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Planting Garlic in Fall
In late summer or early fall, most gardens are full of delicious vegetables ready for the table and winter storage. This time of year can be one of the most rewarding times for gardeners as the fruits of their labour are fully paying off. As a result, one of the last things on their mind is preparing the garden for planting garlic in the fall.
Most vegetable growers or gardeners do their garden planning during the winter or very early spring. This means that they often overlook the fact that garlic should ideally be planted in fall. In climates like Canada and the northern United States, fall planting of garlic produces strong flavoured, hardy garlic bulbs that can grow to impressive sizes. With a bit of special attention, garlic can be planted and overwintered in almost any region, including the North.
Three Important Steps:
(1) Planting Date
The best time to plant garlic in the fall will depend on your location and climate. The goal is to have the cloves develop as much root growth as possible before winter, without having the garlic emerge from the ground and ending up with green top growth. This means that the date of planting can range from mid-September to as late as the end of November depending on where you live and how long you want your cloves to grow roots before winter.
Generally speaking, it is recommended that garlic in Canada be planted around October 15th every year. This conventional wisdom, however, is a very broad recommendation and is not always ideal for every location.
In colder zone 2 & 3 regions such as Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northern Ontario and parts of BC where winter comes early, garlic planting can start as soon as September 15th and go as late as the end of October (or until the ground freezes).
In warmer regions like southern Ontario, Quebec, coastal B.C, the Maritime provinces, and much of the Northern United States, planting can range from early October until the last week of November. If garlic is planted early in the season and some green top growth occurs above the soil line going into winter, it is not the end of the world. The green leaves may die back over winter, but the cloves will re-grow new leaves in spring.
(2) Planting Depth
Generally, garlic planting depth ranges anywhere from 1" to 3" inches deep. How deep you should plant your garlic cloves will depend on a couple of factors.
The first thing to consider is the type of soil you have. On poorly drained soils like clay, or regions that generally receive very high amounts of rain, planting deeper than 1" or 2" can cause the garlic to decay over winter, in early spring or during wet periods. In sandy or very well-drained soil, planting less than 2" or 3" can lead to drought stress during hot or dry periods.
On occasion, some growers plant deeper than 3", however, this only works in very dry sandy soils. Generally, any deeper than 3" is considered excessive and will force the garlic plants to use valuable energy when emerging from the soil which can limit the size of the harvested bulbs come fall.
The second factor to consider is the climate of the area. The deeper a garlic clove is planted, the more winter protection it has. In warmer regions like the west coast where winter conditions are mild or in areas with very high snowfall, planting depth is less of a concern. In very cold climates like the prairies or locations that have a lot of freezing/thawing cycles, planting on the deeper side can help protect the cloves over the winter. At a depth of 2" garlic is usually deep enough to survive the winter. However, 1" can easily have winter kill on the more exposed areas without a thick mulch cover.
(3) Winter Protection
In the colder regions of Canada and some northern states, covering the garlic with a mulch such as straw, hay or leaves is highly recommended to protect the bulbs over winter. In milder regions like southern Ontario, mulching is not essential, however, it can still help protect the garlic from freeze/thaw cycles, as well as keep the soil warmer to allow the roots to continue growing into early winter.
Mulching should be delayed until late fall (usually November) when the weather has turned colder. This delay will help prevent the bulbs from rotting under warm and wet soil conditions. In very wet regions where the winters are mild, mulching is not generally recommended (especially on clay soils).
In spring, remove the mulch covering as soon as possible. The ground will usually still be frozen, and the removal will help warm up the soil quickly. Mulch can either be thrown into the compost pile or put back over the garlic as a summer mulch once the temperatures increase.
For more information on growing garlic, see our other blog articles or growing garlic pages.
About the Author: John Côté owns and operates John Boy Farms with his family who have been farming the same land for over 140 years. As an agronomist and experienced farmer, he helps others learn how to grow garlic successfully. He has written many articles and is the author of The Master Guide to Growing Big Garlic.
