Vegetables/Easy
Garlic
Allium sativum
Garlic is the low-effort miracle of the vegetable garden: plant a clove in October, ignore it for eight months, dig up a whole bulb in June. The winter cold triggers the clove to split into a rosette of new cloves — this is why supermarket garlic rarely grows well in warm regions.
Choose seed garlic (not culinary bulbs) for reliability. Push each clove pointed-end up, 3 cm below the surface. Weed carefully in spring and lift when the lower leaves are half brown — leaving it longer causes the bulbs to split.
Year at a glance
Common problems
Orange pustules on leaves
Rust — very common in warm damp summers. Remove worst leaves, ensure airflow, and rotate crops.
Bulbs never split into cloves
Not enough winter cold, or planted too late. Use hardneck varieties and plant before Christmas.
Small bulbs at harvest
Weed competition or too much spring nitrogen. Weed by hand and stop feeding after March.
Questions, answered
Can I plant supermarket garlic?+
You can, but it's usually a softneck variety bred for hot climates and may carry disease. Certified seed garlic gives far better results.
When do I harvest garlic?+
When the lower 3–4 leaves have gone brown but the top leaves are still green — typically late June to July.
How do I store garlic?+
Cure in a dry, airy shed for 3–4 weeks with tops still attached, then trim and store in mesh bags somewhere cool and dark.