Growing Garlic

Allium sativum : Amaryllidaceae / the onion family

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

(Best months for growing Garlic in Australia - cool/mountain 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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26 Feb 12, peter (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I would love to buy some garlic seed as well although, we live in brisbane - your seed may not perform as well in out hotter climate. please email me at [email protected] if you want to sell us some. Thanks, Peter
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27 Feb 12, Garry (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Hi Peter,I live in Northern NSW..and have been growing my own Garlic for over 5yrs with great success.I have a large amount of bulbs from this seasons harvest..If you would like i could send you some bulbs.. E:mail:- [email protected] regards garry :)
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13 Feb 12, Wade (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi all, just suggesting that planting times be shuffled back to start planting mid march thru to mid june, at the latest! Ive found that most garlic really like a bit of warmth and size before winter sets in...
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02 Feb 12, Prue (Australia - temperate climate)
This year I let a couple of garlic go to seed and flower, so now I have thousands of tiny garlic cloves/seeds, should I plant them in the ground now as that is when they would of naturally fallen or wait till April? I'm in Melbourne if that helps answer my question
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22 Jun 12, Michael Ouellette (Australia - temperate climate)
You can plant them as an experiment but you are better off planting the cloves from mature garlic. I also live in Melbourne and have been growing my own garlic for three years with success. I plant about 2- 300 cloves for our own usage yearly. PS: and loving it...
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31 Jan 12, (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I have planted garlic bulbs last year and nothing happened. Thought it all died off, but in the last week or so.... it's been soooo hot here and I now have garlic growing in my pots. Must be from last year's bulbs that didnt work. Not sure why they are sprouting at this time of year, especially in this heat when I thought they were a winter vege. Any comments would be good.
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02 Apr 12, David (Australia - temperate climate)
it is possible that you bought mexican or some other countrys garlic which is 6 monthes different to ours hence the garlic coming up now
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16 Mar 12, Pranav (Australia - temperate climate)
Jennifer,Buy cloves, glriac is a bulb plant not a seed plant, although the cloves are used as the seed' (confused yet?). :-)In this case the term seed' has a general meaning in so far as anything that can be sown i.e. seed potatoes, seeds of corn or sunflower seeds . In the case of sunflower and corn seeds , what is sown is the seed enclosed in a shell or hull, and the potato is a tuber and one can propogate them by planting small pieces of a spud that has grown an eye'.For best results, plant in the fall for next summers crop and because it is a bulb, think drainage.Hope that helps
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01 Jan 12, Vanessa (Australia - temperate climate)
I live on the Murray River at a town called Tooleybuc. 2011 I planted heaps of cloves. They all sprouted!! I planted my garlic in March/early April. I left them until November and dug some up, only to find rather small bulbs. Left the rest for another month and the bulbs had not really grown much larger. The cloves were fresh Australian grown garlic. Did I overwater them? Is it possible to overwater. The guy I obtained my bulbs from, planted his crop in Feb and harvested in Nov. HELP!! What am I doing wrong?? Please. Any advice would be appreciated. Vanessa
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12 Mar 12, Matthew (Australia - temperate climate)
I would say nutrition is the key! Garlic need a reasonable amount of fertiliser to form well. You should be able to google a fertiliser program, but a broad spectrum NPK+trace applied at planting and then more nitrogen over time will help.
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Showing 371 - 380 of 577 comments
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Heres an answer for garlic, I grow about 300 plants a year and get good results with about 90% of the cloves coming in at 5cm in diameter plus. Season. Garlic takes up to 9 months to mature. Plant in autumn, late March to May, harvest November to December. Clove selection. Plant only the largest cloves, at least the size of your top thumb joint, I have big hands so I plant cloves 2- 2.5 cm across. Its easy to eat the biggest and the best, its better to plant the biggest and the best. Spacing. I plant 15 - 18 cloves per square metre, 25cm apart in rows 25 cm apart. With 30 cm + paths between 4 rows. It's easy to crowd them, and the yield in terms of weight may be much the same, but bigger garlic are a lot more fun and much easier to use in the kitchen. Sunlight. Whilst garlic can tolerate low sun during the winter months it needs 8 hours direct sunlight during the early and late growth stages. So lots of clear sky when it's maturing, September onwards. If your nutrition is right, (and soil acidity is right) then water could be the problem. While not much water is needed in winter, the ground should be kept moist through the season, especially in spring. A shallow watering is best the roots don't go down more than 30 cm max. Once to twice week during the maturing season. We cant control the weather, but avoid flooding (and applications of nutirients) during the final few weeks to lessen the chance of fungus attacks and sprouting. Garlic likes a moderate amount of lime (dolomite), you can rely on the recommended amount at least two weeks before planting and once every three years. Maturity. Look for tops fading in colour, a weakening of the stem near the base and a flattening of the top of the bulb when (gently) exposed Thats a lot and there's a lot more. It's a labour of love and a lifetime. And I'm sure others will have other suggestions, this is just a framework of what has worked for me. Planting at the moment actually. Regarding shallots most of the above also applies but Im not much of an authority. Shorter season length, but most of the above applies. I plant under the same conditions as garlic but only a few dozen and get good results.

- Ken WIlson

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