Get your Garlic Growing

Linda Moll, Anoka County Extension Master Gardener

Growing up with an Italian mom, our family ate a lot of garlic. I still do enjoy it, so this year I decided to grow my own. After all, if homegrown tomatoes taste better than store bought, wouldn’t garlic also be better from the garden?  Late fall is the perfect time to plant garlic for harvesting next year.

Garlic Basics

When selecting a variety of garlic to grow, you’ll find options for ‘hardneck’ and ‘softneck’ types. Softneck is what we typically find in grocery stores, but the hardneck varieties are better suited to growing in Minnesota. Hardneck varieties also have the added advantage of producing scapes, an edible stalk containing a mini bulb of garlic called a bulbil.

• Garlic enjoys full sun and rich, loamy, well-drained soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. A soil test is always recommended.
• Purchase garlic for planting from reputable growers. Garlic from a grocery store generally isn’t hardy in Minnesota.
• Leave the heads or bulbil clusters together until you’re ready to plant as they can dry out quickly.
• Garlic is a long-maturing crop, taking eight to nine months from planting to harvesting. Mature plants can reach three-to-five feet tall.
• The size of the garlic head, number of cloves, and date of maturity can vary, as can the taste of different varieties. Check with the grower and keep the information for later reference.

 Garlic is in the allium (or onion) family. This is important when considering crop rotation and companion planting. Garlic grows close to the surface, allowing deeper-rooted crops like tomatoes and potatoes to be planted nearby.

Planting and Growing

Plant your individual garlic cloves after the first hard frost in the fall, around Halloween in central Minnesota. Late fall planting provides garlic with the cold period it needs. It also allows garlic time to get established without shoots breaking the soil surface where they can be damaged by the cold.

• After making any necessary amendments to your soil, plant your garlic cloves (pointy side up, root end down) approximately two inches deep and six inches from each other. Leave enough room between rows to weed and harvest.
• Mulch your newly planted cloves with clean straw. Remove mulch in the spring or simply push it away from the bulb.
• As with many plants, garlic appreciates consistent watering and weeding; its shallow roots make this even more important.
• Top dress in early spring, but don’t add nitrogen after the first week of May.

Your garlic will be ready to harvest in late June or July, depending on the variety you choose. Enjoy your homegrown garlic right away, cure some for later, and save a few of the larger heads to plant for next year’s crop!  

Are you ready to give growing garlic a try? Check out the links below for more information about growing garlic and getting a soil test. 

U of M Extension Service Yard & Garden site: https://extension.umn.edu/vegetables/growing-garlic#diseases-3252861

For soil testing: https://soiltest.cfans.umn.edu/