Growing Garlic

Allium sativum : Amaryllidaceae / the onion family

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

(Best months for growing Garlic in Australia - sub-tropical regions)

  • P = Plant cloves
  • 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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18 Aug 17, Bec (Australia - arid climate)
Just wondering how often I should water my garlic and how do I know when to harvest? They were planted about 4 days ago and I'm in Perth, Western Australia. Thanks!
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21 Aug 17, (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Read earlier post today re planting. You need good draining soil. Too wet and it will rot and too dry and will die. I would say you have sandy soil. Try a little water each day. Sandy soil water more regularly than good soil. Bit of trial and error. Google about growing it.
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15 Jul 17, Barbara (Australia - temperate climate)
Just wondering if I cut off the green tops for stir fry as suggested it does not hurt the bulbs growing?
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03 Aug 17, Bev (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Your bulb depends on the sugars developed by the leaves - so if you cut the greens to eat you are compromising the bulb. The bulb will still form when its ready, but it will be smaller
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17 Jul 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Maybe try shallots - easy to grow and can grow most of the year.
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15 Jul 17, mick (Australia - temperate climate)
Never had any success growing garlic from supermarket stock despite the shoots being green signalling it's time to plant. I bought 2 rather expensive bulbs and planted out 6 weeks ago. The plants seem to be powering on but I'll see what they look like in December/January. Really hopeful they will work as we consume a lot of garlic...which Woolies and Coles are now selling for $25/kg. Any suggestions as to fertiliser applications, or not, during the growth cycle?
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13 Aug 18, Michael (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi Mick I have read that Australian garlic, especially supermarket stock , is almost always infected with fusarium root rot. I will next year try to overcome this by washing the cloves with either bleach or hydrogen peroxide (cant remember the protocol). Surprisingly the south american garlic did not show the same problem and grew too well with a very good root system, but sent shoots up from the developing cloves and matured very early (4 months)
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09 Jul 17, Kerry smith (Australia - temperate climate)
My Galic I planted started to shoot but then it died back. I though that the bulbs had rotted. When I went to dig them up last week they all have roots and small green shoots that have not pushed through the surface yet. I planted then at the end of may beginning of June and have covered then over with soil again. Will they grow I'm abit confused as to why the green shoots died back
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08 Jun 17, faye kutt (Australia - temperate climate)
Which end of the garlic do we put in ground. Cheers
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08 Jun 17, Giovanni (Australia - temperate climate)
Plant garlic with the pointed end up and the flat 'stub' end down
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Showing 211 - 220 of 577 comments
See comments for all plants

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.

- Dave in California Zone 10A

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