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Garlic

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When to plant garlic

Plant single cloves in autumn; it needs a cold spell (below about 10 °C for several weeks) to form bulbs. Lift when the lower leaves brown.

Photo: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The rules we use

Frost
Hardy. Can go in 0 weeks before the average last frost.
Soil warm enough
Weekly mean around 0°C32°F or more
Days to harvest
About 240 days from sowing
Picking
About 3 weeks from one planting

General guidance, kept on the cautious side. Varieties differ: check the seed packet. How the dates are worked out.

At a glance

Grows outdoors in
67 of 89 cities
Earliest start (north)
Anchorage, August 21
Latest start (north)
Dallas, November 16
Can go in this week
32 cities
No outdoor window
Charleston, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Phoenix, Tucson, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Honolulu, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Auckland

Garlic: city by city

Sorted from the earliest start after midwinter to the latest. Southern-hemisphere cities follow, with their seasons six months on.

Sow indoorsSow or plant outdoorsHarvestFrost seasonToday

Northern hemisphere
AnchorageAlaska
EdinburghScotland
GlasgowScotland
CalgaryAlberta
EdmontonAlberta
BelfastNorthern Ireland
DublinIreland
BirminghamEngland
WinnipegManitoba
ManchesterEngland
SpokaneWashington
FargoNorth Dakota
BillingsMontana
BristolEngland
VancouverBritish Columbia
HalifaxNova Scotia
CardiffWales
OttawaOntario
PortlandMaine
MontrealQuebec
SeattleWashington
BurlingtonVermont
LondonEngland
MadisonWisconsin
MinneapolisMinnesota
TorontoOntario
MilwaukeeWisconsin
BuffaloNew York
DenverColorado
BoiseIdaho
PortlandOregon
BostonMassachusetts
DetroitMichigan
ChicagoIllinois
Des MoinesIowa
OmahaNebraska
Salt Lake CityUtah
ClevelandOhio
PittsburghPennsylvania
ColumbusOhio
IndianapolisIndiana
New YorkNew York
CincinnatiOhio
Kansas CityMissouri
PhiladelphiaPennsylvania
AlbuquerqueNew Mexico
St. LouisMissouri
BaltimoreMaryland
WashingtonDistrict of Columbia
LouisvilleKentucky
RichmondVirginia
NashvilleTennessee
RaleighNorth Carolina
TulsaOklahoma
CharlotteNorth Carolina
Oklahoma CityOklahoma
MemphisTennessee
AtlantaGeorgia
Little RockArkansas
BirminghamAlabama
SacramentoCalifornia
El PasoTexas
FresnoCalifornia
Las VegasNevada
DallasTexas
Southern hemisphere
HobartTasmania
CanberraAustralian Capital Territory

