How to Plant Garlic

There are so many uses of garlic, it is used for making tasty recipes like garlic bread and pesto sauce. It is anti-bacterial and can be used in home remedies to treat throat infections. So, do you want to know how to plant garlic and use it for household purposes? Follow the instructions which are mentioned below to know how.

Planting Garlic Bulbs
There are many varieties of garlic, the most common one we get to see and use are the softneck and hardneck varieties. The softneck, or common varieties, are used for mass production and look like cloves which are white. The hardneck varieties propagate quickly and many times, have purple stripes. Now let us look at the steps involved in growing and planting garlic cloves.

Buying Garlic Bulbs

• For growing this herb, do not buy garlic bulbs from the supermarket, as they are specially treated for not developing sprouts.
• Buy garlic bulbs at the local farmer's market or from a commercial supplier, or from the nursery.
• Select healthy bulbs, but remember this fact, that bigger the cloves you plant, bigger the bulbs you'll get!

When to Plant Garlic

• The perfect time for planting garlic cloves is the fall time, so that the garlic can get cold weather which is required for its growth cycle.
• Make sure you plant garlic 1-2 weeks after the frost while growing garlic indoors or outdoors, so that the roots can develop before winter time.
• If you want to have a year-round supply of garlic, plant it in spring and harvest in the fall time. This way you will get an all year round supply, but the bulbs might not be of the desirable big size.

How to Plant Garlic

• The first step for growing garlic at home, is to break the garlic bulbs and separate out the small cloves and the large ones. Use the larger ones for planting.
• Choose a site for planting garlic which receives direct sunlight.
• The soil should be nutrient rich and well drained. You can mix the soil with nutrients and add perlite for good drainage, the pH of the soil should be between 6-7.
• Hold the cloves, with the pointed edge upwards and insert them 2 inches deep in the soil.
• The distance between each clove should be 6-8 inches.
• Replace the soil on the cloves and cover with 2-3 inches of mulch. You can use different types of mulch like hay, dry leaves or straw for making the mulch cover. The mulching will protect the garlic during extreme weathers.
• By March or April, you will be able to see the long leaves of garlic.

Taking Care of Garlic

• Once you know how to grow garlic bulbs taking care of garlic is the next important step, so, make sure you keep the area where you planted garlic free of any weeds.
• Supply water to the garlic modestly till the last 2-3 weeks of the harvest period, so as to make sure you don't let the garlic dry out inside the ground, as this causes splitting of the bulbs.
• If you wish to have large bulbs, keep removing the flowers of garlic. You can cut off these flowers which grow at the top of the stalk.
• For propagation purpose, you can maintain the garlic flowers, and save the small bulbils for the next plantation.

Harvesting Garlic

• After you know how to grow garlic from a clove and are done with it, it's time for harvesting! The harvest period of garlic is the month of July. Make sure you have stopped watering the garlic minimum 2 weeks before this period.
• After you observe half of the leaves turning brown, scrape off the soil and check one or two cloves. Check if there are good sized bulbs with strong wrappings, cut open a bulb to check the skins of cloves.
• Now carefully loosen up the soil and pick the garlic by hands, but be careful that you don't break the skins or cause any bruises to the bulbs. Keep the roots and shoots attached to the bulbs.
• Tie and hang around 10 bulbs together in a good ventilated, shady place to dry for a week.
• After drying, remove the outer layer and clean the bulbs, and cut out the tops from 1 inch above the bulbs and trim out the roots.

Now, you know how to plant garlic and harvest it, so buy and plant garlic cloves which are large and grow large bulbs of garlic yourself! You can store the garlic in refrigerator or at room temperature for many months, and use it for cooking later.