Most People Plant Garlic Wrong — Do This Instead, by Gardening with Bear Brown on YouTube. 15 min 36 s.
- Video length
- 15 min 36 s
- Time to do it
- 45 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Pick your garlic type. Hardneck garlic has a stiff central stalk and does well in cold winters. Softneck garlic stores longer and suits mild climates.
Feed the bed before planting. Spread a layer of compost or aged manure over the soil and fork it into the top few inches.
Break the bulb into cloves just before planting. Keep the papery skin on each clove and leave the biggest cloves for planting.
Plant in autumn once the soil has cooled, roughly six to eight weeks before the ground freezes.
Push each clove into the soil with the pointed end up and the flat root end down. Bury it about 2 inches deep.
Space cloves about 6 inches apart in rows 8 to 12 inches apart so the bulbs have room to size up.
Water the bed gently after planting to settle the soil around the cloves.
Top the bed with a layer of compost or aged manure, then cover with straw or shredded leaves.
Mulch the whole bed 3 to 4 inches deep to insulate the soil through winter and hold back weeds.
Tips and common mistakes
Planting a clove upside down slows growth by weeks, so always check the point faces up.
Do not plant supermarket garlic that may be treated to stop sprouting; buy seed garlic or bulbs from a garden centre.
Garlic left in soil that grew summer crops all season often comes up small, so feed the bed first.
Pull the mulch back a little in early spring so shoots can push through easily.
Questions
Should I plant hardneck or softneck garlic?
Choose hardneck if you have cold winters and want scapes in early summer. Choose softneck if your winters are mild or you want bulbs that store for months.
How deep and how far apart do garlic cloves go?
Set each clove about 2 inches deep with the point up. Space them roughly 6 inches apart, with 8 to 12 inches between rows.
Do I need to water garlic over winter?
Water once after planting to settle the soil. After that, winter rain is usually enough, and heavy watering in cold wet soil can rot the cloves.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
