Garlic was originally a native plant of many thousands of years ago. Evidence of it has been found in caves inhabited more than 10,000 years ago. Medicinal prescriptions were found chiseled into a clay Sumerian tablet that was more than 3,000 years old.

Garlic is a key ingredient to a wide variety of recipes, and is quickly becoming regarded as a natural method to prevent heart disease and cancer - it is after all the second oldest medicine in the world.

Growing garlic is well-suited to both the first time gardener and the more experienced - given the correct soil and planting time, common garlic is relatively maintenance free, yet some of the more unusual varieties provide a challenge.

Latin Name
Allium sativum

Type
Hardy perennial of onion family

Site and Soil
Well-drained, well-dug fertile soil; full sun

Plant to Harvest Time
10 months

Grow your garlic in full sun - garlic needs to grow quickly in order to produce good sized bulbs. Pick a site that is not prone to water-logging, this will ensure the bulbs do not rot over winter.

The secret to growing garlic is to plant it in October - spring planting is possible in warmer areas, but even then, better sized bulbs will result from an autumn sowing. Dig the soil well to a spade's depth before planting, incorporating as much organic matter as possible to assist with drainage - garlic will rot in water-logged conditions. If you can purchase and dig in some sand (from your garden centre) at this stage, the drainage will be improved even further. A couple of handfuls of bonemeal should also be incorporated every square metre (yard).

Plant the cloves in an upright position 2cm (1in) below the soil surface - looking at the clove in the picture above, the bottom of the clove should be lowest in the ground. Space each clove about 10cm (4in) apart - if you are planting rows, space each row 45cm (18in) apart.

Garlic thrives on a well fed soil at the correct time, so in late March and again in mid May, feed the soil with general purpose fertiliser such as Growmore. If you can do this once or twice a month, so much the better. Apart from this, their only other requirement is to keep them free of weeds and in dry conditions water them. They will produce green foliage starting around April time.


Harvest Garlic
Garlic is normally ready for harvesting when most of the foliage has turned yellowy-brown - this will be around mid-August time. The problem with harvesting garlic is knowing when they are ripe - harvest too early and the bulbs will be small, harvest too late and the bulb will have split making harvest difficult and the cloves of low quality (they will have commence their growing cycle for next year).

Problems will occur mainly in wet summers - the leaves may only have started to turn yellow but if the garlic is left in wet ground at this stage, the bulbs will very quickly become diseased. For this reason a second method is needed to determine what stage they have reached. If the weather is wet in early August, pull up one bulb and see how many sheaths (very thin papery layers around the bulb) you can peel off the bulb - if there are only three, harvest the bulbs, if there are four or more, wait another two weeks or until most of the leaves have turned brown.

Container Growing Garlic
Garlic itself loves to be grown in containers - the soil will be well-drained and they can be fed easily. The problem is one of space and the fact that they are not particularly attractive plants. However, if you are new to gardening and want to give it a go, the garlic plants will be very happy. Use normal potting compost and feed and water regularly.