Bringing Biodiversity Back

An Adaptive Guide to Growing Garlic

‘All Things Garlic’ – Organic Guide to Growing Garlic

At Adaptive Seeds garlic is one of our favorite crops. It is garlic seed buying season, so we thought we would share this organic guide to growing garlic. We cover some basic (and not so basic) info about how to grow garlic organically and care for this kitchen staple.

First, it is good to know what different kinds of garlic are available. We offer two of the three main types of garlic at Adaptive Seeds.

Hardneck
So named because it produces a woody stem, this type of garlic is known for havinggarlicmusic fewer (4 – 12) easier-to-peel cloves than softneck garlic. It generally has a more pungent flavor, which many garlic lovers prefer. Hardneck garlic tends to have fewer of the papery sheathes both around the clove and around the bulb. This wrapping protects the garlic from light and changes in humidity, so hardneck garlic does not store as long as softneck. Generally speaking, hardnecks store well for about 3 – 4 months. We offer two types of hardneck garlic – Porcelain & Glazed Purple Stripe.

Varieties include: Donostia Red, Shvelisi / Chesnook Red, Khabar, Music, Purple Glazer, Romanian Red, Rosewood, Purple Italian Easy Peel, Zemo.

Softneck
garlic nootka roseIn contrast to hardneck garlic, this type of garlic has a pliable stem (neck). Softneck garlic stores better and can be more productive. We offer several varieties of Silverskin type softneck, which is the most common garlic for commercial growers and what you most likely find in the grocery store. Silverskins have excellent storage and pure white bulb wrappers. Silverskin garlic can have up to 40 well-wrapped cloves per bulb. We also have Artichoke types of softneck garlic. Artichokes have only about 12 – 20 cloves each, and both the cloves and bulbs tend to be significantly larger than Silverskin varieties. Artichoke garlics tend to mature up to 4 weeks earlier than Silverskin types. Both are great storage types and generally speaking can store up to 9 months.

Varieties include: St. Helens, Polish White, Broadleaf Czech, Nootka Rose, Oregon Blue Silverskin, Siskiyou Purple,

Elephantgarlicelephant
Elephant garlic is not technically garlic at all, though it looks, acts, and tastes similarly. It is a leek, and has a much milder flavor than true garlic. The bulbs usually form giant 3-6 cloves. This type will produce a scape, like hardneck garlic, and also stores about the same as hardnecks.

Soil Preparation and Fertility
Garlic is a green, leafy plant for most of its life cycle. This means that it requires plenty of nitrogen for healthy, vigorous growth. But it is also a bulb, like a tulip, and so needs a fair amount of phosphorous as well. We fertilize our garlic prior to planting with a 4-4-4 chicken manure product.  In the Pacific Northwest many soils are low in calcium and sulfur. In this situation gypsum is a great amendment.  Because garlic is in the ground for so long, it requires an additional application of fertilizer in the spring. We top dress in early April with fish bone meal (4-16-0) because our soils are very deficient in phosphorous.  If your soil has adequate phosphorous, top dressing with a good source of nitrogen (such as blood meal) is recommended. We also apply a foliar mix of fish emulsion and kelp extract 2 – 3 times from late April to early May.

Garlic “Seed” Preparation / Cracking and Planting
In preparation for planting, the bulbs need to be cracked; that is, the outer papery hull needs to be removed and the cloves need to be separated and sorted for easy planting.  It is important to use only firm garlic bulbs and cloves for seed. If cloves give a little, that is okay, but NEVER use a clove that is soft or has obvious mold damage. The vigor of the plant and the size of the garlic bulb are determined by both the size of the parent bulb and the size of the parent clove. For this reason, it is best to choose medium-large size bulbs and cloves when planting. We use only the 75% largest cloves for planting and there is no need to peal the clove wrappers. The larger the clove, the more energy resources the young plant will have to draw upon in its initial stage of growth. For us in the Willamette Valley, the best time to plant garlic is October, but it can also be planted through February. Later plantings will result in smaller bulbs. Plant one clove every 6-8” in rows that are 1′ apart. Make sure the clove is covered by at least 1-2” of soil, with the blunt end pointing down. 

