Want to know how to grow garlic in Australia?
For several years, garlic was on my hit list for becoming the juice crop in my home garden. After failing season after season, I gave up, the tail in my legs was gone. Garlic quickly disappeared to learn how to grow in Australia in a proper way for it to harvest well.
It wasn’t until I was connected to a local organic garlic grower here at NSW’s Hunter Valley that I discovered the real secret to growing garlic.
With her husband, Amber Shady owns and manages the Hunter Valley production. They specialize in organic Monaro purple garlic from the Turban Group.
Let’s start from the beginning.
In Australia, there are more than 100 varieties of garlic and they respond differently depending on the climate. It involves more than just temperature. It is not so easy to install light bulbs in the land you bought in the supermarket, it is for sure. Believe me, I tried it and it doesn’t work.
SUMMARY
HISTORY OF GARLIC CULTIVATION
In Australia, garlic usually grows in the fall, so garlic cloves are exposed to cold temperatures (splitting) that require many types of garlic. Garlic can be planted in the spring, but trees often form single bulbs (called rotations) and/or grow natural bulbs that are much smaller than insects that grow in the autumn (see our article Growing Garlic in the Spring) for more information).
The best time to plant garlic in the fall largely depends on where you live in Australia. Your goal is to plant enough so that the cloves develop a larger root system, while when planted enough that the garlic cloves do not germinate and show green growth above the soil.
This means that the planting date depends on where you will be from the last week of September to November and how long you want to place your cloves before winter.
GARLIC VARIETIES
There are several varieties of garlic in the world, but only a few grow very well in Australia. Of these varieties, all can be divided into two types called hard neck and softneck.
The hard-neck varieties cling together in late spring or early summer and produce flower stalks called stalks. At the end of the stem is a capsule that contains follicles (small gaseous lobes) instead of true flowers. You will need to remove these rods to increase the size of your follicles during harvest.
Soft-neck varieties do not produce stems, although they occasionally produce bulbs in-plant stocks, especially in cold weather.
The main non-proud families that have grown up in Australia include the Purple Marble Band, Rockamplis, Porcelain and Purple Band, all of which work well in the Australia climate and can produce large, healthy bulbs.
Silverskin and artichoke are among the two groups that belong to the softneck family that grew up in Australia, although the artichoke family tends to do better as it adapts to the northern climate.
When choosing which garlic varieties to plant, you want to find cool garlic that grows hard, large bulbs and has a very tasty taste. Most Canadian garlic fills these.
HOW TO GROW GARLIC IN AUSTRALIA?
Follow the guide below to know how to grow garlic in Australia in various weather, and in different ways
GARLIC BY CLIMATE
Since it is so important to grow garlic suitable for your climate, it pays to do your research. You really want your grain to reach its full potential and love where it grows. There is nothing worse than failing in the end, so it is important to choose the right one.
You should also make sure that you are buying high-quality seeds (which are cloves) that are disease-free. Better to buy your seeds from a producer, not a supermarket.
Luckily, with our organic Monaro purple garlic tin straight from Amber’s farm, it was an easy choice for us. This form prefers cold winters but is not so concerned about humidity.
PREPARING GARLIC SEED FOR SOWING
The number one rule is soil preparation. It is vital to spend time preparing your soil. Your soil should be fairly loamy, which means rich, dark, light and gentle. The soil should be well mixed and well-drained. If you do not do this properly, you will not develop blisters.
The strategy here is not to break your garlic too quickly. Garlic is a living thing, so once it bursts, it will start to burst. Another great tip is the day before you put your seeds in the ground, soak them in a mixture of baking soda and water. Just one tablespoon or two and this will ensure that the cloves are disease-free.
Just plant your best cloves and make sure you choose a sunny location.
MOON GARLIC PLANTING GUIDE
We like to plant garlic throughout March-April during the new moon, But it will depend on which crop you are relying on for your climate.
Once you understand the science behind it, lunar planting creates the perfect idea. The best way to imagine a lunar garden is to think about the gravitational pull of the sun, moon and earth. All of these affect the tides of the ocean, which is a huge body of water. Well, the same idea applies to plants.
As the moon has a huge effect on the movement of water, it can affect the process of watering seeds, seedlings and plants and also the way they germinate and grow.
Choose the new moon to plant your garlic seeds as the sap rises (water is also absorbed) and the energy growth in the plant is registered. During germination, you see good results which give your organic garlic the best start of the season.
HOW TO SOW GARLIC IN AUSTRALIA
You must make sure that the bottom part of the clove is running downwards but the garlic is very smart, don’t worry if you make noise. Some plants grown by tractors and bulbs are still forming.
