How to Grow Garlic

It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking to add an extra kick of flavour to your dishes or are superstitious about pale men with sharp teeth lurking outside your window; garlic bulbs are a welcome addition to every garden. If one thing’s for sure, the versatility of this vegetable plant clearly knows no end! So if you’re wondering how to grow garlic or how to harvest garlic, Mr Fothergill’s has all the information you need right here. 

Luckily for you, these particular members of the onion family are easy to grow and thrive in well-drained soil in a nice and warm environment. Once they’re planted, they don’t require much attention - so you can enjoy plenty of flavour without too much hassle at all!

To get things started, make sure you’re working with well-draining soil that is well in view of the sunlight. Make sure your soil is entirely free of weeds to support the growth of your garlic bulbs and dig in some compost or plant fertiliser.

When it comes to planting and watering, make sure that your soil doesn’t become too wet, as you may run the risk of exposing your garlic to diseases. 

Let’s move on to how to plant garlic! We recommend planting your garlic bulbs between late autumn and early winter. Take the time to split your garlic bulbs into individual cloves before planting them with the pointed end facing up. Plant your cloves about 1 inch deep and 6 inches apart to allow them plenty of space to thrive independently.

Assuming that your soil is now moist and weed-free, the next thing you need to worry about is hungry birds. As a precaution, cover up your cloves with a layer of horticultural fleece.

Don’t worry too much; your garlic bulbs aren’t needed at all. They’re very strong and independent, actually! But like all vegetables, they do require just a little bit of attention from their gardener. 

Watering

When the sunny spring and summer days begin to swing back around, be sure to keep your soil nice and moist to promote the healthy growth of your garlic bulbs. If you’ve noticed yellow foliage, however, your plants won’t require any more water - at this stage, they’re at the point of maturity wherein water could cause rotting! 

Weeding

There are very few cases in your garden where weeds can come in handy, so you probably don’t need warning about the damage they can have on your garlic bulbs’ growth! As we mentioned, garlic thrives in the sunlight, so it’s important to make sure they aren’t overshadowed by surrounding weeds. 

What are you waiting for? Your growing journey starts right here at Mr Fothergill’s! Shop our onion garlic and shallot sets today and let us help get your garlic garden going.

If you have any further questions about how to grow garlic or have curiosities about any of our other products, don’t hesitate to contact us or take a deeper dive into our gardening blog!