Care and Cultivation
Garlic should sprout and come up within 2-4 weeks, but this can vary depending on seed storage, and climate and soil conditions.  Most growers mulch garlic 2-3” thick with straw or leaves. This helps keep weeds down and limits fluctuations in soil temperature and moisture content. Mulching can be done at planting time because the first leaf shoot that the bulb sends up is a specialized leaf that can break through barriers such as soil and mulch. In our area, garlic tends to grow 4-6” in the fall, then go dormant from December – February. Growth begins again late February to early March (this is when spring fertilizing begins). Garlic is very sensitive to weed pressure and needs to be cultivated regularly to be free of weeds.
garlic weeding

Pay attention to the leaf color and shape during the growing season, and cull plants that look off – yellow or curled leaves, deformed stems, stunted growth, etc.

By late May, the plants stop leaf production and begin to bulb out. Stop fertilizing at this time.  May is also a good time to scout for “doubles” – when two plants emerge from one spot. Pull out any doubles until only one plant remains. Leaving doubles in the ground results in smaller bulbs. We joyfully eat our doubles as green garlic! In mid-May to June, the hardneck and elephant garlics (and potentially some of the softneck) will send up a flower stalk from the center of the plant, this is called a garlic scape. Wait to remove the scape until it curls (or whips) around itself, then pinch it off at the base. Also known as garlic whistles (for the sound they make when pulled out), they are a gourmet delicacy: a mild garlic flavor with the texture of asparagus. YUM! We highly recommend garlic scape pesto! (And pickles!) Removing the scape allows the plant to send more energy to its bulb, and results in bigger garlic, so even if you don’t want to eat it, it is important to break it off. If you leave the scape on it will flower and produce little bulbils that can be planted. These will form garlic bulbs in two years.

garlic scape

Fortunately, the rainy season takes care of most of the watering needs of garlic plants here in the Pacific Northwest. In late April to mid-May, if the rain stops, the garlic still needs to get regular watering. Irrigate garlic at least once a week until two or three weeks before harvest. In mid-late June, plant leaves will begin to yellow from the tips downward and the outside leaves inward.  Stop water when a few of the leaves have dried down, typically the middle of June.

Harvest
Plants are ready to harvest when 50% of the leaves are all dried down. If you wait until the entire plant is dry, you will lose a lot of the wrappers during harvest and/or may end up with bulbs that have cracked open – both result in decreased storability. For us, harvest of mature bulbs begins with Artichoke types in late June or early July, hardnecks around mid-July, and finishing off with Silverskins by the end of July. Harvest time can be a few weeks earlier or later depending on weather and growing conditions each season.


    garlic harvestgarlic harvest2

To harvest, simply pull the garlic out of the ground. But be careful, fresh garlic bruises very easily and will not store well if the neck or cloves are damaged, so it’s best not to drop or throw bulbs. If a bulb is damaged in harvest, it is best eaten fresh. Uncured fresh garlic is a real treat!  Even with our tractor digging tool bar which makes garlic harvest a lot easier, we sometimes need to use a digging fork to loosen the soil around the base of the bulb. Again, take care not to stab the bulb with the fork. (We call this farmer blight.) Freshly harvest garlic should be kept out of direct sunlight so don’t let it linger too long out in the field or garden when harvesting.

Storage/Curing
Garlic needs to be cured for it to store properly. If it is not cured, it will not keep for very long and will likely develop mold. Your garlic storage and curing location should be out of direct sunlight and have good air circulation. We use our barn with a combination of pallet racks and hanging from the rafters.  Don’t cut your leaf stalks (necks) or the roots before curing. Garlic will cure better and last longer if it is cured with them on. Be sure to remove as much dirt as possible from the roots (we do this in the field during harvest).
garlic hanging
The simplest way to store and cure is to tie a string around the stalks of a dozen or so plants and hang the bundles in a shed or garage.

Post Curing
To prep garlic for long term storage, clip the leaf stalk, trim the roots, and remove as few of the papery leaf sheaths as possible – just enough to be ‘clean.’ Note that the more wrappers on the bulb, the better and longer it stores. Softneck varieties are perfect for braiding. Hardneck varieties should be eaten first as they won’t store as long. We bring all our garlic into the house from the barn when the weather gets cool and moist to avoid sprouting.  At room temperature, our Silverskin garlic stores through spring.

Adaptive Guide to Growing Garilc

A note about disease
Garlic is susceptible to fungal, bacterial, and viral diseases that may be naturally occurring in soils and/or introduced by critters in much of the US. Practicing wide crop rotations (5+ years between any onions, garlic, or leek crops) and diligently removing any plants that look like they may be infected are two effective tools for limiting disease in garlic. Infected or questionable garlic should not be planted. If garlic rust is a problem try planting late maturing silverskin types. In western Oregon they seem to be less susceptible to rust.

