Purchase seed from a trusted source – like us! Common, white, grocery store garlic can’t be used for seed. Most likely, that garlic was grown in the mild climate of either northern California or China, and is likely a softneck variety that doesn't grow as well in colder climates as hardneck garlic. It's also likely to have been chemically treated so it won’t sprout. Instead, purchase garlic designated as seed for the best results.

CONSIDER THIS: Try not to be too shocked at the initial price of garlic seed bulbs. Each clove in the bulb will grow another whole bulb of garlic, and will produce plenty for eating and seed for years to follow. One pound of garlic seed cloves can yield 25–40 bulbs or about 5 pounds of garlic depending on the variety. Planting with premium quality, naturally grown seed stock like ours will get your garlic crop off to a good start with fewer chances of disease, so it's worth the up-front cost!
 

Select varieties that grow well in your zone. Buy your seed garlic from a supplier located near you in a similar growing environment. Garlic is highly adaptable to many growing conditions, but it can take a few years to adjust fully. You will get better results sooner if you grow garlic that has already been conditioned to your climate and soil type. Look up your growing zone, soil properties and general growing conditions at plantmaps.com.
 

Plant only the largest cloves, and plant more than one variety. Sort your cloves prior to planting, and reserve only the medium and larger cloves for planting. Also, plant more than one variety because some may not perform as well as expected in the growing conditions of the season, or one variety could unexpectedly succumb to a disease. By having multiple garlic varieties growing, you can hedge your bets for a successful harvest.
 

Plant at the optimum time for your location. Plant garlic in the fall, about 6 weeks before the estimated hard ground freeze for your area, but after the first frost/light freeze. In the Northern States, the best time to plant is around the 2nd or 3rd week of October.

THE WHY: Garlic needs a consistent cold period of at least 30˚F or below for at least 8-10 weeks. Hardneck garlic varieties in particular require this period to encourage the seed clove to divide and grow into separate cloves that form a new bulb. This process is called vernalization. Planting in the fall gives the garlic clove a head start, and it begins to send out roots before going dormant when the ground freezes. Then it begins growing again as soon as the soil warms in the spring, when daylight increases to about 14 hours per day.
 

Prepare your soil before planting. Success in growing garlic often comes down to proper soil properties, nutrients and preparation. Garlic thrives in full sun, and in loose, somewhat sandy or loamy soil. Choose a well-drained spot that receives at least 8 hours of full sunlight per day on average. Also, select an area that did not have onions or other alliums growing this year. The soil needs time to recover between these types of crops because they are heavy feeders. Remove weeds and work in a very generous layer of finished compost, organic matter and natural/organic fertilizer before planting.
 

Mulch to conserve moisture and prevent weeds. Garlic has a shallow root system and will stop growing in dry soil conditions, or when the roots get too hot. About 3–4 weeks after planting, add 4–6 inches of mulch like straw (not hay), shredded leaves, newspaper, etc.) on top of the soil surface to help conserve moisture, prevent weeds, and insulate the roots. Do not add a heavy layer of mulch too soon after planting, as this can insulate the ground too much and delay the plants from going dormant naturally. We usually wait until mid-November to mulch our fields.
 

Weed relentlessly and remove garlic scapes in early- to mid-June. Keeping weeds under control is integral to growing large, healthy bulbs, but so is removing the scapes. Garlic scapes are the flowers that hardneck garlic plants produce. About three weeks before the garlic bulb has finished growing, it sends up this flower from the middle of the stalk. The scape grows upwards for several inches, then will curl once or twice before continuing to grow upward. Removing the scape just as it starts to curl and the bulbil on the end starts to bulge allows the plant to devote its energy into growing a larger, healthier garlic bulb.

GOOD TO KNOW: These tender shoots are edible and are a bonus crop. Scapes can be used in any recipe that calls for garlic. They have the texture of green beans or asparagus, and have a sweet, milder garlic flavor. See our Scape Mania page for more information about the mighty scape, or check out scape recipes in Our Stinky Kitchen.
 

Time your harvest well. This can be tricky, but lifting the bulbs too early will give you undeveloped, flavorless, small bulbs, while harvesting too late could cause the cloves to split through their skins or develop rot or mold. The number of days to maturity varies with the climate and variety, but generally garlic is finished growing when 50% of the leaves on the bottom of the stalks turn completely yellow. Leaves grow from the bottom up, which is why the leaves at the bottom will die back first.

GOOD TO KNOW: Each variety of garlic has its own harvest schedule, so you may have some garlic that's ready to harvest earlier and some a week or two later. If you're unsure whether or not your garlic is ready to pick, you can always dig up a test bulb. Harvest-ready bulbs should be large, firm, and the skins should be filled out tightly with cloves. If this is not how it looks, give the plants a little more time to continue filling the bulbs out, then harvest when you have only 3–4 green leaves remaining on the plant.