Seed Savers Exchange is offering seven varieties of garlic for sale this year. Garlic orders open on July 1, 2024!.
Garlic is one of my favorite ingredients to cook with. I use it in everything from pasta sauce to stir-fries. But garlic can be expensive to buy at the grocery store, especially if you use a lot of it like I do.
That’s why I started growing my own garlic a few years ago It’s really easy and saves me a ton of money over buying bulbs The best part is garlic is a biennial plant. That means after harvest, you can save some of the cloves to replant for next year’s crop. Saving your own garlic seeds is simple and ensures you’ll have a continual, inexpensive supply.
In this article, I’ll walk through the entire process of harvesting garlic and saving the cloves as seeds for replanting. Follow these steps, and you’ll be able to grow garlic indefinitely without ever having to buy bulbs again!
When and How to Harvest Garlic
Garlic is ready to harvest when about 1/3 to 1/2 of the leaves have turned brown and dry This usually happens in mid-summer, between June-August depending on your climate and variety
Wait for a dry day if possible. Use a garden fork to gently loosen the soil around the bulbs. Then grasp the greens near the base and pull up slowly while lifting from below with the fork. Be careful not to puncture or bruise the bulb.
For softneck varieties, take extra care when handling. The greens can easily separate from the bulb with too much pressure.
Gently brush off excess dirt, but don’t worry about getting the bulbs totally clean yet. Some moisture and soil helps protect them during the curing process.
Curing Garlic for Storage
Curing garlic properly is crucial for long-term storage The curing process dries out the skins to form a protective barrier against moisture and diseases,
Cure bulbs in an airy, shaded spot protected from sun and rain. A garage, shed, or covered porch all work great. Avoid direct hot sunlight, which can actually cook the bulbs.
You can lay garlic on screens or mesh to dry. But I prefer hanging bundles from rafters or beams. To hang, gather 10-12 plants and tie the greens together near the bulbs with twine.
Leave a loop at the end to easily hang the braids. For softneck varieties, you can braid the greens together without twine. Just be sure to braid before plants fully dry and turn brittle.
Let garlic cure for 2-3 weeks. Skins will be completely dry and papery when ready. Hardneck greens can then be trimmed to about 1 inch above the bulb. Remove any roots or remaining dirt.
Storing Garlic for Replanting
There are two effective methods for storing seed garlic – refrigeration or cool, dry conditions. I prefer the latter.
Keep bulbs around 60-65°F with low humidity. Avoid refrigeration, as it can trigger sprouting when planted. Prevent sprouting by ensuring no storage area exceeds 65°F.
Good storage containers include mesh bags, baskets, or braids with air circulation all around. Place only 1-2 layers of bulbs in boxes or paper bags.
Seed garlic stores well for 4-6 months under ideal cool, dry conditions. Some varieties last up to a year! Either way, that’s plenty of time between harvest and fall replanting.
Choosing and Preparing Bulbs for Replanting
When selecting seed garlic, choose large, healthy heads with no disease or damage. The biggest bulbs don’t necessarily make the best seeds, since they produce fewer cloves.
Instead, choose medium bulbs with plenty of robust individual cloves. Each clove you plant will produce one new bulb. More cloves per bulb = more new plants.
Inspect bulbs and remove any with mold or rotting. Also discard very small heads, as well as extra-large ones. Select best seeds from mid-sized bulbs.
Break apart bulbs just before planting. Gently separate individual cloves, keeping skins intact. Prepare only what you’ll plant in a day to avoid drying out.
How and When to Replant Garlic
Garlic thrives when planted in fall about 4-6 weeks before first frost. This gives roots time to establish before winter dormancy.
Choose a site with loose, fertile soil and full sun. Plant cloves 2 inches deep with pointy tips up. Space 4-6 inches apart in all directions.
Cover the bed with 4-6 inches of straw or leaf mulch after planting. The insulation protects emerging shoots and roots through winter.
If you don’t have access to mulch, plant a little deeper, 3 inches or so. Just be sure to mark rows to avoid disturbing garlic when mulch is added later.