Additional Resources
Much of this information is adapted from:

Growing Great Garlic by Ron L. Engeland, Chelsea Green Publishing, 1991.

12 Comments

  1. Steve Miller

    A very nice post, but I wish you discussed rust in some detail. I believe it is increasingly prevalent in Oregon. I got it for the first time last year in my backyard garden and am terrified my garlic growing days are over.

    -Steve

    • Andrew Still

      I agree that there should be some detail on the rust. Hopefully we will add it soon, but in the mean time I would say that rust is something that is very common in the environment here and we have found the best way to fend it off is to plant varieties that resist it somewhat. We have found that late silverskin type varieties seem to be resistant . Also, varieties such as Music and Purple Glazer seem to get it a little but don’t seem to be set back by it. We have found it to not be seed born and severe situations are usually a combination of very susceptible varieties and unfavorable spring weather.

      I have been thinking of writing up a more detailed article on rust with citations and such. I hope to get to it soon.

    • Michelle Bright

      I grew garlic for 30+ years here in Western Oregon before getting it on my Astoria bed. I thought it was something that I did, but one block away is a community garden and its on their plants too.
      I attended a very interesting seminar on fungi spores being carried by forest fires. Apparently some survive heat and can travel 1200 miles. Unfortunately, Rust is a common one that does this. Coincidentally, about 6 years ago we had two very strong smoke events here in Astoria brought in by the surrounding fires in the NW. Following this, my garlic developed rust. It is also on other plants in by yard as well as city wide. I talked with other gardeners and they agree it appeared in the last decade for the first time.
      Another suspicion that I have is that it may come from the garbage companies compost that they distribute to all the landscape companies around the county. They heat the mix but it doesn’t kill the rust spore.
      I read about it and found you had to change beds for 3-5 years. I changed my garlic bed to strawberries and moved the garlic to their bed. Strawberries are not susceptible.

  2. James Bourke

    Howdy,

    Have you had much luck with driving garlic to seed production, it can be done?

  3. Marc Scheidecker

    I have read and studied everything I could find on the pucchinnia allii, i.e. garlic rust. I also taught a class on it. Briefly, here is are some things I found out: While the fungus seems to be mostly airborne, it also overwinters in the soil, where it waits for soil temps between 50-75F (May) to emerge. At 59F it is in its prime. Other vectors are the rain, insects, tools, overwintering alliums and seeds.

    Sanitation and prevention have proven to be the best defense. I am experimenting this year with covering all of my 7 cold frames with Tufflite V cold frame plastic to inhibit the air and rain vectors. When the soil gets close to 50 degrees I am going to apply about an inch of fine mulch to counter soil borne pathogens. I have also started all of my garlic at home in 4″ pots into which I have added Mycorrhiza and a little worm poop to give the seedlings as good a start as I can. Lastly, the “Disease Triangle” tells us that as long as one of the three conditions (pathogenicity, environmental, and host susceptibility) are absent we should have the problem under control. Oh, yes, in just two days it can spread and infect your whole crop, so check it every single day and remove any infected leaves. Don’t use manure! Don’t plant where you had alliums last year. There is some more. Best wishes. Adaptive Seeds is welcome to share my e-mail address with you and any or all of this info. -Marc

    • Agnes Li

      Thank you Marc for such great information on the rust prevention! Can you tell me why Not to use manure please?

  4. Mike Burton

    Is it possible to grow spring planted garlic? I’m losing my garlic crop to a home sale and would like to replant it but I’m worried about the root system.

    • Andrew Still

      We have planted garlic in early spring, however the yield is usually lower. If you do plant now make sure to irrigate the plants, in dry weather, later in the year than overwintered plants would require. If the plants you have are still fairly small they may be worth transplanting.

  5. Edgar Brown

    I learned when trying to grow panax quinquefolium that if there were apples grown there in the past, there will always be rust problems.

  6. Theresa

    So helpful & straightforward… thanks for squeezing article writing into an undoubtedly busy life. Have saved the link for mid-summer review on fall planting. For now, in Montana, (not the banana belt part), I will try sprouting cloves indoors, as well as outside winter sowing, and just see how it goes. Some I’ll probably plant super close for green garlic stems and pest control. As I thin, there will hopefully be room for some level of bulging up. Just me here – don’t need market quality. Just want the flavor & experience. Anything more this year will be a bonus!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.