If you have experience or some thoughts about planting garlic, Leave a Comment Below! We'd love to hear what you think!
44 comments
Whether or not straw should be used to cover your garlic is very much location dependent. On our farm, mulching is essential since we often get winterkill without it. However, our friends down the road never use mulch and always seem to have a good crop. So our advice is that mulch is a good idea to prevent winterkill, but not always essential. If not, mulching has worked in the past, then it’s probably not necessary.
I live in Sudbury, Ontario and have planted garlic for the last six years. I covered with straw one year but found it hard to remove in spring. The other years, the garlic grew very good. Was it just a fluke or is it okay not to cover?
Thanks.
Preparing land that has trees or recently had trees cleared is usually a major undertaking. Making woodlands usable for garlic or vegetable production can take 1 to 3 years depending on the type of trees or shrubs, how thick the woodland is and how much woody material remains after clearing. Branches, woody roots, wood chips, sawdust and other high-carbon materials do help improve soil structure, but they break down very slowly. As they decompose, they absorb large quantities of Nitrogen from the soil, meaning that high nitrogen fertilizer or manure (poultry is the best) is required to keep a balanced Carbon/Nitrogen ratio. If soil Nitrogen is too low, the high-carbon wood materials will take a very long time to break down and any crops planted will be Nitrogen-deficient. Also, smaller wood pieces (sawdust, wood chips) will break down and absorb Nitrogen faster than large wood pieces (branches, roots).
Regarding planting depth, recommendations usually refer to the amount of soil above the planted clove. In other words, if the recommendation is for a depth of 1 to 2 inches, it means there should a soil layer of 1 to 2 inches between the surface and the top of the clove.
We have successfully grown garlic for a few years without any problems, they talk about planting depth of 1-2 inches, is the
1 or 2 inches to the bottom or the top of the glove
Dear garlicseed.ca owner, You always provide in-depth analysis and understanding.
Hi John,
First of all, thank you for the very informative site and blogs. And another thank for the valuable replies you are giving in comments. You are really a generous person.
I have one question and it is more related to the soil preparation.I decided to go commercially with garlic and I need to prepare 1-2 acres of a 30 years old trees land. What is the best technice removing trees as part of soil preparation for future garlic planting? Soil is clay, so is tree mulching a good option for amend the soil structure? Or does it impact nutrients balance?
What is the best manure for enhanced the nutrients?
Thanks.
Garlic does need some moisture in the fall to help initiate root growth. Most of the time the weather is cool with some rain, so watering is not necessary. However, if the soil is dry, then watering is recommended in order to help get the garlic off to a good start. Be careful not to overwater, as this can sometimes cause rotting or disease if the draining is poor.
Do you water after planting in the fall, or not?
Hello; I’m from Kapuskasing, Ontario, this is my 2nd attempt at garlic, I planted garlic in an 8’X4’ raised bed last September I could see some shoots starting to come through in Oct and then mulch for the winter. I’m wondering we are now May the 28th and I don’t see anything yet, I guess something happened along the way, or could it be normal? 🤞
Thanks for any info
Sincerely;Suzanne
I have prepared my garden soil heavily with horse manure and shredded leaves. Plant 600 hard neck garlic every Nov in southern Minnesota zone 4b. Since the soil is rich and loose I bury the bulbs 6 inches deep. I plant bulbs 10-12" apart in 3 rows 12" apart, leaving a larger row for walking. Bulbs planted to shallow will not give plant support in the summer wind and tip over. Normally a small garlic shoot appears before snow fall and I cover with mulch about 6". About April I remove most of the mulched leaves from the top of the soil and allow the ground to warm up. I gently fertilize twice in the spring and summer growing season with a 10-10-10 garden fertilizer. Water weekly depending on the rain. Harvest in the middle of July. Never had a crop fail and always get huge bulbs.
