Planting garlic in the spring offers an alternative for gardeners who missed the traditional fall planting window or reside in regions with extremely harsh winters. While fall planting produces the largest bulbs, spring planting remains a viable option. This method typically results in a harvest of smaller, but still flavorful, mature bulbs due to the shorter growing season. Early spring planting can also yield green garlic or flavorful scapes, which are the tender, immature stalks of the plant.
Selecting Varieties and Preparing the Cloves
Selecting the right type of garlic is important, as softneck varieties generally offer a better chance of forming a full bulb. Softneck types, such as ‘California Early’ or ‘Early Italian,’ mature faster than hardneck varieties, making them more adaptable to the shorter spring season. Source your planting material, known as “seed garlic,” from reputable growers rather than grocery stores, as commercial bulbs are often treated to inhibit sprouting.
Prepare for planting by carefully separating the individual cloves from the whole bulb, ensuring the papery wrapper remains intact. Separate the cloves immediately before planting to prevent them from drying out. Since spring-planted garlic misses the natural winter cold, some growers recommend cold stratification. This involves placing the cloves in a refrigerator for four to eight weeks to mimic the cold period necessary for proper bulb division. Select the largest, healthiest cloves for planting, as they contain more stored energy, leading to stronger initial growth.
Soil Preparation and Optimal Timing
Select a site that receives full sun exposure, as garlic requires at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight for robust growth. The soil must be loose, well-draining, and rich in organic matter, such as well-rotted compost. This prevents waterlogging, which can cause the cloves to rot.
Planting must occur as soon as the soil is workable in the early spring, often four to six weeks before the last expected frost date. Early planting is necessary because the cloves need a period of cool weather to establish a strong root system and develop foliage. This must happen before the longer days and summer heat trigger the final bulbing process. Delaying planting risks the plants not having enough time to develop sizable bulbs before high summer temperatures end their growth cycle.
Planting Depth and Spacing
When planting, place each clove with the flat, rough end facing down into the soil, and the pointed tip facing upward. This ensures the roots grow down and the shoot grows up. For spring planting, the cloves are set slightly shallower than in the fall, with the tip placed about one to two inches below the soil surface.
Spacing the cloves correctly allows each plant room to develop. Plant individual cloves four to six inches apart within the row. If planting multiple rows, space the rows approximately 12 to 18 inches apart to allow for cultivation and weeding. After placing the cloves, gently firm the soil back over them to ensure good contact, which encourages rapid root growth.
Post-Planting Care and Harvest Indicators
Garlic requires about one inch of water per week, especially during the bulb swelling phase from mid-May through June. Once the weather turns hot and the leaves begin to yellow, reduce or stop watering entirely to allow the bulbs to begin the curing process in the ground.
Garlic is a heavy feeder, and because spring-planted cloves have a shorter time to establish, a nitrogen-rich fertilizer application is beneficial. Apply a balanced, granular fertilizer or a nitrogen-heavy organic feed when the shoots are about four to six inches tall. Consider a second application a month later to fuel leaf growth. Regularly remove weeds from the planting area, as garlic competes poorly with other plants for moisture and nutrients.
The crop is ready for harvest once the lower third of the foliage has turned yellow or brown, while the upper two-thirds of the leaves are still green. Waiting until all the leaves are dead can cause the bulb wrappers to deteriorate, reducing the bulb’s storage life. Carefully dig up a sample bulb to check that the cloves are well-formed and covered with a dry, papery wrapper before harvesting the entire crop. Once harvested, the bulbs must be cured in a warm, dry, and well-ventilated area for several weeks until the outer wrappers are fully dry and the stems are brittle.