When you plant, you need to allow the seeds to grow fully. Ideally, you want the gap to be 20 cm x 20 cm. This is especially relevant for humid weather so that the seeds can breathe. Driver regions may be able to reduce this gap.
Sow 4-5 cm deep in the ground to make sure your bulb is completely covered.
Once you have planted your seeds, water them and give them very good mulch coverage. Your bulbs will grow easily through the mulch. They will need at least 6 hours of winter sun per day and this will ensure that the bulbs are completely melted as they get bigger.
If you want to make sure your soil is doing well, you can root it before you plant it. This will help if your climate has a rainy season in winter.
GARLIC GROWING TIME IN AUSTRALIA
If you plant your garlic from March to April, it will be ready for harvest from October to November.
During this time, make sure your bulbs don’t dry out but don’t overwater them because garlic doesn’t like wet feet. Garlic also doesn’t like competition, so remove any weeds that will appear so you want to throw a party.
Another great tip is if you find rotten bulbs during the growing season or at the end of the harvest, remove them as soon as the disease spreads.
HOW TO HARVEST ORGANIC GARLIC IN AUSTRALIA
This is an exciting time for garlic. One of our group once described her as having the last two weeks of pregnancy. You just have to wait and see the signs.
As the growing season draws to a close you may notice what is called “scapes” from the centre of the bulb. It flowers and it may indicate that your bulbs are almost ready for harvest. If your bulbs are still too small, simply cut off the stem and the energy will be redirected to larger bulbs.
There are some types of crops that need to be harvested after flowering, so it is important to know your cultivation for the success of your garlic.
Another sign you can identify is that the pages below will start to die. When you have 4-6 leaves it is a good time to remove them.
THE DRYING PROCESS OF HARVESTING
Once you pull your garlic, you can let it sit next to its growing point on the ground overnight. The next day, it’s time to collect all this and hang out in a well-ventilated place outside the sun.
If you live in a humid climate, you can cut the roots below which will improve your drying process. Got these so far, you don’t want to rot them anymore.
You can plate them, bundle them with strings or hang them individually. It’s not the process of drying and what it looks like because it doesn’t really matter. I have never had better braiding hair.
The drying time varies from 4 to 6 weeks. The good news is, you can’t over-dry your garlic.
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You can peel off the thick outer layer. It won’t affect your bulbs; it actually helps during drying. If you need more drying time, try twisting it over a wire rack or wire mesh for ventilation and removing the roots, if you haven’t done so long before. Depending on your situation you may want to cut the leaf at this point leaving about 4 cm around the neck.
WHAT TO PLANT NEXT SEASON
Select the bulbs you want to keep and sow next season and store them in a good ventilator. Make sure no bulb is soft, as it will rot and affect other bulbs.
Once you have a successful season, you will be ready to save your seeds and start again, it is very easy if you know-how.
If you have any questions or stories, please leave a comment below. We all love to hear how growing up.
AUSTRALIA GARLIC GROWING TIPS
(Allium sativum)
| JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JULY | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |
| PLANT | PLANT | PLANT |
(Best Month for Garlic Growing in Australia – Winter Region)
Plant = Plant garlic cloves
- Garlic is easy to grow. Plant garlic Clove. They are best planted at soil temperature between 10 C and 35 C.
- The spacing of the plants: 10 to 12 cm away
- Garlic is Harvested in 17-25 weeks.
- Compatible with garlic (may be extended as well): beets, carrots, cucumbers, dill, tomatoes, parsnips
- Garlic should avoid growing near asparagus, beans, brassicas, peas, potatoes
Garlic tradition is traditionally planted in cold weather and harvested in summer (“the shortest day of the plant, the longest cut”) Plant the cloves (separated from the bulbs), pointing upwards, just deep enough to cover with soil.
A fairly resilient plant and easy to grow, but with good watering on good soil, you will get a better crop. In poor soils, and forgetting their water, you will still get garlic, but not enough, perhaps just a large bulb.
Become a garlic seed and you will probably find plenty of self-seeding plants next year.
For later use, dig up and let dry for about a day after the green shoots have died. Raise ahead if you need to use it instantly, or use cut and green shoots.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO GROW GARLIC IN AUSTRALIA
Growing garlic in Australia mostly takes about eight (8) months to grow after planting, please you can also refer to the above guide in other to grow garlic in Australia.
IS IT EASY TO GROWN GARLIC IN AUSTRALIA
Yes it is relatively easy to grown garlic in Australia and as you can see after reading guide you have seen how easy it is to grown garlic, and also growing by yourself gives a lot of benefit like eating your own fresh garlic and even as commercial if grown in large scale.
source: familygardenlife
