How to Grow Garlic: A Complete Guide from Planting to Harvest
, by Earthwise Garlic, 8 min reading time
A complete guide to growing garlic at home, from choosing the right variety through planting, spring care, scape removal, harvest, curing, and storage. Based on how we grow it on our farm in Oregon.
Garlic is one of the most satisfying crops you can grow at home. Plant it in fall, largely ignore it over winter, and pull it from the ground the following summer with very little intervention in between. If you get the basics right, garlic will do most of the work on its own.
This guide covers everything from choosing your seed garlic through harvest and curing, based on how we grow it on our farm in Coburg, Oregon.
Choose the Right Garlic for Your Climate
Not all garlic is the same, and variety selection matters more than most new growers realize.
Hardneck varieties (Porcelain, Rocambole, Creole) need cold winters to develop properly. They thrive in zones 3 to 7, produce large easy-to-peel cloves, and have more complex flavor than what you find at grocery stores. They also produce scapes in spring, which are edible and delicious. Most hardnecks store 4 to 8 months after harvest.
Softneck varieties (Artichoke, Silverskin) are more adaptable. They tolerate warmer winters, store longer (6 to 12 months), and are the type most commonly found in stores. They don't produce scapes and tend to have milder flavor.
In the Pacific Northwest, both hardneck and softneck varieties do well. We grow four hardneck varieties (Music, Ukrainian Red, Georgian Fire, Donostia Red) and two softnecks (Inchelium Red, Lorz Italian). If you're not sure where to start, Music is our most popular variety and the one we recommend to first-time growers.
See our full variety comparison to find the right fit for your kitchen and garden.
Start with Quality Seed Garlic
The cloves you plant are what determine your harvest. Grocery store garlic is often treated with sprout inhibitors that prevent it from growing reliably. It may also carry diseases that you don't want in your soil.
Use seed garlic from a reputable farm, and look for bulbs that are firm, free of soft spots, and disease-free. The biggest cloves from the best bulbs produce the biggest plants and the biggest bulbs at harvest. Don't plant the small cloves from the inside of a bulb; save those for the kitchen.
When to Plant
Garlic is a fall-planted crop in most of the United States. Planting in fall allows the cloves to establish roots before winter, vernalize (experience the cold period that triggers bulb development), and resume growth early in spring.
In most of the country, plant from late September through November. The timing depends on your zone. In the Pacific Northwest (zones 7 to 8), late October to mid-November is the sweet spot. You want cloves in the ground after your first frost so they don't push up too much top growth before winter, but while there's still enough time for good root establishment.
In warmer climates (zones 8b and above), softneck varieties are a better choice, and some growers refrigerate cloves for 4 to 6 weeks before planting to simulate the cold vernalization period that hardnecks need naturally.
Soil Preparation
Garlic grows best in loose, well-draining soil with good fertility. It does not do well in compacted soil or in spots that hold standing water.
Before planting, work the bed to loosen it to about 8 to 10 inches deep. Add compost or aged organic matter if you have it. Garlic is a moderate feeder; it benefits from nitrogen availability in spring, but you don't need to go heavy on fertilizer at planting. A bed with decent organic matter and good drainage will get you a long way.
pH between 6.0 and 7.0 is ideal. If your soil is very acidic, a lime application in fall will help.
Planting
Break bulbs into individual cloves just before planting. Don't do it days ahead of time; the exposed base dries out quickly and you lose the protective layer around the basal plate.
Plant each clove 2 to 3 inches deep, pointed end up, with the flat basal plate facing down. Spacing matters: 6 inches between cloves in the row, 12 inches between rows. Crowded plants compete for water and nutrients; give each clove room to develop a full-sized bulb.
After planting, water the bed in if conditions are dry. Then apply 3 to 4 inches of mulch over the entire bed.
Mulch Is Not Optional
Mulch is one of the most important things you can do for your garlic. It suppresses weeds through the long growing season, retains moisture in spring, protects soil structure, and insulates the bed through winter.
