Is it too late to plant garlic?
Thankfully, no. You can plant garlic any time up until the ground freezes and still wind up with a robust crop next summer. I’ve planted garlic well into November and even the early days of December some years and not encountered any problems a pair of insulated gloves couldn’t fix. All garlic really cares about is that the soil is well drained and the temperature drops low enough at some point for it to break dormancy, otherwise the cloves won’t form properly. This being Canada, the temperature dropping low enough is not a factor that keeps many gardeners awake at night.
To plant your garlic, begin by breaking the bulbs into individual cloves (leaving the skins on) as close to the time of planting as possible. This is not a job you want to do in advance since cloves start to deteriorate soon after they are separated from the bulb and the longer they remain separate, the less viable they will be come planting time.
Many gardeners throw out those slender cloves you find at the center of the bulb, preferring to plant only the plump outer cloves which produce larger, fuller bulbs. (The slender cloves will still produce bulbs, they’re just not likely to be as big.) Plant the cloves with the tips approximately a 1/2” below soil surface and space them 5” apart in rows 18” apart. Mulch once the daytime air temperature is consistently in the single digits.
Don’t fertilize your garlic. Garlic are light feeders and the bulb itself contains all the food it needs. In fact, they will happily grow in nutrient deficient soil where other plants do poorly. Once in the ground, your garlic will continue to grow throughout the winter, putting down the roots that will ensure strong, healthy bulbs next year.
If you’re tempted to use garlic bulbs from the produce section of the supermarket as your starter crop, be warned that they're often treated with growth inhibitors and will likely result in disappointment. The better plan is to head down to your local garden centre and pick up some bulbs that were intended for planting outdoors.
If you have any questions or comments, please send them to me at vanessa@gardenmuse.ca.
