Garlic is one the easiest food crops to grow in North Texas. Learn how to grow this culinary essential in your own backyard with the following tips and tricks.
When To Plant Garlic In North Texas
The universal guideline for planting garlic is 4-6 weeks before the ground freezes. Since it is rare for the ground to completely freeze in North Texas, gardeners here customarily plant garlic in mid-October. This is when garden centers are stocked with seed garlic and when online orders start to ship. Garlic can safely be planted in North Texas through November.
Where To Buy Garlic For Planting
I order my seed garlic from Filaree Garlic Farm in Washington state. Filaree carries the widest variety of cultivars, and they are keepers of the largest privately held collection of garlic in North America. In Dallas, seed garlic is available at Nicholson-Hardie (Tollway location) and North Haven Gardens.
How To Plant and Grow
Here are some tips for growing garlic successfully in your North Texas garden:
- Garlic prefers soil that is light and loose. To plant in our heavy clay, amend beds with compost or expanded shale or plant in a raised bed if soil is particularly poor.
- Plant cloves 2 inches deep with the root end down at a spacing of 5-9 inches.
- When garlic starts actively growing in early spring, feed your plants with a good source of nitrogen. This could be from a side-dressing of compost, blood meal, feather meal, or ammonium sulfate.
- Like any other garden green, keep garlic well-watered throughout the spring. This could be daily if we are experiencing drought.
- Hardneck garlic will start to produce scapes 3-4 weeks before the bulb is ready for harvest. When you see scapes growing, cut them off so that the plant directs energy into bulbing instead of flowering. Scapes are wonderful to cook with. A particular favorite way to use is to make a compound butter.
How and When To Harvest
Garlic is ready to harvest when 3-4 of the bottom leaves begin to yellow or brown and fall over, but there are still about 50% green leaves on the plant. Harvesting while some green leaves remain ensures that the bulb’s papery wrapper remains intact and aids storage.
Garlic is typically ready to harvest in mid-to-late May here in North Texas, but actual readiness will depend on the variety. Some varieties, like Turbans, mature much earlier than other varieties, so be watchful. If garlic is harvested too late, the bulb will begin to split apart and doesn’t store as easily.
Harvest your garlic by gently lifting out of the soil. If your soil is loose, you can simply pull the entire plant out of the ground. Or, you can use a garden fork to gently lift the garlic out of the soil from below. Be careful with this method, though. It is very easy to damage your garlic when using metal tools to harvest. Damaged garlic will not store properly.
How to Cure Garlic
Tie harvested garlic into bunches of 5 and hang to dry in a dark, well-ventilated area for 4-6 weeks. You can also spread garlic out on a screen if you have the space. Garlic is completely cured when the stalk is cut 1/2 inch above the head and there is no moisture or greenness.
For a comprehensive guide to growing garlic in North Texas, check out this Dallas Garden School class:
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