Autumn is the best time for planting garlic. But if you have missed your fall window, you can still apply garlic in the spring and harvest an impressive crop of garlic by the end of the growing season.
Whether you want to grow hardening garlic, softneck garlic, or garlic scaps, this guide will teach you how to get spring garlic to get cold to get more cloves and introduce you to the best type of garlic for spring gardens.
Can you apply garlic in spring?
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Yes, you can definitely apply garlic in spring. Although most of the producers have kept garlic in the decline, you can apply it in the spring as long as you do cold or “cold treatment” seed garlic before planting. Like daffodils and tulips, garlic requires a duration of cold exposure to grow; Garlic bulbs will not produce many cloves without it.
Garlic applied out in autumn naturally comes in contact with cold during winter. But the spring planting of garlic requires deliberately cooling or they will produce a large garlic clove instead of the full head of the clove.
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How to treat cold garlic
There are two main ways to treat garlic before planting spring, and the way you choose will depend on where you live and your climate.
- Plant garlic as soon as possible. If you live in an area where the ground melts in the early spring, you can treat garlic by planting it out as soon as you are eligible to do soil. If your soil does not melt till late spring, instead plant garlic in a weather-proof pot, and keep those cold-herd cloves out, while it is still cold.
- Chill garlic indoors. Alternatively, you can cool garlic from inside by placing seeds in a perforated bag and chilling them in your fridge for a few weeks before planting. During this process, check the cloves regularly for mold and seedling and immediately plant any cloves that start growing.
When to fill garlic in spring
Hardenak garlic is required to be cooled for 4 to 8 weeks before planting, while softnek garlic requires only 3 to 4 weeks of cold treatment. This means that you will usually need to start chilling by garlic by early winter and when the soil is useful, plant garlic outside. Remember, the garlic is a cool hardy and you do not need to worry about it.
Garlic type
Both hardenak and softnek garlic are suitable for spring or falling planting. However, there are some types of garlics which are particularly popular in spring.
- ‘Early Italian’ Softnek garlic is known for its long storage life. This produces 15 cloves per bulb and is ideal for braiding.
- ‘Elephant’ Garlic is actually more closely related to leaks than garlic, but its jumbo cloves have a mild, garlic -like taste and excellent crunch.
- ‘Chesanok Red’ Hardenak garlic produces large cloves with purple stripping and perfect tasty scap for pasteo.
How to plant garlic
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Spring garlic can be planted in in-round gardens, raised beds, or pots that are at least 6 to 8 inches deep. Just make sure that your garlic is applied to a place that receives the sun at least 6 to 8 hours per day and follows these planting tips.
- Prepare soil. Before planting, modify your soil with manure and organic granular fertilizer. In containers, use 3 parts mixed with 1 part compost.
- Different cloves and plants. Divide the cloves of garlic carefully, release the skins of the papiri, and indicate them that they are about 1 to 2 inches deep. In addition to separate 4 inches for large bulbs or 2 inch small, green garlic, cloves should be spread up to about 4 inches.
- water well. After planting, add water well and add 2 to 3 inches light mulch to keep the weeds down. When the top inch of the soil feels dry, continue to get water and germinate garlic cloves until a few weeks before cutting the crop with organic fertilizer with an organic fertilizer every 2 to 3 weeks.
How to harvest garlic
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Whether you apply garlic in spring or fall, garlic bulbs should be ready for the harvest around the summer, or when the garlic leaves are mostly brown. However, you can harvest “green garlic” when the plants are about the size of the scalion or when they begin to curl, the garlic scaps are harvested.
While harvesting, follow these best practices:
- If possible, stop garlic plants several days before crop and harvesting bulbs in dry weather.
- Use a shovel or gardening fork to gently lift the bulbs from the soil and shake the excess dirt.
- Fix the bulbs in a warm, dried place with good airflows for 2 to 4 weeks until the skin is crushed.
- Hardenak garlic or twist softene cut garlic leaves into braids and store your crop in a warm, dried place.
Fasting
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If you apply garlic in the spring, you can produce a large crop, although individual bulbs may be slightly smaller than fallen garlic.
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No, it is not late to apply garlic on March. Garlic can be applied late as April until the cloves were cooled several weeks before planting.
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Grocery store garlic is often treated to prevent it from growing. But if the stores have already sprouted, you can definitely plant them.
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No, Papiri’s skin on garlic should be released while planting.
