Garlic: planting, growing, harvesting in the vegetable garden

Description and Botany

Garlic is a plant native to various regions of the globe, believed to originate from Central Asia, the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, and Afghanistan. The earliest traces of garlic cultivation date back 5000 years to ancient Egypt, where it was consumed by the builders of the pyramids to enhance their strength and immune defenses. Its cultivation then spread through the Greeks and Romans, progressing throughout the rest of Europe.

The common name “garlic” comes from the Latin name, Allium, the origin of which is uncertain. It is thought to derive from the Latin olere, “to smell” or from the Greek hallesthai, “to rise”. Garlic was referred to by the Greeks as “scorodon”. The species name, sativum, means “cultivated”. A garlic… garlics or garlics. Both plural forms are accepted. The first version is older, while the second, initially used in botany, is becoming more common.

Garlic – Allium sativum var. sativum – is a root vegetable from the Liliaceae or Amaryllidaceae family (in phylogenetic classification) like onion, shallot, and leek. This herbaceous, monocotyledonous plant is a bulbous perennial very hardy but is cultivated as an annual or biennial plant. Garlic appears in the form of a bulb or “head”, composed of several cloves called bulbils. These are planted in the ground and develop into new garlic heads.

The erect, linear leaves sheath the stems and are fragrant when crushed. Some garlic varieties form an inflorescence, such as the variety ‘Rose de Lautrec’. Others fail to produce a flower stalk, particularly white garlic varieties like ‘Thermidrome’ and ‘Germidour’. An original classification of cultivated garlic varieties is divided into five groups based on their enzymatic profile and botanical characteristics. The presence or absence of the flower stalk is included in this classification. From the flower stalk, which can reach 30 to 80 cm in height, an umbel blooms, with flowers, mostly sterile, that are white or pink and flower in summer. Between the flowers are floral bulbils that fall to the ground and give rise to new plants, particularly in the case of rocambole garlic.

Garlic heads with the bulbils clearly visible – garlic plant in cultivation

The flowers of rocambole garlic are interspersed with bulbils

Garlic varieties

Varieties to Plant in Spring

Varieties to Plant in Autumn

Other Garlic Species

Spring Garlic - Allium sativum

Printanor garlic is a pink garlic variety that is planted in spring. It has good productivity, yielding numerous medium-sized bulblets with a pink tunic and white flesh. This garlic does not produce a flower stalk.

• Height at maturity 30 cm

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Gayant Pink Garlic plants - Allium sativum

Gayant pink garlic is a late spring variety that produces medium-sized bulbs with equally medium-sized bulblets, pink in colour and with white flesh. The bulblets are tightly packed and numerous on each bulb.

• Height at maturity 30 cm

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Arno Pink Garlic - Allium sativum

Arno pink garlic is a spring variety that produces medium-sized bulbs with numerous round, fragrant bulblets, pink in colour and with white flesh. This late variety stores well.

• Height at maturity 30 cm

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Garlic Flavor - Allium sativum

Flavor garlic is a late spring pink variety that produces bulbs with light pink bulblets. This regenerated variety is free from onion yellowing virus.

• Height at maturity 30 cm

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Germidour Garlic plants (autumn planting) - Allium sativum

Germidour garlic is an autumn variety of the purple type, producing large bulbs with anthocyanin streaks and large white-fleshed bulblets with a pronounced flavour. This seasonal variety is productive and free from OYDV virus.

• Height at maturity 30 cm

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Messidrome Garlic plants (autumn planting) - Allium sativum

Messidrome white garlic is an autumn variety. It produces white bulbs composed of numerous large cream-coloured bulblets. This seasonal variety is productive and free from OYDV virus.

• Height at maturity 30 cm

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Bear's Garlic - Allium ursinum

Wild garlic, or bear's garlic, is a small bulb naturally found in woodlands. It offers beautiful white flowering in spring. Everything in this culinary and medicinal plant is edible: the bulbs, flower buds, and leaves.

