5 Soil Preparation Secrets for Bigger Garlic Bulbs
Growing garlic is a straightforward and rewarding project in the garden. This cool-weather crop is easy to grow and stores for a long time. Gardening expert Melissa Strauss has some tips to share for preparing your soil for growing garlic.
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Growing garlic is not challenging as long as you time it properly and prepare correctly. With the right care, you can grow a bumper crop of bulbs by midsummer.
Garlic is a fantastic fall-planted crop that is incredibly useful in the kitchen as well as the garden. It makes an excellent companion plant, warding off insects and protecting its neighbors from pests. Its culinary uses are many and well-documented across numerous cultures.
In terms of timing, fall planting is best for garlic. The exact timing depends on your climate. The key is to get your seed garlic in the ground about four to six weeks before the first hard freeze. This gives them time to establish roots before they go dormant for the winter.
Garlic prefers consistent, but not excessive, moisture. In the fall, it’s less of an issue. Water them in well after planting, then you shouldn’t have to water much until spring. During the growing season, water deeply and infrequently until about two weeks before harvesting time.
Finally, soil is an important factor in growing garlic successfully. Things like texture, drainage, and fertility are all things to consider before planting. Here’s a guide to soil preparation for garlic planting.
Clear and Loosen
The part of garlic plants that we eat is the roots, or bulbs. This means that the part of the plant under the earth is the most important. That means that the most important care factor is the soil.
If you want your bulbs to grow quickly and large, you need loose earth. Well-aerated soil allows bulbs to swell evenly. Compacted soil will leave you with bulbs that look pinched or stunted. The roots that grow in the fall need to be able to move freely through the dirt.
The first important part of soil preparation for garlic is to clear the space and loosen the earth. Removing weeds and debris is important for a couple of reasons. For one thing, weeds compete with your crops for nutrients and water. Garlic requires plenty of nutrients, and weeds can deplete them. Debris can carry harmful pathogens and harbor pests that can destroy your bulbs.
Loosening the earth helps to break apart any compacted parts that are difficult for roots to break through. Loosen it down about eight to ten inches to give the roots plenty of space to go deep and anchor your bulbs securely.
Soil Test
Testing your soil before planting is a smart step in soil preparation for garlic to ensure a healthy, productive crop. Garlic thrives in a fertile, well-drained, loamy environment with a slightly acidic to neutral pH. It’s difficult to know about the nutrient composition and acidity of your soil without testing it.
A test will give you valuable information about what you have, so that you can figure out what you need. It measures things like pH, organic matter, macronutrients, and micronutrients.
Macronutrients are the three main elements that make up most fertilizers. They are nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Micronutrients are all the other essential elements, like iron, copper, and manganese. Knowing what your crop needs is important so that you can read your test and adjust accordingly.
The most important nutrients for growing garlic are:
- Nitrogen, which stimulates green growth. The green tops are necessary for the energy created by photosynthesis.
- Phosphorus is important for root and bulb development.
- Potassium is vital for overall health and disease resistance.
Aside from these important macronutrients, garlic also needs calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. These are responsible for photosynthesis, cell wall strength, flavor, stress protection, and pest resistance.
Testing ahead of time will tell you what nutrients your soil needs before you get started planting. This is a major help in successful soil preparation for garlic.
Add Organic Matter
This is the most important step in soil preparation for garlic planting. Garlic is a heavy feeder, and it stays in the ground for a long time. It needs a bounty of nutrients to draw energy for plump and flavorful bulbs.
Adding organic matter to your soil is a great way to increase drainage and soil structure. It improves the texture, making it more receptive to root growth. It also increases microbial life and slowly releases nutrients throughout the growing season.
If you’ve done a soil test, you should have an idea of how much organic matter is in your soil. If you have rich, fertile dirt, you don’t need to go overboard. However, you won’t hurt anything by adding more organic matter.
The best materials to add that organic matter are compost, manure, and leaf mold. Aged manure adds long-lasting nutrients to the earth, while compost improves the structure and boosts fertility. Leaf mold is excellent for increasing the soil’s moisture retention.
Before planting, spread several inches of organic matter on top of the ground. Use a shovel to work it into the top six to eight inches, which you’ve already loosened. In spring, you can top dress with more compost if you want to boost your garlic’s start.
Balance Nutrients
If your soil test indicates an imbalance of nutrients, now is the time to focus on this soil preparation step for garlic. You will do some good by adding in that organic matter. However, those materials break down slowly, so they aren’t a quick fix. Those materials also lower the pH, making it more acidic.
In the fall, your garlic mainly needs phosphorus and potassium, which aid in cell production and root development. We want those roots to grow quickly and establish before winter dormancy.
To increase the phosphorus, you can add bone meal or rock phosphate. Bone meal can attract animals, so keep this in mind when you use it. To boost the potassium, you can add kelp meal or wood ash. Wood ash will lower the pH, so only use this if your soil is on the alkaline side.
Adding compost will boost the calcium, magnesium, and sulfur, but again, it breaks down slowly. If your soil is deficient in one or more of these, amending is best. Sulfur, in particular, plays a starring role in enhancing the strong flavor of your garlic.
Get the Texture Right
Finally, pay attention to the texture of your soil. We talked about how important it is to have proper drainage, and moisture retention is important, too. Your bulbs need crumbly, loose earth to develop strong roots. They also need excellent drainage, and the soil should hold some moisture.
This step in soil preparation for garlic may already be complete by all the other steps you’ve taken. You’ve improved the fertility, nutrient composition, and pH. If you still have dirt that is overly heavy and dense or sandy, further amending is a great idea.
If you have heavy clay, the compost or other nutrient boosters you’ve used might not loosen it up enough. You can mix in other materials like coarse agricultural sand, grit, or perlite to loosen things up and improve the drainage. Wet, compacted soil that doesn’t drain can lead to bulb rot.
If you have poor, sandy soil, adding even more organic material may be in order. If you’ve added compost, leaf mold, or manure, and if it’s still sandy, you can simply add more. It should be crumbly, but it needs to remain moist after it drains.
