WHEN TO PLANT:
Garlic survives bitterly dusty wintertime underground ( or grows frost - hardy leaves where wintertime are soft to restrained ) , grow apace when the atmospheric condition warm in spring , and bulbs in summertime . In the North , plant life 4 - 6 weeks before the ground freezes . This gives the flora fourth dimension to make near ascendant development but not enough time to make foliage growth . Where winters are milder , garlic is plant from October through January . Where winter are so severe or blow wrap up so undependable that garlic freezes out , lenient - neck varieties are planted in spring .
SOIL PREPARATION:
Garlic involve fertile soil with piles of organic issue so the soil persist light through the long growing season . Growers with clay soils should add a lot of compost before planting ; those bless with lighter soils having of course sluttish texture ask to impart only small sum of organic matter , or rise and till in gullible manure prior to planting .
HOW TO PLANT:
bust the incandescent lamp into individual cloves . Small Eugenia caryophyllatum usually develop modest bulbs , so plant only the larger I . Use the small clove in your kitchen . Where winter is mild , plant cloves 1 inch deep , root side down ; where wintertime is wicked , put them 2 - 4 column inch deep and mulch lightly , at once after implant . In spring , the garlic will have no trouble pushing through an inch of mulch . minimal spacing on raised beds is 4×8 inch . To grow the heavy bulbs , judge spacing your works 6×12 in .
GROWING:
After garlic has over wintered it must be kept well weeded . Do not damage the shallow tooth root when civilize . Garlic needs to be jolly fertilized as presently as it begins spring up in spring . Organic gardeners can side - dress a little chicken manure , cottonseed repast or potent compost . Garlic also likes high - nitrogen foliar fertilizer , spray every ten Clarence Day to two calendar week . Once bulbing begins , feed is useless , maybe even harmful to catch the best tone medulla . While the plant is rapidly grow , keep the dirt most as you would for any other leafy honey oil like gelt or Spinacia oleracea .
SEED STALKS:
gruelling - neck opening form put up a tall , woody flowering chaff that usually grow bulblets at the top . But if the industrial plant is allowed to put its energy into these seed , the bulb take form below the ground will terminate up small . So we cut seed stalks off as presently as the bloom head has turn over 8 - 9 inches marvelous .
HARVEST:
Gauging the correct time to harvest is very important . Dug too soon , the tegument wo n’t have formed around each clove . Hard - neck bulbs , if dug too deep , may have begin to spread asunder in the soil . Each year the timing is a footling unlike so rather than check the calendar , we observe the plants . As the bulbs get on the outer leaves turn dark-brown . This indicates that the papery shell is forming . When there are still 5 - 6 green leaves remaining on the plant , we dig and examine a plant every few Day to check the bulb . In very good garlic earth ( very fluffy dirt ) the plant life might be pulled by hand , but it is usually better to loose the soil first with a spading crotch . Immediately brush off the soil from around the roots , but do this gently . dry is the essential part of cure the bulbs so do not launder them in water . Immediately move the newly dug ail out of lineal sunlight .
CURING:
Some agriculturalist tie the plant by their leaf or stalk in loose packet of 8 - 12 industrial plant and fall them under covering fire . Others disperse the plants in single stratum on screens , drying racks , or slatted ledge . Garlic stores longer if its is bring around with its stalk or leaves attached . Good breeze circulation is absolutely of the essence . The plant should cure from 3 weeks to 2 month , depending on the humidness and amount of air circulation . Some growers use a rooter in the curing shed . After cure , you may cut back the root . If the ail is to be kept in sacks , cut the stubble off 1/2 - column inch above the bulb and mildly clean the bulbs with a mild bristle brush , taking care not to strip off the papery skin .
STORING:
Hang bulbs in netted sack , with good melodic line circulation on all side . Or , hang the dry out bunches , or make and hang braids of the soft - neck types . Perfect memory board conditions are 45 - 55 ° F . at 50 % Relative Humidity . storehouse below 40 ° F . actually makes garlic sprout .
