No one knows where the cultivated garlic we know today came
from. Ancient Greeks,
Egyptians, Romans and Chinese wrote about it. Whatever its
origin, though, garlic has
captured the interest of gardeners and cooks alike.
It’s easy to grow in Georgia home gardens, too. And garlic, a
member of the onion
family, persists in the garden for years.
Start garlic by planting small cloves, or divisions of the
large bulb. Each bulb
contains a dozen or more cloves. Plant each clove separately.
The larger the clove, the
larger the size of the mature bulb at harvest.
Don’t divide the bulb until you’re ready to plant. Early
separation of the cloves will
lead to lower yields. Select "seed bulbs" that are
large, smooth, fresh and free
of disease.
The best varieties for Georgia gardens are:
- California Early (or Early
California Braiding) is a
well-known white cultivar commonly seen in markets. It has
10 to 20 cloves per bulb and
matures in about seven months. But it stores for only four
to six months. - California Late (or California
White) has firm,
strong-flavored bulbs of high quality. The skin is light
pink to deep red. Bulbs mature
eight months after planting, about two to four weeks later
than California Early. This is
the best keeper, and it’s good for braiding. - Italian is a pungent variety usually
considered a generic name for
small, strongly flavored garlic. - Italian Red has large, easily peeled
bulbs. It’s very strong, with a
spicy flavor garlic connoisseurs prefer. It’s an excellent
keeper. - Italian Purple has purple cloves arranged
radially around a stout stem.
The bulbs have no enveloping skin. Cloves can be easily
pulled off. - Chilean produces white, flat bulbs. The
cloves are uniform in size with
a pink to purple cover. It has specific day-length
requirements for bulbing. - Rocambole is the serpent garlic, famous
for the convolutions of its
flower stalk. - Top-setting garlic is a distinct type
that produces bulbs as well as a
cluster of bulbils at the top of the stalk. - German Red yields a large, bright-purple
bulb that weighs about
one-quarter pound with eight to 12 cloves per bulb. It’s
recommended for those who will
use a lot of garlic quickly or who will preserve the
garlic. - Spanish Roja is a large gourmet type with
reddish skin and 10 cloves
per bulb. It also has smaller bulbils on the top stems. With
pungent flavor, it peels
easily and is an excellent keeper. - Creole bulbs have a purple cover and
small, randomly arranged cloves.
It has a small cluster of bulbils above the main bulb.
Garlic grows best on fertile, friable loam soils with lots of
organic matter. Gardeners
who grow good onion crops can grow good garlic.
Garlic does well at high fertilizer levels. Apply three
pounds of 10-10-10 per 100
square feet. The bulb will be small if the soil is too dry and
irregular in shape if the
soil becomes compacted.
Plant cloves in the fall to allow enough time for the plants
to mature by the next
summer. To permit full development, the latest garlic can be
planted in Georgia is
February or early March.
Fall soil preparation is best if the soil can be fertilized
and planted with minimum
tillage in the spring. Plant the cloves 3 to 5 inches apart in
an upright position (to
ensure a straight neck). Cover them to a depth of one-half to 1
inch. Allow 18 to 30
inches between rows.
The bulbs may be harvested when the tops start to dry,
usually in July. Place the bulbs
on trays with screens or slatted bottoms and remove the tops
when dry. The mature bulbs
are best stored in a cool, dry place.
If you grow only a few plants, braid the tops together with
twine and hang the bulbs to
dry.
