How to grow garlic

Photo by Healthline

Garlic is a member of the Allium genus and is closely related to onions, leeks and other bulbous flowering plants in the genus. Even though they are native to Central Asia and Iran, they can be successfully grown in (the much colder) England.

 

Types of garlic:

• Hardneck  – more hardy, grows long stems, flowers, larger with a few cloves, ‘complex’ flavours, does not store as long
• Softneck – matures quicker, smaller cloves, stores longer, prefer warmer areas, mild flavours, doesn’t grow a flowering stalk, stems are flexible so you can plait them
• Elephant Garlic – member of the leek family, tastes like a very mild garlic, huge bulbs, used raw in salads, grows wild along the coast of Cornwall

 

Planting:

• In late autumn or early spring, plant the garlic cloves

It is better to purchase these from gardening shops (like garden centres or Thomspon and Morgan) as supermarket garlic can have diseases or the cultivar may not be suitable for growing in England.

• Grow in a warm, sunny area with well-draining soil
• They don’t grow well in acidic soil so modify it with lime in autumn and winter
• You can add a small amount of feriliser

If you don’t have compost at hand to also add, put double the fertilizer.

• Plant cloves with the point up and around 15cm apart

TIP: garlic bulbs can grow bigger if you plant them deeper in the soil!

 

Harvesting:

• You can harvest the garlic once the leaves turn yellow
• Then allow them to dry for a couple weeks before storing them
• Once they are dry, you can cut off the foliage

 

Problems with garlic:

• Remove flower stems to allow the garlic to focus all it’s energy on the bulb
• Green cloves, due to either late harvest or shallow planting
• Onion white rot causes damage to the foliage and rots the roots and the bulb
• Leek rust is a fungal disease that doesn’t harm the plant but will affect the yield
• Animals can eat the plant and damage it. You can protect your crops with horticultural fleece.

 

I will soon be making more guides to different plants, so keep your eye out!

----> Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, Nate.

 

Links for garlic:

Maddock Wight (Autumn) - Van Meuwen

Picardy Wight (Spring) - Van Meuwen

Garlic lovers, Spring collection - Thompson & Morgan

 

(This post contains affiliate links)