Growing Garlic

[gsaxon]

I was thinking of growing garlic in the fall (outdoors) and was wondering if anyone has ever grown garlic from store bought garlic bulbs. I was thinking of going to my local grocery store to buy organic garlic and trying to plant it. Around here, in Chicago, people will usually plant their garlic in early November before the first frost. Any other suggestions as to where to buy garlic to plant would be appreciated.

[Shawn]

I have never grown garlic, then again I really have not grown  much outside with my bad experiences of outdoor gardening, but here are a few articles with conflicting answer.  But it seems like many do grow from store bought with success.

Growing Garlic from Store Bought

How to Plant Store Bought Garlic

Why you should Not grow Store Bought Garlic

There are many articles and even some videos on how.  If you do please keep us posted on how you plant and then how they come up

[airscapes]

Jul 11, 2021 9:06:21 GMT -5 gsaxon said:

I was thinking of growing garlic in the fall (outdoors) and was wondering if anyone has ever grown garlic from store bought garlic bulbs. I was thinking of going to my local grocery store to buy organic garlic and trying to plant it. Around here, in Chicago, people will usually plant their garlic in early November before the first frost. Any other suggestions as to where to buy garlic to plant would be appreciated.

I have been growing garlic for some years now.  I live just west of the city or Philadelphia.. just a mile out so might as well say in the city.   Our weather here is probably a little warmer than you so what I do may or may not work.
So on the Grocery store Garlic, yep, been growing if for years, but there are caveats.
Some of the store stuff has been treated to keep it from sprouting, but it worked for me with no issues. The other thing is what you buy in the grocery store is Soft Neck Garlic, which grows in California in a warm climate.   Softneck garlic needs to be planted in the early spring here in the Mid-Atlantic area.  When you plant softneck in the fall, it will root and spout like a Tulip does in the fall.  It will just stay that way till spring then continue growing which may or may not work out.  What happens is if you get a warm couple of days in the winter, then cold again, all the new cloves that have started to from, will sprout and your garlic will look like the images below.  

So for softneck, in a cold climate, you want to plant it in early spring as soon as the ground can be worked.  Here I try for Feb or this year first of March.  As long as they get a couple weeks with ground temp at 40F they will be fine.  Some folks put them in the fridge for a few weeks before planting if waiting for warmer weather.

Hardneck is what you grow in the fall for spring harvest, the difference is they do not store as long.  Right now my garlic from last year is just starting to go bad.. and I have new ready to harvest, in fact I pulled 4 last week and decided to let them go a little longer to see if they will get larger.   You then use YOUR garlic to plant next year so it becomes accustom to your climate. 


This is garlic that got cold and hot and cold and hot.. the cloves that should be tight in the wrapper are growing as individual Garlic.  Still can eat it, still tastes fine, but does not store as well.


Other than that, garlic is very simple to grow, use a tapered piece of wood to make a  1" round hole 2" deep in the soil, stick the clove in the hole with the root end down (flat dry spot and do not remove the dry skin from the single little clove) and push the dirt back onto the hole..   wait till they are ready  harvest.. 



This is how I store my garlic once it is cured .. actually is hung here before it is done curing as the humidity is too high here for it to actually dry and cure outside.. so I hang it in the AC ad trim the leaves as they dry..   This was last years with the sprouted cloves from above, not all of it was like that but you can see it clearly if you enlarge the image.

[Shawn]

No vampires at your place

[airscapes]

Jul 11, 2021 13:16:40 GMT -5 Shawn said:

No vampires at your place

That is correct! 
Sad part is my wife does not use as much Garlic as she used to.. 1/2 that is still hanging there all withered and deflated.. Not that it matters, we were Vampire free all Pandemic long, not once did any of those food sucking family member show their face in our house!  Oh maybe it was Covid that kept those vampires away!

[gsaxon]

Thank you everyone for the detailed replies about growing garlic. It looks like I have quite a learning curve, but I am certainly going to give this a try. I love garlic and figure the only way to learn is to try it myself. I am also going to go to my local farmer's market to see if I can find some local varieties that might grow well in my area.

Thanks again!

[airscapes]

That is a great idea!  Growing garlic is one of the simplest items to grow.. stick it in at the right time and dig it out when it is ready!

[gsaxon]

Thanks again. I am excited about this idea!

[airscapes]

Well you got some time to plan.. I will post photos of mine when I dig it.. probably this weekend.  Not as big I as I would like but smaller tight bulbs store best.. 

[gsaxon]

Looking forward to seeing your harvest!

