Garlic

Why grow garlic?

Garlic is easy to grow and it doesn’t take up much space. It is easy to store. You don’t have to can it or freeze it, you just keep it in a shaded cool area like a root cellar or the garage. You can plant it between other plants to keep away rodents and insects and in a lot of instances it can increase yields of other veggies you are growing. Growing your own garlic will beat any garlic that you can buy at a super market. Once you taste the difference you won’t turn back.

Types of garlic

Garlic is available in two types. Hardneck and Softneck. Hardneck garlic has a better flavor than soft neck and has a thinner skin making it easier to peel. Hardneck needs to be planted in the fall to go through a vernalization period, whereas a soft neck can be planted in the early spring not needing as long of a vernalization period. Vernalization period is the period of cold that it needs to set and grow a bulb.

Hardneck has a better flavor but doesn’t keep as well. The thinner skin lets the cloves dry out faster. Hardneck garlic grows one ring of cloves around a hard stem, which means it can’t be braided. Softnecks have a neck that stays soft after harvest so it can be braided and hung to dry. Hardnecks also give you a second harvest during the growing season when it produces garlic scapes. Harvesting the scapes is a good idea so that the plant will put its energy into the bulb, making the bulb bigger. The scapes I use in cooking and making garlic salt. I also add them to other herbal salts and rubs that are fun to do and easy to do with the younger people. There are many different types of hardneck varieties and just a few softneck, know that each one is going to be different tasting and fun to try.

You will likely see a third garlic called elephant garlic. It isn’t a true garlic but a type of leek. Fun to grow, it will produce a baseball to softball size garlic bulb. Its flavor is closer to a leek or onion than it is to a garlic. Buy your seed from a reputable place, some garlic has been treated to prevent them from sprouting. When you harvest, keep and reuse the largest cloves for your own seed.

When/How to plant garlic

It is recommended by CSU to plant your fall garlic around October 15th . I like to plant mine the first couple weeks in November depending on the weather patterns and forecast. Don’t plant garlic too early, because it needs cold temperatures to get the cloves to grow roots. Warm weather in the fall can result in smaller bulbs. I like to wait until the first hard frost, giving me 6 weeks until the ground really starts to freeze. Sometimes I will get green growth in the fall and sometimes they won’t come up until spring. Some people plant their soft neck in the spring but you never know what Colorado weather will give us, so I plant my soft and hardneck in the fall. You can plant garlic all the way through December if the ground temperature doesn’t freeze too hard.

The recommended depth to plant is a inch or two below the surface. I plant mine between 4 and 5 inches. The ground down there is warmer and the bulb will develop root well enough to get it through the winter. Garlic has shallow roots and will stop growing in dry conditions. To avoid this and make sure you get large bulbs, soak the soil thoroughly when you water. I found out in the past that since I plant deeper that I needed to soak deeper so that the water would go that far down. I also have to amend the soil deeper than I usually do with other crops. If there is a lot of clay soil, the soil will hold too much moisture and rot the bulb. Garlic needs consistent water through the winter months, so plan on giving them a drink about 1-2 times a month.

Garlic should be planted in at least 6-8 hours of sun if you want large bulbs. It will grow with less but the bulbs will be smaller. If planted in the shade for pest control the plant will still grow and you can harvest the tops if you like and maybe smaller bulbs. You might be surprised that it gets more sun than you thought and get large bulbs. It is always worth a try so you know for the following season.

For fertilizer I use a chicken manure based fertilizer for the slow release nitrogen content, but anything with a 2-1-1 proportion will work well. Organic fertilizers have a less likely chance of burning and are generally a slow release. Follow the directions on the bag to prevent adding too much. I mix the fertilizer in with the soil before I plant and then I will fertilize when the shoots start to come up in the spring and another shot around the first of June. Bulbs need sufficient phosphate (the middle number) for roots and size of bulb. In Colorado, our soils usually will have enough but are usually short on nitrogen (the first number).

When to harvest

Harvest usually takes place about the middle of July. Begin to harvest your bulbs when the bottom leaves start to turn brown. When your bottom leaves start to turn brown, stop watering to prevent diseases as this allows the bulbs to dry.

After a couple of weeks I usually dig up a bulb to check for maturity before I dig up the entire crop. Don’t pull the stalks. Gently dig them out. Leave the tops on, brush the soil off and spread the bulbs in a dry, well-ventilated area to cure, usually a few weeks. Cut off the roots and store them in a net bag so the air can circulate around them. Remember to keep the largest and best for seed in the fall.

Studies show that planting garlic in and around other plants will repel pests and insects like aphids and mites. Studies also show that planting garlic with some compatible crops like peppers increase the pepper crop because garlic roots help increase soil fertility and increase microbial population. In other crops like strawberries and asparagus the garlic actually reduces the yields of these crops.