep. Lesson learned: the internet advice for container gardening to plant the cloves with the tip showing is an invitation to be raided by birds. Solution: plant deeper, maybe two inches below the soil surface, even in shallow containers.
11 Oct 22, Dena Basinger (USA - Zone 5b climate)
How to plant garlic in zone 5b in the ground and in pots. Sunshine and water how much
20 Oct 22, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Read the notes here how to plant it. In full sun and check the soil down an inch or so, if dryish water - like each 2-3 days.
08 Oct 22, Beth (USA - Zone 6b climate)
I should have my first frost this week and haven't gotten them in the ground yet. I haven't had the time this year. Is it too late to plant for harvest next year? Any suggestions on how to plant and fertilizer needed would be greatly appreciated.
10 Oct 22, (USA - Zone 6b climate)
You had better be quick about it.
Showing 41 - 50 of 130 comments

We would like to plant garlic for next summer. We live in the Seattle area.....so we are going to be headed into a lot of rainy weather for the next few months. When should we plant my cloves to get big multi clove bulbs and when would we harvest them? We plan on using large containers....should they be moved into a place with a little weather protection during the heaviest rain? We planted in February last year and got tiny tiny bulbs..... The same question for leeks if you know about those too..... Thanks very much! Annemarie

- Annemarie

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. Gardenate is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.
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