• Flowering time May, June
• Height at maturity 20 cm

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Rocambole Garlic - Allium scorodoprasum

Rocambole garlic is a different species of garlic - Allium scorodoprasum - producing aerial bulbils at the end of a spiralled flower stalk. It is very hardy and can remain in place for several years in the vegetable garden. Everything is edible, including the underground bulbs, aerial bulbils, and its leaves, which can be consumed like chives.

• Height at maturity 80 cm

See the product sheet

Planting garlic

Where and when to plant garlic?

Garlic is planted directly in place in a plot exposed to sunlight and in light, well-drained soil without fresh manure. The rotation for garlic is 5 years, and it is important to avoid growing it after vegetables from the same family (chives, shallots, onions, and leeks).

Garlic fears excess moisture that causes the bulbs to rot. If your soil is very wet, we recommend planting garlic on mounds 10 to 15 cm high, which facilitates water drainage.

Garlic can be planted in spring or autumn:

• from October to December for white and purple garlic,
• in February and March for pink garlic.

How to plant garlic?

To start, prepare the plot by loosening the soil with a broad fork or spading fork, level it with a rake, remove the adventive plants (weeds), and then proceed to planting:

1. Dig furrows 3 to 4 cm deep, with rows spaced 25 cm apart.
2. Choose, preferably, the bulbil located around the edge of the garlic head, as those in the centre are less productive.
3. Plant them every 12 cm, point upwards, pushing them in slightly.
4. The bulbs from the centre can be planted closer together (10 cm) or planted in associations (see below, “Associating garlic in the vegetable garden”).
5. Cover with a little fine soil using a rake, the tip should be level with the soil!
6. Watering is not necessary; seasonal moisture is sufficient.

Associating garlic with the vegetable garden

Garlic gets along well with plants from the Rosaceae family; it notably prevents fungal diseases affecting fruit trees and red fruits such as apple trees, pear trees, peach trees, raspberry bushes, strawberry plants, as well as roses. For better quality tomatoes, it is recommended to plant a head of garlic at the base of each tomato plant. Use the central bulbils from the pod wisely for these associations, keeping the outer bulbils for your garlic ranks intended for consumption.

Garlic can also be a bad companion for certain vegetables. Indeed, it is acknowledged by many gardeners that Fabaceae (the family of beans, broad beans, and peas) and Brassicaceae (cabbages, turnips, rocket, radishes) do not appreciate the presence of garlic and other plants from the Liliaceae family in general. Therefore, avoid these neighbourhoods.

Cultivation and care of garlic

Weed and hoe regularly, especially at the beginning of the growing season. Weeding should be gentle and shallow near the young plants, as the roots of garlic grow close to the surface.

Watering garlic should only be done in case of prolonged drought, starting from May. It is possible to mulch with light soil from May onwards, when the soil is warm enough. For this, it is preferable to use dry mulches such as straw. Absolutely avoid wet herb!

Avoid growing garlic next to leeks or onions, which are susceptible to the same diseases.

Never spray nettle manure on garlic, as the smell of this extract attracts the onion fly.

Some gardeners tie or lay down the foliage two weeks before harvest to concentrate the sap in the bulb and thus increase the size of the bulbs. This is a fairly common practice, but it is not scientifically proven that it actually makes the bulbs grow larger. Another advantage of this action would be to dry the foliage more quickly as harvest approaches.

→ Learn more in our tutorial: How to harvest and store garlic?

Garlic in the process of growing

Common diseases and pests of garlic

Garlic Rust

It is ironic for this vegetable, known for its excellent anti-fungal properties, to be so susceptible to rust, a disease caused by a fungus!

The agent responsible for rust is the fungus Puccinia allii, which thrives in humid weather and when temperatures are around 18°C. It is mainly encountered in the spring, and depending on the severity of the attack, this disease can significantly affect the harvest. However, if rust appears a few weeks before the harvest, its impact will not be substantial. There are certain environments where this disease is particularly common and virulent.

The symptoms are easy to spot, manifesting as small rust-coloured spots, pustules that appear on the leaves. In cases of severe infestation, the spots merge and eventually completely dry out the leaves, which inevitably affects the development of the bulbils.