Hi
This is my 3rd year growing garlic, (Toronto, Ontario), with great success. However I uncovered the garlic yesterday, (I covered it in leaves over the winter), to find some of the new garlic shoots are yellow, some however came through the leaves by themselves and they’re green. I’m wondering if I left uncovering it too long and do I have a problem. Now I’ve pulled away the leaves, will opening it up to the air/sun rectify this problem, the garlic is planted in full sun. I have 7 different varieities, about 50 bulbs in total. Hoping you can help and I’m also hoping it’s not a fungal issue!
Many thanks.
I’ve never heard of anyone tarping their garlic over winter to keep the excess rain off, however, it might work. It would probably be best if you could keep it off the ground (kind of like a tent with open ends) in order to allow airflow. Raised beds also help a lot with all the excess water.
When planting cloves, we measure from the tip of the clove. Most growers plant between 1 and 2 inches when measuring this way.
In coastal BC would you ever consider tarping your garlic bed to avoid long stretches of winter rain? I have a raised bed (1 foot high) and am worried that the well composted soil is always wet. It is the end of December now and the green stalks are up after planting Nov2. Hopefully this is a sign that the bulbs are not rotting. Also I feel silly asking but have to – is the planting depth of ^2 inches from the base or the tip of the clove? (Have assumed from the tip). Thanks so much
If your garlic has come up in fall already, it is probably best to cover it with a thick layer of mulch to help protect it through the winter.
I am from Toronto ,I planted garlic in late October ,they are growing now ,what should I do ?
Thank you
How many cloves a bulb forms, has to do with growing conditions in early spring. The garlic plants start to differentiate (form the different cloves) as soon as the ground thaws and the garlic starts to grow in spring. This differentiation happens over a few weeks and is usually finished in May when the plants only have 3 or 4 leaves.
If there is some sort of stress (such as drought conditions) or an extreme cold event during this period, the differentiation process can be halted and you end up with single cloved rounds or bulbs with only 2 or 3 cloves. The effect can be non-uniform and differ throughout the growing area. Every variety is also affected differently. On our farm, we have mostly only seen this happen in Porcelain, Creole and Asiatic varieties.
This year there were a lot of growers (including ourselves) that had a few spring nights where the temperature dropped to about -15C when the plants had 2 to 3 leaves. Although the plants appeared ok, it ended up halting the differentiation and causing the same issue for all of us and we ended up with low clove numbers.
The edges of raised beds would definitely get more cold exposure than the center, so your theory is very possible.
The single rounds and 2 to 3 clove bulbs are great planting stock because they are so large. There is no risk of increasing the chance of it happening again by replanting them.
Hi there, question for you. I purchased your book and have thoroughly enjoyed all the helpful information however a solution to my problem wasn’t addressed. My fall planted garlic this year was slightly disappointing. Approximately half didnt form into bulbs but rather one big clove the size of a golf ball. I did plant last fall in a raised bed covered with mulch and it seemed that the occurrence of the single cloves was more prominent on the perimeter of the bed. Some people said it was inconsistent watering but I tend to disagree due to the fact other cloves grew into beautiful big heads. Thoughts? Was it too cold on the perimeter for the clove to bud? At what stage does the clove bud, in the fall when it is growing roots or the spring? Thanks!
According to the Ontario zone guide, I am in a 5b zone, between Orangeville and Arthur. How deep should I plant my garlic?
Generally, you don’t have to water much in the fall, although you do want some moisture in the ground. It really depends on what your conditions are and soil type. The cloves will send down roots if there is any moisture at all. In fact, cloves kept in storage will send out roots if the humidity is high enough, so it doesn’t take much.
Bottom line, if the bottoms of the cloves are sitting in some moisture you probably don’t need to water. If they are sitting in loose, dry soil, then probably best to water. If you’re uncertain, water a bit as it won’t hurt. We usually get a rain or two in fall so have fairly good soil moisture at lower depths. This means we rarely water in fall, but would do so if there are drought conditions.