Water the bed periodically if rains are lacking. Soil should remain moist but not waterlogged through fall and winter.
Ongoing Seed Saving Ensures a Bountiful Garlic Harvest
Learning how to properly save garlic seeds ensures you’ll never run out of this culinary staple. You’ll also save money by not buying bulbs year after year.
With the right harvesting, curing, and storage methods, garlic seeds stay fresh for planting season. Replant the best cloves from heads you’ve grown and tended yourself.
This simple seed saving technique provides an endless, inexpensive garlic supply. Just be sure to save a few extra bulbs to enjoy in the kitchen!
How to Grow Garlic
This culinary staple is rarely propagated from seeds. Instead, a few aromatic bulbs of garlic are saved from the harvest and replanted the following year.
After the first light frost of the year, between September 15 and November 30, is when you should plant garlic in the fall.
Keep bulbs intact until right before planting. Break bulbs into individual cloves. Plant the biggest, healthiest-looking cloves 6 to 8 inches apart, with the shoot end facing up and the basal plate facing down. The basal plate is where the cloves are attached to the bulb. Cover with 2 inches of soil and a 6-inch layer of mulch.
In 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the type and the weather where you live, cloves may start to grow through the mulch. Do not be concerned. The plants may suffer some frost or a light freeze and still survive the weather.
Garlic plants must be vernalized (overwintered) in order for their bulbs to develop. In the spring, don’t take away the mulch; it keeps the soil moist, controls weeds, and releases nutrients as it breaks down.
When garlic shoots appear in early spring, make sure the soil stays evenly moist by giving it an inch of water every week during the growing season. Garlic does not compete well with weeds, so keep weeds under control early to ensure a bountiful harvest. Scapes are the curly flower stems that often form as the garlic matures. Cut or break scapes off after they are 10 inches long and reserve them for eating.
When and How to Harvest for Food Consumption
Pick when three or four leaves have died back but there are still five or six green leaves on the plant. This could be in June or July, depending on the year and the weather where you live. Do not wait too long or the bulbs will begin to separate in the ground. Loosen the soil with a shovel or pitchfork and then dig the garlic carefully. Do not pull the stalk or it will separate from the bulb. Gently brush most of the dirt off. Tie plants in a bundle of 6-8 plants and hang in a shaded, dry, well-ventilated shed or garage. Leave plants hanging for 4-6 weeks so that bulbs can cure.
Garlic is a good complement to many dishes, and is often used in stir-fries and Italian dishes.
Once it’s completely dry, cut the stalks off about 1 ½ inches from the bulb and the roots off. Store in net bags. For optimum storage, hang in an area with 45-55 percent humidity and a temperature of 50-70 degrees F. Hold back your nicest bulbs for replanting.
Seed Saving: Garlic Bulbils
How do you store garlic seed?
Break the bulbils apart and leave them to dry in a protected, well-ventilated area for a few days. Since they’re not underground they condition much faster than curing a garlic bulb. After a few days, store them in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight until the fall. Planting garlic seed is a bit different than seed garlic cloves.
Can you save garlic seed instead of seed?
While an heirloom hard neck garlic variety may only produce 4 to 8 large cloves to be saved for seed, it will produce somewhere between 20 and 100 little bulbils if the scapes are left intact. As you can see, growing and saving garlic seed instead of seed garlic pays back in huge dividends.
Should garlic be cured or dried before storing?
Garlic should be cured or dried before storing it for later use. Cure and dry garlic using these steps and tips: Start by brushing off any soil remnants clinging to the bulbs. Do not wash them off or get the bulbs wet. Leave the stalks and roots on the bulbs while they cure.
Will a small head of garlic keep growing?
It’s sometimes hard to know if a smaller head of garlic will keep growing, even if the bottom three leaves have died away. There is a rapid growth stage just before garlic is ready to harvest, so a few days could make a significant difference. But then sometimes a bulb is just going to be runty no matter what.