Swipe sideways to see the whole year →

Dates

CitySow outdoorsHarvest
Anchorage AlaskaAug 21 – Sep 24Jun 14 – Jul 4
Edinburgh ScotlandSep 2 – Oct 6Jun 22 – Jul 12
Glasgow ScotlandSep 4 – Oct 8Jun 21 – Jul 11
Calgary AlbertaSep 4 – Sep 24Jul 5 – Jul 25
Edmonton AlbertaSep 5 – Oct 3Jul 2 – Jul 22
Belfast Northern IrelandSep 12 – Oct 16Jun 19 – Jul 9
Dublin IrelandSep 15 – Oct 19Jun 21 – Jul 11
Birmingham EnglandSep 16 – Oct 20Jun 24 – Jul 14
Winnipeg ManitobaSep 16 – Oct 6Jun 23 – Jul 13
Manchester EnglandSep 20 – Oct 24Jun 22 – Jul 12
Spokane WashingtonSep 23 – Oct 27Jun 27 – Jul 17
Fargo North DakotaSep 24 – Oct 14Jun 9 – Jun 29
Billings MontanaSep 25 – Oct 21Jun 19 – Jul 9
Bristol EnglandSep 26 – Oct 30Jun 23 – Jul 13
Vancouver British ColumbiaSep 26 – Oct 30Jul 7 – Jul 27
Halifax Nova ScotiaSep 26 – Oct 30Jul 11 – Jul 31
Cardiff WalesSep 27 – Oct 31Jun 23 – Jul 13
Ottawa OntarioSep 27 – Oct 16Jun 17 – Jul 7
Portland MaineSep 28 – Oct 29Jun 22 – Jul 12
Montreal QuebecSep 28 – Oct 23Jun 14 – Jul 4
Seattle WashingtonSep 29 – Nov 2Jul 6 – Jul 26
Burlington VermontSep 30 – Oct 29Jun 21 – Jul 11
London EnglandSep 30 – Nov 3Jun 27 – Jul 17
Madison WisconsinOct 2 – Oct 24Jun 11 – Jul 1
Minneapolis MinnesotaOct 2 – Nov 1Jun 2 – Jun 22
Toronto OntarioOct 2 – Oct 23Jun 15 – Jul 5
Milwaukee WisconsinOct 3 – Nov 6Jun 14 – Jul 4
Buffalo New YorkOct 5 – Nov 8Jun 17 – Jul 7
Denver ColoradoOct 5 – Oct 22Jun 7 – Jun 27
Boise IdahoOct 6 – Nov 4Jun 13 – Jul 3
Portland OregonOct 7 – Nov 10Jul 4 – Jul 24
Boston MassachusettsOct 8 – Nov 11Jun 8 – Jun 28
Detroit MichiganOct 8 – Nov 11Jun 4 – Jun 24
Chicago IllinoisOct 9 – Nov 12Jun 6 – Jun 26
Des Moines IowaOct 9 – Nov 3May 27 – Jun 16
Omaha NebraskaOct 10 – Nov 4May 24 – Jun 13
Salt Lake City UtahOct 10 – Nov 13Jun 2 – Jun 22
Cleveland OhioOct 11 – Nov 14May 31 – Jun 20
Pittsburgh PennsylvaniaOct 12 – Nov 11May 25 – Jun 14
Columbus OhioOct 13 – Nov 10May 23 – Jun 12
Indianapolis IndianaOct 15 – Nov 9May 21 – Jun 10
New York New YorkOct 17 – Nov 20May 29 – Jun 18
Cincinnati OhioOct 18 – Nov 8May 18 – Jun 7
Kansas City MissouriOct 18 – Nov 16May 14 – Jun 3
Philadelphia PennsylvaniaOct 20 – Nov 23May 20 – Jun 9
Albuquerque New MexicoOct 20 – Nov 17May 16 – Jun 5
St. Louis MissouriOct 21 – Nov 9May 10 – May 30
Baltimore MarylandOct 23 – Nov 26May 14 – Jun 3
Washington District of ColumbiaOct 23 – Nov 26May 16 – Jun 5
Louisville KentuckyOct 23 – Nov 17May 12 – Jun 1
Richmond VirginiaOct 27 – Nov 18May 9 – May 29
Nashville TennesseeOct 29 – Nov 17May 4 – May 24
Raleigh North CarolinaOct 30 – Nov 18May 6 – May 26
Tulsa OklahomaOct 30 – Nov 18May 3 – May 23
Charlotte North CarolinaOct 31 – Nov 17May 2 – May 22
Oklahoma City OklahomaOct 31 – Nov 16Apr 30 – May 20
Memphis TennesseeNov 2 – Nov 30Apr 28 – May 18
Atlanta GeorgiaNov 3 – Nov 22Apr 29 – May 19
Little Rock ArkansasNov 3 – Nov 24Apr 24 – May 14
Birmingham AlabamaNov 5 – Nov 25Apr 27 – May 17
Sacramento CaliforniaNov 9 – Dec 13May 11 – May 31
El Paso TexasNov 10 – Dec 4Apr 20 – May 10
Fresno CaliforniaNov 10 – Dec 14Apr 29 – May 19
Las Vegas NevadaNov 13 – Dec 17Apr 12 – May 2
Dallas TexasNov 16 – Dec 13Apr 13 – May 3
Hobart TasmaniaMar 30 – May 3Dec 18 – Jan 7
Canberra Australian Capital TerritoryApr 16 – May 17Dec 16 – Jan 5
Charleston South CarolinaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
New Orleans LouisianaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Jacksonville FloridaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Orlando FloridaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Tampa FloridaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Miami FloridaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Houston TexasGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Austin TexasGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
San Antonio TexasGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Phoenix ArizonaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Tucson ArizonaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Los Angeles CaliforniaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
San Diego CaliforniaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
San Francisco CaliforniaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
San Jose CaliforniaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Honolulu HawaiiGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Sydney New South WalesGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Melbourne VictoriaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Brisbane QueenslandGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Perth Western AustraliaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Adelaide South AustraliaGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.
Auckland New ZealandGarlic needs about six weeks below 10 °C to form bulbs; winters here are too mild for most varieties.

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