Growing garlic

Overview

Garlic is one of the least demanding crops you can grow, and it fills a bed over winter when little else is happening. Each clove you plant splits into a whole new bulb, but only if it gets several weeks of cold first, which is why autumn planting gives the biggest results. Home-grown bulbs are juicier and stronger than most shop garlic, and you can pick varieties you will never find on a supermarket shelf.

Varieties to try

Garlic comes in two broad types. Hardnecks send up a stiff flower stalk, called a scape, and tend to have fewer, larger cloves with a richer flavour but a shorter storage life; 'Purple Moldovan' and 'Chesnok Wight' are popular choices. Softnecks such as 'Solent Wight' and 'Germidour' store for months and can be plaited. 'Early Purple Wight' is a quick softneck worth growing for June eating. Buy certified bulbs from a seed company rather than planting supermarket garlic, which may carry virus or be suited to warmer climates.

Soil and site

Best soil: Free-draining, reasonably fertile soil that does not sit wet in winter.

Choose an open, sunny spot that drains well, because cloves rot quickly in waterlogged ground. On heavy clay, plant in raised beds or start cloves in modules and move them out in early spring. Dig in some well-rotted compost a few weeks beforehand, but avoid fresh manure, and rotate garlic with onions and leeks so the same allium bed is not used every year.

Sowing and planting

Break bulbs into cloves just before planting and use only the plump outer ones. October and November are ideal in most of the UK, though you can plant until Christmas or, for some softnecks, in February and March, accepting smaller bulbs. Set cloves 15 cm apart in rows 30 cm apart. Birds love pulling them out, so cover the bed with fleece or netting until roots take hold.

Spacing: Push each clove in pointed end up so the tip sits just below the surface.

Care

Garlic hates competition, so hoe carefully between rows and hand-weed close to the plants. Water during dry spells in spring when the bulbs are swelling, then ease off from late May so they can firm up. A light feed of a general fertiliser in late winter helps on poor soil. Snap off hardneck scapes when they curl; they are delicious stir-fried and the bulb grows larger without them.

Harvesting and storing

Start checking from mid-June. When around half the leaves have turned yellow-brown, ease bulbs up with a fork rather than pulling them by the stem. Dry them in a single layer in sun or an airy shed for two to three weeks until the skins are papery, then trim the roots and store somewhere cool and dry. Keep the best bulbs back for next autumn's planting.

Common problems

Rust is the most common trouble, showing as orange spots on the leaves in damp summers. It rarely ruins the crop if you plant early, avoid overcrowding and do not overdo nitrogen. Remove badly affected leaves and burn or bin them rather than composting. Bulbs that rot in the ground usually point to poor drainage, and allium leaf miner can be kept off with fine insect mesh.

Read more on the problems that most often hit garlic:

• Allium leaf miner
• Leek moth
• Onion white rot
• Rust

Not sure what you're looking at? Try diagnosing it by symptom.

Month-by-month reminders

Jobs for garlic come round in February, March, June, July, August, October, November and December. Each month page lists the rest of the garden's jobs for the same weeks.

Grow alongside

• Onions
• Leeks
• Chives

Sources

Names follow Kew's Plants of the World Online; timings and spacings reflect UK growing practice and were checked against the references below. Text is our own. See our editorial policy.

• Kew Plants of the World Online — Allium sativum
• Wikipedia — Garlic