Autumn planting your garlic means this fragrant mediterranean allium is effectively set for sturdy early progress in the course of the spring and can be prepared to reap earlier in the summertime. Right here’s the best way to put together the bottom in your winter garlic, together with the best way to plant, look after and retailer your crop as soon as it’s prepared to reap.
Eager to have a go? Browse our full vary of autumn planting garlic bulbs to select from flavoursome smooth neck and arduous neck varieties.
This text was reviewed by the Suttons horticultural workforce and up to date on 30 August 2024.
Which garlic ought to I plant?
Garlic falls into considered one of two primary classifications – arduous neck and smooth neck. Hardneck has a stable stem on the centre of the bulb which frequently grows right into a flower stalk. This kind tends to supply greater, extra pungent cloves and, of the 2 sorts, tends to be the hardier. Hardneck cloves don’t retailer significantly effectively although – so if you happen to select this sort, it is best to eat it inside three months of harvesting.
Softneck garlic lacks the flower stalk, and its cloves are typically a bit of bit smaller and tightly full of a harder outer protecting. The nice benefit of sentimental neck garlic is its longevity in storage. For those who plant it in autumn and harvest in the course of the summer time, it ought to final effectively into the next winter. The drawback of softneck varieties is that it tends to not be as hardy as hardneck garlic, making rising it in northerly areas extra of a problem.
How one can put together the bottom for garlic
Garlic likes well-drained fertile soil in a heat, sunny spot. Heavy clays, that are vulnerable to waterlogging, can rot garlic within the floor, particularly when planting within the cooler, wetter months. On this case, it’s finest to plant your garlic units into compost in modules within the greenhouse or a chilly body earlier than transferring them into their closing positions in the course of the spring when the climate is a bit of drier.
Be sure to dig loads of well-rotted natural matter into the bottom within the weeks earlier than you plant your garlic. It’s additionally a good suggestion to check your soil to find out its pH worth, as garlic doesn’t develop effectively in acidic circumstances. In case your soil is beneath pH6.5, add some lime to deliver that quantity up a bit of. Weed the realm totally to cut back competitors for vitamins, and as soon as your garlic is within the floor, carry on prime of weeds with cautious hoeing.
How one can plant autumn garlic
Most garlic is finest planted within the autumn as a result of it wants a chilly spell of climate – a month the place the temperature is beneath 10 levels celcius – to set off the cloves to turn into bulbs.
Plant your cloves about 15cm aside, leaving roughly 30cm between rows. To plant, all it’s essential do is gently push the clove into the bottom in order that the flat basal plate is effectively bedded into the soil with the rising tip about an inch, or 2cm beneath the soil floor. In case your soil is heavy and tends to carry loads of water, strive raking up a ridge and planting into this to assist drainage.
If rising area is proscribed, rising garlic in pots is an effective choice. On this case, merely fill a container with multipurpose or soil-based compost and plant the person cloves far aside – a 6’ (15cm) diameter pot is sufficiently big to take three cloves at most.
How one can look after autumn-planted garlic
Garlic is a low-maintenance crop however protecting it with netting helps cease the birds from digging it up and consuming it. Common watering throughout dry spells, weeding, and a spring feed with a seaweed-based fertiliser is all it wants. Keep away from feeding garlic as soon as the bulbs have begun to swell otherwise you’ll encourage foliage progress on the expense of the bulb.
Illnesses affecting garlic embrace rust and white rot. For those who spot rust – orange blisters on the leaves, lower them off and dig up and eat your garlic. White rot may be arduous to detect till you harvest your bulbs when they may really feel smooth and have some fungal fluff on them. White rot can persist within the soil for years and impacts all members of the allium household. For those who uncover both illness, bin the affected materials or burn it. Don’t add it to your compost heap, and do be sure you disinfect your instruments and wellies to keep away from spreading spores round. Don’t plant alliums in the identical spot once more for a number of years.
How one can harvest and retailer garlic
Your garlic is prepared when the leaves start to show yellow and wilt. Pull it up and, being cautious to not harm the bulbs, dry your crop within the solar in a single layer till the outer layers flip white and papery. Lower off the stalks or plait them collectively to kind a string, and retailer in a cool, dry spot.
Planting your garlic within the autumn provides the roots time to develop whereas publicity to chilly ensures you find yourself with a nice-sized bulb to reap the next summer time. For extra garlic rising suggestions, head over to our assortment of the finest skilled recommendation on rising garlic.
Lead picture: Garlic Bulbs ‘Germidour’ from Suttons