Plant garlic in autumn for bigger, fuller bulbs
Planting garlic in spring means losing growing time. Set it in October and it roots before winter – then rewards you with solid bulbs next summer.
Garlic is one of the most rewarding crops you can plant in autumn: little work, little space, long storage life. What matters most is good timing and soil that never stays waterlogged. Here’s what to keep in mind when planting.
Why autumn beats spring
Garlic needs a spell of cold so the bulb later divides cleanly into separate cloves. Plant it in autumn and it puts down roots before the frost, often sending up a few leaf tips too. Come spring, it takes off with a head start. Spring-planted garlic works, but the bulbs usually stay noticeably smaller.
Getting the timing right
October is ideal, and in milder areas November still works. A good rule of thumb: roughly four to six weeks before the ground freezes. Plant too early while the soil is still very warm, and the garlic pushes out lots of leaves that can suffer over winter. Too late, and the roots won’t have time to anchor themselves.
Site and soil
Garlic likes a sunny spot and loose soil. The biggest risk is wet: in heavy, compacted ground the cloves can rot over winter. If needed, lighten loamy soil with a little sand or mature compost. Skip fresh manure, since it encourages rot and attracts onion fly. Mind your crop rotation too: if onions, leeks or garlic grew in a spot during the last three to four years, choose a different bed.
How to plant the cloves
Use seed garlic from a garden supplier or cloves from your own harvest. Supermarket garlic often isn’t suited to our climate and may have been treated. Only split the bulb shortly before planting, and pick the plump outer cloves. Set them pointy end up, about 3 to 5 cm deep, 10 to 15 cm apart in the row and around 25 cm between rows. A thin mulch of leaves or straw protects them from hard frost without snow cover.
Good and bad neighbours
Garlic sits happily beside strawberries, carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers. Its aromatic compounds are thought to help deter some pests and fungi, though that’s no guarantee. Keep it away from beans, peas and cabbage, however: legumes are sensitive to alliums and grow poorly next to them.
From winter to harvest
There’s hardly anything to do over winter. If the garlic sends up a flower stalk in early summer, snap it off so the energy goes into the bulb; the young stalks taste mild and delicious, by the way. Harvest from around July, once about a third of the foliage has turned yellow. Then let the bulbs dry somewhere airy and shaded. In Rootivo, the mixed-planting lines in the bed planner show you straight away which neighbours suit your garlic.
Im Lexikon: Knoblauch