To combat garlic rust:

• Preventively, avoid wetting the foliage during watering.
• It is obligatory to respect a rotation period of 4 to 5 years between two garlic crops (as well as with other vegetables in the family).
• In biodynamics, a horsetail decoction is used to prevent its occurrence. Indeed, horsetail keeps the fungus in its environment, that is, in the soil.
• If the disease develops, do not wait for it to spread; cut away the affected parts while avoiding touching the pustules to prevent contaminating the healthy parts. Dispose of the infected parts.

Rust pustules on garlic leaf[/caption>

Onion Fly

The onion fly – Delia antiqua – is a pest that attacks garlic and can cause a significant loss of harvest. It is the larvae of the fly that cause damage. This manifests as a general weakening of the plant’s vigor. The leaves turn yellow, and the plant eventually dies. Upon noticing these symptoms, simply digging up the contaminated plant reveals that the maggots are feeding on the bulb. Contaminated plants must be destroyed to prevent the spread of the larvae. Unfortunately, the larvae have this incredible ability to move from one plant to another!

To prevent attacks from the onion fly:

• It is particularly important to not apply nettle manure to the garlic crop, as the smell of this manure attracts the fly.
• Tansy infusion is a good preventive treatment.
• Insect netting remains the best solution, to be used if the problem is recurrent in your vegetable garden.

Harvesting and storing Garlic

Garlic is harvested at different stages depending on its ripeness from April to July:

• The harvest of young garlic (from the planting of inner bulbils) occurs when the stems measure 20 to 30 cm.
• The green harvest takes place for autumn garlic (white and purple garlic) in April and May, when it is still green and the pod is formed but not the bulbils.
• The garlic flower (from pink varieties) is harvested in May and June.
• The dry harvest occurs when the leaves wither. Pull up the bulbs and let them dry for a few days in a dry, shaded area (to avoid sunburn). They can be braided for hanging to aid in drying.

Garlic is harvested at different stages: Young garlic – Green garlic – Dry garlic[/caption>

Garlic heads can be stored for several months and up to a year. Pink and purple varieties store better than white garlic.

To properly store dry garlic:

• • store garlic away from light preferably to prevent the pods from greening over time.

• • Place them in a ventilated room to limit the risk of mould.

• • Damaged bulbs should be set aside and consumed first to prevent them from contaminating the other pods.

Drying garlic is important for proper bulb storage.

Uses and benefits

Garlic is an essential ingredient in many dishes and sauces; it is a key component of aioli, the famous Mediterranean sauce, as well as rouille, which enhances bouillabaisse, not to mention escargot butter. In spring, enjoy harvesting your young garlic to consume it raw by mixing it into salads or adding it to dishes at the end of cooking. With the harvest at ripeness, there is no need to remove the shoots in the first months; later, when the shoots form, removing the shoots makes garlic more digestible. It is used finely chopped or minced with a garlic press and always added at the end of cooking to benefit from its flavour and its many health benefits.

We are all equal when it comes to temporary halitosis caused by garlic, but despite this drawback, this powerful condiment has multiple health benefits. It is possible to attenuate bad breath by consuming parsley! Pink garlic is also milder than white garlic.

Garlic is very rich in selenium and sulphur compounds, including many antioxidants. It contains a good amount of vitamins A, B, and C. It is an excellent prebiotic due to its inulin content. It is highly likely that Lebanese garlic sauce (made with yoghurt) would be ideal for strengthening intestinal flora! It is also known for its powerful antibacterial and antiviral effects, particularly against the cold virus. Garlic is also very good for the heart; it thins the blood, lowers blood pressure, and reduces cholesterol levels. According to various scientific studies, daily consumption of garlic could halve the risk of digestive cancers, including those of the stomach, colon, and rectum, but it should be consumed raw.

→ Discover also the garlic manure or garlic decoction: recipe and uses in the garden and How to make 100% homemade garlic powder? in our tutorials!