Garlic can be planted in the spring. You can either plant it for a green garlic harvest or for bulb production.
The garlic equivalent of scallions is green garlic, commonly known as spring garlic. Slender stems with brilliant green leaves and little bulbs compose the plants.
The tender leaves, stalks, and bulbs of the plant are perfect for salads, sautés, pastas, and other meals that benefit from a garlicky kick. The harder leaves can be made into pesto or added to oil before cooking to add flavor.
Read Also: CAN YOU PLANT ORGANIC GARLIC FROM THE STORE?
Green garlic is planted by tucking garlic cloves into the garden in the early spring and spacing them close, approximately two to three inches apart.
When the plants are twelve to eighteen inches tall, begin harvesting. Here’s where you can learn more about green garlic.
However, if you try to plant garlic in the spring without proper care, it will either rot in the winter or germinate prematurely and then bolt, that is, go to seed before developing a bulb. Follow this guide to grow garlic in the spring.
SUMMARY
WHERE TO BUY GARLIC FOR SPRING PLANTING
In the fall, garlic seed (that’s just bulbs or cloves designed for sowing) is readily available. It’s a little more difficult to find in the spring, especially if you’re seeking for certain varieties. It’s available for purchase online or at a local garden center.
Forth the spring, many nurseries send in softneck garlic cultivars. Most hardneck types require less vernalization and yield a bulb more reliably from spring planting.
Regardless of where you get your spring garlic, buy it as soon as possible so you may give the cloves a cold treatment.
WHEN TO PLANT GARLIC IN THE SPRING
Are you looking for large garlic bulbs? As soon as the ground is usable, plant the cloves in your garden. Although it may seem premature to plant a crop outside, keep in mind that garlic is cold resilient and needs a cooling period.
I’ve used a February or March thaw in the past to tuck additional cloves into my plants. That manner, the garlic will be exposed to cold for four to six weeks (or longer! ), which should be sufficient to stimulate bulb production.
CARING FOR SPRING-PLANTED GARLIC
Garlic that has been planted in the spring requires special attention.
Garlic is a low-maintenance crop, but you’ll want to give your spring-planted area a little additional TLC to encourage the largest bulbs possible.
Here’s how I grow garlic in the spring:Maintain a constant level of moisture. If the weather is hot and dry, irrigate the garlic bed every seven to ten days with your watering wand. Plants that are water-stressed will not develop large bulbs.
Weeds should be pulled. Allow grassy or broad-leaved weeds to compete for moisture and nutrients with your garlic.
Weeds should be pulled as soon as they appear. Weeds shouldn’t be a problem if you mulched the bed after planting.
Feed on a regular basis. Garlic is a strong feeder that thrives in soil that is rich in organic matter. In the spring, fertilize the soil with compost and a nitrogen-rich organic fertilizer like fish fertilizer or alfalfa meal.
This encourages healthy leaf growth, which aids in the formation of huge bulbs in the plants. A constant diet is ensured by applying liquid organic fertilizer every two to three weeks.
Delete the scapes.
Hardneck garlic scapes appear in the early summer. Clip them off with garden snips or hand pruners once they’ve looped around twice. Make pesto with them or use them in place of garlic cloves in your favorite dishes.
WHEN TO HARVEST SPRING-PLANTED GARLIC
When should spring-planted garlic be harvested?
Whenever the leaves on the bottom half of the plants have turned brown, garlic is ready to dig. Spring-planted garlic, as previously said, requires a couple of additional weeks in the garden for the bulbs to mature.
Keep a watch on the leaves, and when the bottom three or four have turned brown and dried up, gently extract the bulbs from the soil using a garden fork.
In this article by Tara, you’ll find more information and recommendations on garlic picking and curing.
CAN GARLIC BE TRANSPLANTED?
Yes! In fact, it’s best to transplant young plants from pre-existing clumps every few years because the larger the clump gets, the less productive it becomes.
Transplant when your garlic is dormant (which for most varieties is sometime between late September and early January, depending on where you live).
You can gently dig up your bulbs by hand or use a spading fork to loosen the soil’s grip. Gently separate your bulbs and plant each one about 5 cm (2 in) deep in rich, well-drained soil, leaving about 10 cm (4 in) between cloves.
As with planting from seed, garlic should go into a spot where it will get good sunlight but no afternoon shade.
Fertilize only if growing conditions are poor. Garlic does not need much help once it’s planted, so don’t expect miracles.
Garlic should not be grown until the middle of autumn, when the ground has cooled after the summer heat.
If you try to plant in the spring, your produce will either rot in the winter or germinate prematurely and bolt-that is, go to seed before it has a bulb.
TO SUM UP
Garlic can be planted in the spring. The garlic equivalent of scallions is green garlic, commonly known as spring garlic.
If you try to plant garlic in the winter, it will rot and then go to seed before developing a bulb. Follow this guide to grow garlic from seed.
