Caring for Garlic Plants

The basic thing garlic needs to grow is sunlight and water.

Although garlic isn’t as demanding and high maintenance as some plants can be. At the end of the day it does take around 8 months for most of the garlic varieties to achieve maturity, so it is worth keeping your hand on the pulse.

In order to get a happy, healthy and tasty crop, the garlic plant needs a similar level of care and attention to most common vegetable and herbs in the garden.

Feed the plants every other week with a fertilizer. Water is critical during the bulb forming stage, so try for an inch a week, including rainfall.

Remove weeds from the garlic plant beds: Shallow-root and low growing weeds should not be a problem, but the ones with a deep root system or tall foliage that compete for the sunlight will affect the well-being and the size of the garlic crop. Remove weeds as soon as you spot them to maximize amount of sunlight and minerals for your garlic plant.

Mulching

Some growers find using mulch beneficial. It can provide moderation of the temperature, suppression of weeds and retention of moisture.

If you are growing hard neck garlic—your garlic will send up a seed stalk called a scape. This should be cut off to encourage the plants to put all their energy into bulb formation.

These stalks curl into a loop and are delicious. Chop them and add to salad, stir fry, soup, scrambled eggs, or any dish you want to enhance with a little garlic flavor. Leave one or two flower stalks standing to help you decide when to harvest your garlic. About four weeks prior to harvest, the outer wrappers on the garlic bulbs start to dry, so stop watering. Too much water at that stage can stain the wrapper or even cause mold.

Yours in the garden Farm2Markt