I have some (shop bought) garlic that evidently wants to become garden garlic. I've never planted garlic before, growing bulbs would be cool but I'm more interested in growing garlic scapes for cooking. What is the best way to plant these? Do I separate and peel them first? How far apart should I plant them? I'm planning to put them in a window box sized rectangular pot. Any advice is welcome!
by Lady_Rhino
12 Comments
You need to plant a small part of garlic. Not require whole garlic. Don’t peel a small part of it.
You want individual cloves, not the whole bulb. And a window box might be a little undersized for happy garlic production
Just separate the cloves but leave their skin on them. But do it in September and just eat these garlics. It’s to late in the season to start it and expect good results. By now green garlic should be as big around as your finger, at least.
NO, do not peel them! The papery skin protects the clove from rotting in the soil. Just break the bulb apart into individual cloves and plant them pointy-side up.
No, just split and plant, don’t peel.
Do NOT plant this garlic.
Eat it, or dice it and freeze it in silicone ice cube trays with some olive oil so you can easily toss it in a pan.
Planting store-bought garlic is generally discouraged because it is often treated with anti-sprouting agents that inhibit growth and may carry diseases, such as nematodes or white rot, that can contaminate your soil for years.
My store bought garlic often looks like this, and I make sure I use it soon. Green parts and all. Time for some garlic bread and pasta sauce!
If you *want* to plant garlic, you would obtain seed garlic specifically for planting. If you are in the northern hemisphere, you would plant in October-ish (give or take a month depending on zone). In Romania, the best time to plant garlic is in the autumn, typically between mid-October and mid-November. If you are in a cold climate you would want hardneck, not this softneck variety. Romanian Red Garlic is a highly regarded, heirloom hardneck porcelain garlic variety originating from Romania. Maybe try to find some local heirloom varieties. Once planted in the fall, it takes until June or July to be ready for harvest.
I encourage you to plant garlic, just not now and not with these. Most garlic in shops are now from China, since it is the world’s largest producer of garlic, supplying approximately 70% to 80% of the total global, producing over 20 million tonnes annually as of 2019-2020. Choose local strains over the mass produced ones.
If you plant the cloves now, they will grow into green garlic, but they will not grow scapes.
Green garlic has its own benefits and uses. I intentionally plant garlic like this to get green garlic.
https://foragerchef.com/green-garlic/
If i remember correctly, your area is somewhat similar to mine, though where you live might change that some. We have colder winters with snow and warm summers, which garlic loves.
You would plant the individual cloves (keep the wrappers on! They’re like little protective jackets for the garlic inside!), pointy end up, in mid to late fall. It’s too late to plant it for new garlic heads now, because most types of garlic need a period of dormancy and short winter days to form new bulbs. I’d eat these bulbs now if you really want new bulbs. But if you want to go for bulbs, next year take each individual clove and plant it pointy end up with each clove 6 inches apart around October/November in good soil with a mulch of straw or leaves on top. This protects them from extreme cold and keeps the soil from drying out. I like to plant mine on Halloween here in the Rocky Mountains in the US, and usually harvest in mid to late June.
Scapes usually come up when the garlic is mature. It is a signal that its life cycle is coming to an end. I usually pull these straight out of the top of the plant. It makes a cool popping sound! Then I make roasted garlic scape pesto and the plant can now focus energy into making big cloves!
If you want to try for scapes, it surely can’t hurt! It looks like you have hardneck garlic (has an almost stick-like thing in the middle that the 4-5 cloves are arranged around) which is a type that will produce scapes. Even if it doesn’t do what you want, young green garlic fried in oil with a sprinkle of salt is delicious! Just keep it watered with good drainage and feed it every two weeks if you can (I use liquid fish fertilizer, but I’ve also just used a lost of compost and that worked well) and see what you get!
Don’t plant garlic from the store. It can spread diseases in the soil and you will not be able to grow garlic in that soil again. It has to come from a garden center
No, don’t peel. Just separate the cloves. Also, you’re 6 months early and 6 months late at the same time. Best time in the northern hemisphere is in the winter, ideally before the ground freezes.
Separate the cloves and plant each separately about 4-6″ apart and about 2-3″ deep. Don’t peel them.
In areas with a cold winter, like where I am in the northern USA, garlic is typically planted outside in October/November and harvested in June. I’m not sure what Romania’s climate is like but I’m sure you could find information online.
No, leave as many layers on as possible.
I have terrible luck with fall planting, so am going to try planting as soon as the snow clears and see what happens