Garlic Plant Growth

March Plantings

• In most areas of the United States, you should plant garlic cloves in March to ensure bulb development by the end of the growing season. Yield depends on the amount of vegetative growth that happens before bulbs begin to form. Since green growth occurs during the short, cool days of early spring, the earlier you plant, the more your yield.

October Plantings

• If you choose to plant cloves in late fall, let the weather be your guide. In the coldest areas of the country, early October is the optimum planting time. Those who plant gardens closer to zone 5 can plant as late as Thanksgiving and still produce a viable crop. The trick is to plant before the ground freezes solid, giving the clove time to set roots. When the ground freezes, mulch heavily with 6 to 8 inches of clean straw. With proper mulching, your garlic bed rests over winter, insulated against mid-winter thaws that can kill the cloves. When you see spears peeking up in early spring, move the mulch from around the shoots to speed thawing and encourage spring growth.

Harvest

• Since garlic is a cousin of the onion, you can harvest its parts in much the same way as you would an onion. When tops appear in early spring, snip them off and use them as you would chives on baked potatoes or to add a mild garlic flavor to your favorite recipe. Some gardeners pull the early cloves and use them in recipes that call for scallions. Hardneck garlic varieties develop a round stalk, generally referred to as a scape. Harvest these green scapes as they begin to curl, but do not throw them away. Scapes are rich in garlic oil; use them as a substitute for garlic in any recipe. Harvest the finished bulb when the tops begin to dry off. When harvesting an entire bulb, dig, rather than pull the greenery, gently lifting the bulb from the soil. Cure by allowing the dug bulbs to air-dry over a period of two weeks. Using the stems as "hair," braid the bulbs and hang in a dry environment away from direct sunlight. You can also place the bulbs on screens or racks designed to allow air to circulate freely around your newly harvested garlic. Like the braids, place the racks in a dry environment such as a shed or garage to hasten curing.

Storage

• Store at low humidity at temperatures between 32 to 35 or 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Hang a braid in the kitchen for easy access while cooking. Hang other finished, braids in a cellar or other room that does not reach temperatures of over 35 degrees F. Depending on the strain, garlic maintains its flavor as long as 12 months under ideal conditions.