Growing Garlic Tips & Advice on How to Grow Garlic Successfully

Thinking of growing garlic? Garlic is one of those herbs you either love or hate to eat. And in the case of my mother, she loves it, but is totally allergic to it due to the sulfur content. As she is also allergic to sulfur drugs, there are no surprises there. I, on the other hand love garlic. Not only does it have wonderful medicinal qualities but it is also easy to grow, and adds taste to the Italian recipes I love to prepare.

Garlic is also one of those herbs that will be your friend in the garden when you use it for companion planting> It makes a great friend if planted with roses. It is also a useful plant for using as a natural pesticide and insecticide.

Garlic is one of those herbs that you can recycle when you have been shopping at the store. When you keep garlic for too long it starts to sprout. Instead of throwing it away, this time just plant it!

Growing Garlic: When to Plant

As a bulb garlic likes a cool, rainy autumn and a rainy frosty winter to do really well. It also likes to have a warm to hot spring and summer to do really well. If you live in such a climate you will have no trouble growing garlic at all. If you live in the tropics you will not be successful as the garlic needs the cold winter period to form good cloves.

If you want to plant garlic that you purchased from your store make sure that it has begun to sprout first before you plant it. I say this because some commercially grown garlic has been treated so that it won't sprout. If this is the case, then you will either have to buy some at your local farm store, or find some bulbs from a commercial seller.

You can plant the cloves in late autumn either whole if the bulb is a single bulb variety, or separated if it is from the multi-bulb variety. Plant to a depth of about 8 cm deep in good free-draining soil that is in full sun. Your soil should have a lot of organic matter added to it, and soft enough for the bulbs to grow well, and reach their full potential. Each glove should be planted about 10 cm apart. When planting your garlic make sure that the shoot is pointing upwards in the soil.

Growing Garlic: Growing Conditions

Water in but don't over-water them as they will rot. If you get a lot of rain, only water during the dry spells.

During its growth make sure that you feed your plants with a liquid manure on a regular basis to boost your plants.

Growing Garlic: When to Harvest

Harvesting can begin after 8 or 9 months of planting.

Towards the end of summer the garlic leaves will start to turn yellow. Reduce your watering as soon as you see this. Wait for the leaves to die back, although not completely. Harvest when there are about 4 or 5 green leaves still on the plant. Pull up the bulbs and dry them out by hanging them in the sun for about two weeks. Make sure that they do not get rained on while you are drying them. Your garlic can be stored for up to seven months.

Remember to keep some bulbs back for yourself so that you can plant them again the following season.