Garlic is not competitive with weeds. Without mulch, weeds can establish quickly in spring and compete with plants during the most critical bulb-building period. We've grown garlic without mulch and with mulch, and the difference shows up clearly at harvest.
Seed-free straw is the most commonly used option and works well. Shredded leaves are excellent if you have them: they stay loose, allow good airflow, and break down into the soil over the season. Avoid mulch that's full of weed seeds (we've made this mistake with wheat straw) or that mats down and holds excess moisture.
Winter and Early Spring
After fall planting, garlic often sends up a few inches of green growth before the first hard freeze. This is normal. The tops may die back with frost; the roots and the clove underneath are fine.
In spring, growth resumes early, often before anything else in the garden is moving. You don't need to do much during this period. The mulch is doing its job. If the season is unusually dry, supplemental watering can help, but most Pacific Northwest growers rely on rain through April or May.
Watering in Spring
Spring moisture is directly tied to bulb size. Garlic that runs dry during the main bulb-development period in April, May, and June will produce smaller bulbs, regardless of how well everything else went.
Aim for about 1 inch of water per week during active growth, from rain and irrigation combined. Water deeply and less often rather than shallowly every day. Deep watering encourages deeper root systems and more consistent moisture uptake.
Stop watering 2 to 3 weeks before your expected harvest date. Allowing the soil to dry down at the end of the season tightens the wrapper skins and makes for better curing and storage.
Scape Removal
If you're growing hardneck varieties, you'll notice a curling flower stalk emerging from the center of the plant in late spring. This is the scape, and you should cut it.
Cut the scape when it completes its first full curl, typically in May or early June depending on your location. Left on the plant, it draws energy toward seed production. Removed, that energy goes into the bulb instead, and the difference in bulb size is real.
Scapes are edible and worth using. Saute them in butter, chop them into eggs, blend into pesto, or pickle them. They have a fresh, mild garlic flavor and are a seasonal highlight of growing your own.
When to Harvest
Most growers harvest garlic in July, though the exact timing depends on your variety and climate.
The signal to harvest: count the leaves on the plant. Each leaf corresponds to a wrapper layer on the bulb. When the bottom 3 to 4 leaves have dried and browned while the upper leaves are still green, the garlic is ready. Waiting until all leaves are dead means the wrappers have deteriorated and storage life will be shorter.
If you're unsure, pull a test bulb. If the cloves fill the skin fully and the outer wrappers are intact, you're ready to harvest the rest.
Use a garden fork to loosen the soil around each plant before pulling. Pulling by the stem risks breaking the neck, which shortens storage life significantly.
Curing
Freshly dug garlic needs to cure before it will store well. Lay or hang the bulbs in a warm (75 to 80 degrees), dry, well-ventilated spot out of direct sun for 3 to 4 weeks. A covered porch, barn, shed, or garage with good airflow works well.
After 3 to 4 weeks, the necks will be completely dry and the outer skins will be papery. At that point, trim the roots close to the base and cut the stem down to about an inch. The garlic is now ready for long-term storage.
Storage
Store cured garlic in a cool (55 to 65 degrees), dry, well-ventilated spot. Mesh bags, wire baskets, and open crates all work well. Don't store garlic in the refrigerator; the cold and humidity trigger sprouting and can encourage mold.
Hardneck varieties typically store 4 to 8 months. Softnecks store longer: 6 to 12 months for artichoke types, with some individual varieties stretching toward a full year. Donostia Red, our Creole variety, is unusual among hardnecks in storing 9 to 10 months.
Getting Started
If you're ready to plant this fall, start with quality seed garlic. The variety and seed quality you plant sets the ceiling for everything that follows.
We grow six naturally grown varieties on our farm in Coburg, Oregon. All ship in September at the right time for fall planting.
Browse our seed garlic varieties or read our planting timing guide to plan your season.