How to Grow Garlic

True aficionados of garlic claim that once you've tasted the homegrown version, you'll never eat a store-bought bulb again. Garlic takes about eight months to mature. Fortunately, it thrives through the winter as far north as USDA zone 2.

Things You'll Need

• Bypass Pruners
• Compost Makers
• Fertilizers
• Garden Spades
• Garden Trowels
• Mulch
• Plants
• Seeds
• Shovels

Instructions

1. Buy garlic bulbs at the nursery in late fall or early winter (it's unlikely you'll find started seedlings). You'll plant cloves directly in the ground about six weeks before the soil freezes. In mild climates, plant in January or February for harvesting in late summer or early fall.

2. Choose a garden site that gets full sun. Though garlic will grow in soil with any pH from 5.0 to 8.0, it does best in the slightly acid range (6.2 to 6.8).

3. Dig to a depth of 8 to 12 inches, and amend the soil with plenty of compost to ensure the ideal combination of fertility, good drainage and moisture retention.

4. Remove all traces of weeds; they'll easily win out over garlic's grasslike foliage.

5. Plant only the largest cloves from the bulb, and discard any that are pitted or tinged blue-green - both are signs of mold.

6. Set unpeeled cloves, pointy end up, 2 inches deep and 5 inches apart. For giant "elephant" garlic, increase the depth to 3 inches and the spacing to 10.

7. Top-dress the plants with compost, and mulch to retain moisture and deter weeds. Mulch again after the ground freezes to protect plants from the cold.

8. Remove the mulch in spring so the sun can warm the soil, then add a fresh layer when new growth begins. To ensure large bulbs, cut back any flower stalks that develop, and spray young plants with compost tea (see "How to Make Compost Tea") once or twice during the spring.

9. Provide an inch of water a week until the foliage turns yellow or falls over - indications that bulbs are nearing maturity.

10. Clip garlic leaves to use any time, but remove no more than 1/4 of a plant's top growth or you'll reduce bulb size.

11. Begin harvesting bulbs when about 3/4 of the tops are yellow.

Tips & Warnings

• You can plant garlic in spring as well as in fall, but expect fewer and smaller bulbs. You may also see some "rounders," bulbs that haven't formed individual cloves.

• Because garlic takes so long to mature, plant it in a spot where you won't accidentally disturb the dormant bulbs.

• To ensure that you won't labor in vain, eschew the bulbs in the supermarket produce section. Garlic that's grown for eating rather than planting is often treated with a chemical to prevent it from sprouting.

• Though garlic is about as trouble-free as a vegetable can get, it can fall prey to the same problems that afflict onions. The most serious is pink root, an incurable disease that stunts roots and turns them pink or red. To fend off problems, avoid planting garlic where other onion-family members have grown for the past three years, and buy your bulbs from a reputable nursery or catalog.