Where to Plant Garlic

If you’re looking to grow your own garlic, the soil and temperature is crucial.

The best time to plant garlic on the Australian calendar for cooler climate areas of Tasmania, is in the first half of April to make sure it gets some 'warmth' to kick-start it into life before the real winter kicks in.

Ideally you should look for a garden area that is exposed to sun and have free draining soil. Select an area where garlic or its relatives (e.g. onions, shallots, leeks or chives) have not been planted the previous year.

You can improve heavy or sandy soil by turning it, working through manure or compost on top. The soil should have a pH of between 5.5 and 7.

Growing Garlic from a Clove

Separate the cloves and plant the largest ones into moist soil, 15 cm apart. Push them in, pointy end up, until they sit just below ground level.

Apply a slow-release fertiliser at planting and again three months later. In spring, apply a nitrogen-based fertiliser to fatten out the bulbs.

  1. Don’t water the soil until the cloves have germinated, which should be about two weeks after planting. Water often enough to keep the soil moist but not cold and sodden.

  2. Mulching helps keep weeds away and the soil moist. Use straw to about 3cm deep, which will fall to about 2cm over winter.

Rather than plant garlic bought from supermarkets, buy your bulbs from nurseries that have a range of named varieties. This way you can choose the garlic that suits your particular taste. And you can be sure it will grow.

When is Garlic ready to Harvest?

Typically, homegrown garlic is ready about seven to eight months after being planted. Signs that garlic is ready to be harvested includes green leaves turning brown and flower stems beginning to soften.

If the garlic is buried close to the surface, you’re able to pull them out by the leaves. Otherwise, if too deep, use a gardening fork to carefully lift them out.

Garlic Varieties
There are two main types of garlic: soft neck garlic and hard neck garlic, with several types falling under those categories. 

Soft Neck Garlic
Soft neck garlic is arguably the most common type that you'll see in supermarkets. Generally, a white colour, the skin is thin with multiple layers of cloves.

Silver Skin Garlic
This variety has a strong flavour and is perfect if you want to grow garlic with a long shelf-life. 

Artichoke Garlic
Identified by having fewer yet larger cloves, artichoke garlics can be recognised by sometimes having purple spots on its skin. Flavour is not nearly as intense as silver skin garlic. 

Hard Neck Garlic
Hard neck garlic has a much firmer stalk, a couple inches in length while the bulb carries over 100 cloves. Typically, this variety doesn't last as long as soft neck varieties. 

Rocambole
Rich in taste, rocambole peels effortlessly. Doesn't keep as long as other varieties, just six months.

Porcelain
Similar in flavour to rocambole, porcelain garlic only has several cloves covered by a white casing. Porcelain garlic tends to keep for around eight months. 

Purple Stripe
Like their name suggests, this hard neck variety is identified by bright purple stripes on its outer layer. Purple garlic will usually last for six months. 

 For more information about garlic varieties please visit the Australian Garlic Website

Care Instructions It's important that during the growing process, your home-grown garlic is well cared for. Choose a high-nitrogen fertiliser to help feed the plants. As the weather warms up after winter, garlic can form flower stalks. Ensure that you remove the stalks to maximise growth of the actual garlic bulb. 

Plants that Grow Well with Garlic Companion planting garlic with other vegetables in your garden is a great idea to help with pests and to help your garlic and other plants thrive.

Not only is it relatively easy to grow but it takes up next to no space and improves the soil quality for the plants around it. Due to its pungent scent, it is great at keeping pests away including:

  • Cabbage loopers

  • Spider mites

  • Codling moths

  • Fungus gnats

  • Ants

  • Snails

  • Even rabbits!

Try companion planting with the following;

  • Strawberries

  • Spinach

  • Anything from the cabbage family

  • Tomatoes

  • Roses

 

Information sourced from Better Homes & Gardens and Australian Garlic website.