How does garlic grow? Pretty effortlessly, if you ask me. Just give it some sun, a little water and watch it go.
Years ago my husband and I took a trip to Raven, Virginia to visit his grandparents. Like most people that lived on top of the mountain, Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw Ball had a very, very, very large garden. They grew potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas, cabbage, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and lots of garlic! We had just moved into a new house (back in Ohio) and wanted to build our own backyard garden. Maw-Maw Ball gave me a bag full of garlic “seeds” to get started. When I asked her what to do with them, she said in her gentle southern drawl, “Well honey, you just plant them in the dirt.”
Garlic is a popular bulbous crop that is used to add flavor to many savory dishes But what does a garlic plant actually look like as it progresses from planting to harvest? Here is an overview of the key visual characteristics of a garlic plant at each stage of growth.
Planting Stage
Garlic is grown from individual cloves broken off from a whole bulb. Each clove has a pointed top and flattened base. The cloves are planted root-end down, 2-4 inches deep and 4-8 inches apart in prepared garden beds. Spacing varies depending on the garlic variety. The soil is patted firmly over the planted cloves. At this early stage, the planting site simply looks like a garden bed with garlic cloves spaced out in rows or blocks.
Sprouting Stage
Within 1-2 weeks after planting, garlic cloves will begin sending up a green sprout. Initially the sprout is a single grass-like blade. It emerges from the tip of the buried clove and grows upward toward the soil surface. Once the sprout penetrates through the soil surface, new blade-like leaves will continue developing from its base in a clumping fashion. The sprouts signal that the cloves are rooting and becoming established plants.
Leaf Growth Stage
As the weather warms in spring, the young garlic plants put on vegetative growth The grassy leaves multiply and lengthen into slender green foliage about 1/2 inch wide. The leaves fan out somewhat but generally remain upright By early summer the foliage reaches a height of 12-24 inches depending on the variety. The leaves may take on a bluish hue. The plants gradually form a loose clump of leaves arising from the developing underground bulb.
Bulbing Stage
While the leaves are growing above ground the garlic plant is also enlarging its bulb below ground. The bulb begins forming as a cluster of clove segments that grow larger week by week. For hardneck garlic varieties, a bare flower stalk called a scape emerges from the center in early summer. The curling scapes can be cut off to redirect energy to bulb growth. Bulbs typically reach mature size by mid-summer when lower foliage starts yellowing and drying.
Harvest Stage
Garlic is ready for harvesting when about half of the leaves have turned brown by mid-summer. Plants are dug up using a garden fork, keeping the bulbs intact. Mature garlic bulbs feature multiple layers of papery skin surrounding a segmented head of cloves. Hardneck varieties have a stiff central stem while softneck garlic has supple stems that allow braiding. After digging, bulbs are cured by allowing them to dry out of soil for 2-3 weeks in a warm, airy location out of direct sunlight.
Plant Structure Close-Ups
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Cloves are oblong, off-white segments encased in a thin, light brown skin. They have a firm, smooth texture.
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Leaves are slender, grassy, and green with an upright orientation. Some varieties develop a blueish tint.
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Hardneck scapes are thin, solid, curly flower stalks extending from the bulb center.
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Bulbs are rounded heads composed of multiple cloves surrounded by papery white, tan, or purple-striped outer skins.
Typical Garlic Growth Timeline
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Fall – Plant cloves
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Spring – Foliage sprouts and grows
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Early Summer – Bulbs enlarge and scapes appear
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Mid-Summer – Leaves begin drying down
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Late Summer – Tops fall over, bulbs are dug up
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Fall – Bulbs cured for storage
Beyond its overall growth cycle, there are some key visual differences between the major types of garlic plants. The two main categories are softneck and hardneck garlic.
Softneck Garlic
Softneck garlic varieties do not produce a woody flowering stalk. They have flexible stems that can be braided. Softnecks are known for excellent storage capability. Common softneck types include:
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Silverskin – Thin, papery white skins. Many tiny cloves per bulb.
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Artichoke – Large bulbs with many overlapping layers of cloves resembling an artichoke.
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Creole – Colorful rose, red or purple striped bulbs. Medium number of cloves.
Hardneck Garlic
Hardneck garlic has stiff central stalks and a shorter shelf life than softnecks. They produce delicious curled flower stalks called scapes. Some popular hardneck varieties are:
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Rocambole – Easy to peel, full-bodied flavor. Reddish-brown skins with 5-9 cloves per bulb.
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Purple Stripe – Beautiful purple striped bulb wrappers. 4-12 cloves per bulb. Sweet, complex flavor.
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Porcelain – 4-7 large creamy white cloves encased in thick skins. Robust flavor.
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Turban – Distinctive turban-shaped bulbs. Purple blotched wrappers. Early harvest.
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Asiatic – All-white bulbs containing 5-7 cloves. Strong, biting flavor.
There are two easy ways to plant garlic.
The most commonly used method is to plant a clove. Each individual clove will grow a new bulb of garlic. (Note: The clove is the small section that makes up the bulb. I had a friend who was following a recipe for garlic cheese dip. Instead of adding 2 cloves of garlic, she added 2 bulbs of garlic. She won’t make that mistake again!)
Plant each clove (flat end down, pointed side up) two inches deep. Space them about 6 inches apart. You can expect to see growth in 4-6 weeks.
If you are planting hardneck garlic, you can plant the bulbils from the scape. This method takes longer to grow a complete bulb. If you pull your garlic up the first growing season, you’ll see what looks like one single clove attached to the stem rather than a multi-cloved bulb. If you wait until the next season, you’ll find a small bulb. Wait a third season…you’ll find a full bulb. There its no need to start them inside on your windowsill like you would tomato or pepper seeds. They are tough as nails. Just plant them in the dirt and they will grow.
Growing garlic from bulbils takes a lot longer, but it has its advantages. The main advantage being that one garlic plant contains a lot more bulbils than cloves. Growing from bulbils is also a good way to prevent soil borne diseases.
Just plant them in the dirt.
I took them home and planted them in the dirt once…and have enjoyed 13 years of garlic from that one initial planting. Like most garden plants garlic prefer to be grown in full sun, but it does surprisingly well in shadier gardens. They are a pretty fool- proof plant.
There are two basic types of Garlic: hardneck (also called stiffneck) and softneck (sometimes called topset). The hardneck varieties produce a rigid, central stalk. The stalk curls at the top and grows a seedpod head called a bulbil or scape. Hardneck varieties tend to produce 5-7 large cloves. Cloves from a hardneck variety tend to be stronger in flavor than the softneck varieties. They are hardy and usually found growing in northern regions.
Softneck varieties are not quite as hardy. They are better for warm climates. As the name, implies, soft neck varieties do not have the rigid stalk and do not grow scapes. The soft stems are good for braiding. Softneck varieties usually have a milder flavor. Each bulb contains about 12 cloves. Softneck varieties generally have a longer shelf life than hardneck.
Watch This Before You Plant Garlic
FAQ
How to identify a garlic plant?
- Grows from a bulb that looks like a single elongated garlic clove.
- Pointed, spear shaped leaves that start off quite slender, growing broader as they get bigger.
- Leaves have a single vein that runs down the middle.
How long does garlic take to grow?
What is the mistake in planting garlic?
Garlic is planted in fall, allowing the cold to divide each clove into the bulb to come. Plant between Halloween and Thanksgiving for the healthiest garlic growth. Your goal is for each clove to establish its root system while growing as little shoot as possible. Biggest Mistake: Planting too early.