Unlock the secrets of fresh, homegrown garlic. Discover how to grow garlic at home with our easy guide.
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| Discover How to Grow Garlic at Home. |
As more Americans discover how simple it is to cultivate this delicious bulb, garlic is becoming increasingly popular in homes and gardens. Growing abundant harvests of garlic don't require much experience; even novices may produce these wholesome, homegrown delicacies. You can enjoy heady crops and cultivated garlic with only a few easy steps.
How to grow garlic at home from a clove
Selecting the Right Type of Garlic
- The hard core seed stem, or scape, of hardneck garlic, is the source of their name. Their flavor is usually intense or spicy, and their shelf life is limited to three months from harvest. Hardneck heads often have 12 cloves or fewer.1. large, uniform hardneck cloves develop in a single layer around the stiff stem.
- The tops of softneck garlics remain flexible and soft, without developing a firm central stalk. Softnecks are ideal if you want to attempt making garlic braids, similar to those that hang at farm markets. Compared to hardneck garlic, softneck garlic has a softer flavor and can be stored for up to six months. Up to 40 tiny, asymmetrical cloves are arranged in several layers around the center of softneck heads.1.
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| How to grow garlic at home |
When to Plant Your Garlic
You can grow garlic in the early spring or the fall. Garlic, however, needs cold temperatures to grow effectively, just like tulips and other spring-blooming bulbs. Garlic heads do not split into cloves if there is no cooling time; instead, you get onion-like bulbs. Plant garlic with your earliest veggie seeds if you're planting in the spring to give it the necessary chill. When planting flowering bulbs in the fall, many gardeners also like to grow garlic at that time. This allows garlic to flourish for longer, resulting in larger, more tasty summer harvests. Additionally, nature facilitates appropriate cooling. Plant fall garlic starting two weeks before or following the date of your region's usual first frost.
How to Make Planting Beds for Garlic
The optimal conditions for garlic growth are full, direct sun and loose, fertile, well-drained soil. Robust plant nutrition is essential for abundant harvests. Improve your garden beds by adding a thick layer of organic matter, such as compost, about 3 to 4 inches deep. Add a balanced fertilizer, like Pennington UltraGreen All Purpose Plant Food 10-10-10, to the soil and mix this layer in. Before planting, it is a good idea to conduct a soil test. Additionally, your extension agent can assist with this. The pH range of 6.0 to 7.0.1 is near-neutral for soil, and this is when garlic is most effective at utilizing nutrients. You can precisely alter your garden soil to promote the growth of garlic by using soil testing.
Sowing Your Garlic
Garlic is cultivated from single cloves, the same cloves you use in cooking, as opposed to vegetables, which are developed from seeds or plants. Every clove develops into a whole head. Before planting, manually prepare the cloves and enlist the assistance of friends. It's a perfect justification for a garlic-themed backyard party! To prepare the cloves, peel the papery outer covering from the garlic head and carefully separate the cloves. Since the roots will grow on the flat bottom plates of each clove, leave their papery covering on and take care not to damage them. Don't worry if a couple breaks; just store them away to use in meals. Garlic cloves should be planted 1 to 2 inches deep in warm areas and 3 to 4 inches deep in northern climes. With the pointed end of the clove sticking up, press the flat, rooted plate into the ground. Add a 4- to 6-inch layer of weed-free mulch before planting in the fall. Straw, leaves, or grass clippings work well. This helps to keep soil temperatures from fluctuating significantly, allowing garlic to chill gently in the fall and reheat gradually in the spring.
Taking Care of Garlic as It Develops
Fall-planted garlic peeks through the mulch around the time songbirds come early in the spring. Pull the mulch gently away from the developing leaves. After the leaves grow to a height of around 6 inches, place a layer of compost next to them and reapply the same fertilizer as before. This should be done roughly a month after planting for spring plantings. Garlic doesn't fare well against garden weeds, so keep it weeded. Water garlic such that it receives one inch of water each week from both your irrigation system and rainfall. When the hardneck scapes are still soft and curly, in early June, cut them off. Scapes work well in sautéed or stir-fried recipes. Furthermore, eliminating scapes promotes bulb growth. When the leaves on your garlic start to turn yellow and the bulbs become hard, cease watering the garlic altogether. Garlic is rarely bothered by insects, but when it is, the consequences can be dire. On contact, garlic pests like onion thrips, cutworms, and leafminers are eliminated with Sevin Insect Killer Ready to Use2. Just give yourself at least 14 days to harvest your garlic after treatment. Garlic planning can also be hampered by fungal illnesses. Little tan, white, or purple dots on garlic leaves are frequently the earliest indications of danger. For garlic diseases such as purple blotch, downy mildew, and botrytis blight, diaconal fungicides offer very efficient treatment.
How to Gather and Keep Garlic
The timing of your garlic harvest may vary depending on where you reside, but it usually occurs between July and September. Harvest time is when the lower leaves turn brown and the stalks turn yellow and topple over. Dig your garlic bulbs carefully, taking care to leave the stems whole. Your crop should "cure" in a warm, dry, shady environment with adequate ventilation to extend its storage life. Garlic can be dried by hanging the stems together or by spreading the heads out in a single layer. When the garlic is two to four weeks old, it's ready for best storage. For fun or as gifts, braid long-stemmed softneck garlics, or trim the stems off about an inch above the bulbs. The perfect humidity and temperature are provided by refrigerators for long-term garlic storage, allowing your harvest to last for months. Don't forget to reserve some bulbs for your planting supplies. You may savor these aromatic vegetables in a variety of ways when you have an abundance of homegrown garlic at your disposal, such as roasted, smoky heads, fresh garlic pestos, and oils flavored with garlic. The GardenTech blog and GardenTech brands are here to teach, grow, and assist you take advantage of all the advantages and good times that gardening has to offer.