[airscapes]

HAHA just finished!
So when I planted the beds were thawed in places but not everywhere.. so I must have started planting then stopped.. came back a week later and put another clove in the same spots.. Most of the garlic had 2 planted within inches of each other leading to 2 small bulbs due to lack of nutrient.. The 90 degree heat in June did not help.  However, the plants that were Solo as they should be were of the expected size... 

These will sit here in the shade on the back porch until the leaves are all brown and crispy and the roots are all dried out.  The I will tie them in bunches to a rope and string them inside for the rest of the year.  The largest bulbs will be save to use the clove within to plant next march.

[Sher]

I'm impressed, airscapes.

[airscapes]

Jul 18, 2021 14:49:01 GMT -5 Sher said:

I'm impressed, airscapes .

There is nothing to be impressed with.. there is  literally nothing to do.. you make a hole, stick in the clove, cover it and wait.. Mother Nature does it all.  I guess i am lucky, the squirrels don't seem to like garlic..  

[gsaxon]

They look awesome. I have a few questions for you. How far apart did you plant them to give them space to grow? When should you add fertilizer, how much fertilizer, and what type of fertilizer? I am really excited to try this because I absolutely love garlic and would love to grow my own. Finally, how long do you think the garlic will last stored in your home?
Sorry for all the questions, but I want to do this right!

[airscapes]

Jul 21, 2021 7:13:35 GMT -5 gsaxon said:

They look awesome. I have a few questions for you. How far apart did you plant them to give them space to grow? When should you add fertilizer, how much fertilizer, and what type of fertilizer? I am really excited to try this because I absolutely love garlic and would love to grow my own. Finally, how long do you think the garlic will last stored in your home?
Sorry for all the questions, but I want to do this right!

You can do some google searcher on the fertilizer requirements of garlic but what I typically do is as follows:
For all my beds regardless of what will go there the following year, I clean the bed of weeds and plant matter at the end of the season, sprinkle GardenTone Vegetable fertilizer at a rate of 1 cup per 4' of bed (4x12 beds) and then pelletize garden lime at the same 1 cup per 4' of bed.  Then with a shovel I turn the soil over, smooth it out and it is ready for the next crop.  I also augment the bead with Mushroom soil when the level of soil drops every couple of years.  So what you need to do is relative to the condition of your soil.. The soil in my beds is a mix of purchased topsoil, vermiculite and mushroom soil and has no native soil which is mostly clay in my yard.

I do not normally feed the garlic during the growing season but that's not to say I shouldn't.. I just don't normally do that..
I plant them about 12 inches apart.  The issue I had this year is I had accidently planed 2 cloves within inches of each other in many plance.. so neither got to full size.  
Once you have cured the garlic, if it is softneck garlic it should last about 9-12 months in my experience .. what I have left  (a lot) from last year is  going  bad now, dried out and deflated or starting to sprout. and it has been 1 year.

In this picture the garlic is the left 2 rows, shallots are the darker ones on the right, if you click to see full size image you will see there are 2 plants right next to each other.. should only be 1.

[gsaxon]

This is very helpful and detailed information. I will be adding mushroom compost to my soil in the late fall and begin prepping my garden bed. I think it is interesting that you do not fertilize during the growing season. I also didn't think they needed to be so far apart.  Thanks again!

[airscapes]

Today I removed last years garlic from the dining room where it has been living since last year.  It was mostly dried up and mushy as we don't seem to use all that I grow anymore.  This years crop is a mixed bag of normal small and tiny bulbs but all the wrappers are tight and it should last better than last years crop.
Unlike Onions, when curing garlic it can not be in the sun.  So you need a place that is shady and has good airflow.  Once dried you remove the roots and as much of the leaves as you want depending on how you store it.

[campingcorgis]

Nice!  I love, love, love garlic, but I wouldn't be able to use that much either.  And, sadly, I have issues with my hands, these days, so the tube of squeeze garlic is my go to source, much of the time.  I know, terrible!  But, better the tube of garlic than no garlic! 

When my in-laws lived in San Jose, we enjoyed visiting to go to the Garlic Festival and the Santa Clara Wine Festival too.  Toss up on which one we enjoyed more...LOL.  Coming home with lots of garlic or lots of wine...hmmm...both have their uses!  

[gsaxon]

Wow! These do not look small at all! What a great variety of garlic! You have motivated me to give this a try this year and I am hoping for some home grown fresh garlic. I already bought some at my local farmers market and will plant in the late fall. Keeping my fingers crossed for a nice crop!

[Shawn]

To be able to grow my own.  But I do not have the green thumb for that.  Also the deer and rabbits would eat it up.