A flavorful investment for fall gardens
Garlic is a staple in the kitchen, and one of the oldest known herbs. It is also incredibly easy to grow in the home garden.
The best time to plant garlic in Arkansas is in the fall. Garlic plants thrive in our winters. They like cool weather and will overwinter unprotected most years. If temperatures are predicted to be crazy low (below 0), add a light layer of mulch around them.
Plant individual cloves by early November. The plants will start growing in the cool, moist fall weather and continue all winter. Harvest in late spring or early summer. Fertilize at planting and again in late March or early April, as the plants kick in with green growth.
Discontinue any fertilization when you see the bulbs beginning to form. Late fertilization can result in more leaves at the expense of bulb formation. Garlic is ready to pick when the outer leaves have browned and dried and about five green leaves remain. Don’t wait for all the leaves to die, or the garlic can get overripe, which can lead to poor storage.
There are over 600 varieties of garlic that vary in size, color and flavor. Some are mild, and some are hot.
Garlic is a species in the onion genus, Allium sativum.
| Garlic Types: | Characteristics: | Varieties: |
|---|---|---|
| Hardneck | Hardneck garlic produces a stiff flower stalk, and usually has larger cloves per bulb than Softneck garlic. Typically hotter in flavor than Softneck. The most cold-tolerant. Grows larger in northern climates. Later ripening. Porcelain types are usually larger, while rocambole is spicier. Rocambole types are prized by chefs for best flavor. | Porcelain Georgian Crystal: Mild flavor, large bulbs with 4-6 huge cloves. German Extra Hardy: Longest-storing, medium-sized. Great Lakes: Medium heat. About 5-8 cloves per bulb, white skins with flecks of red. Purple Stripe Belarus: Mild and smooth flavor. Dark red cloves. Persian Star: Medium-sized, long-storing. Romanian Red: Hot and spicy. About 4-8 cloves per bulb. Rocambole German Red: Red-streaked, 8-9 cloves per bulb. Italian Easy Peel: Milder flavor, 8-9 cloves per bulb that peel easily. Russian Red: High yielding with very large heads. |
| Softneck | Softneck garlic (often called artichoke garlic) is the most common and easiest type to grow in the South. It’s like what you buy in the grocery store. It has a soft flower stalk. This is the type you find sold as garlic braids. It has smaller heads (bulbs) than Hardneck, but usually more cloves per head. | California White: Spicy, hot flavor. About 10-20 cloves per bulb. Early Italian: Matures in 90 days. Can take summer heat. Inchelium Red: Lavender-skinned cloves with mild flavor. Transylvanian: About 10-12 cloves per bulb. Creamy white. |