DibbleGrowing garlic: from seed to harvest
Plant cloves pointy end up in autumn, or at the start of the cool season where winters are mild (pre-chilled cloves do best there). Where winters freeze, mulch after planting. Harvest when the lower leaves turn brown.
Planting dates for garlic by zone
| Zone | Start seeds indoors | Sow or transplant | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 3 | not needed | September 16 | June 26 |
| Zone 4 | not needed | September 25 | July 4 |
| Zone 5 | not needed | October 3 | July 14 |
| Zone 6 | not needed | October 10 | July 18 |
| Zone 7 | not needed | October 23 | July 31 |
| Zone 8 | not needed | October 8 | May 30 |
| Zone 9 | not needed | October 8 | June 3 |
| Zone 10 | not needed | October 14 | March 5 |
| Zone 11 | not needed | October 21 | March 11 |
Each date is the start of the best window from the same climate engine the Dibble app uses, run at typical places in each zone. Dibble tunes them to your garden's own location and lets you adjust frost dates for your own yard.
Companion plants
Good neighbors for Garlic:
Better kept apart:
Family and rotation
Garlic is in the alliums family. Light feeders that deter pests. Good rotation partners; keep away from beans and peas. Learn about crop rotation.
Related crops
Onion
When to plantChives
When to plantLeek
When to plantGreen Onion
When to plantShallot
When to plantTomato
When to plant
Questions
When should I plant garlic?
It depends on your zone. Garlic is a hardy crop, so the timing follows your last spring frost. Look up your zone in the table below for exact start, sow, and harvest dates, or open Dibble and set where your garden is to get your own calendar.
How long does it take to grow garlic?
About 240 days from sowing to the first harvest, with a picking window of roughly 14 days after that.
What grows well with garlic?
Good companions include Tomato, Beet, Carrot. Keep it away from Bean (bush), Pea.
Plant at the right time this season
Dibble builds your calendar in under a minute. Free to start, no account needed.