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Planting garlic in these spots likely will result in rot, poor growth, and other issues.
Key Takeaways
- Do not plant garlic in insufficient sun, poorly draining soil, or next to legume crops.
- Avoid growing garlic in containers less than 6 to 8 inches deep.
- Skip areas with very alkaline soils and where garlic was grown the previous two seasons.
Garlic plants are long-season crops that are typically planted in the fall and harvested the following summer. Though garlic is easy to grow, it will struggle if planted in certain conditions. To ensure your cloves flourish, it pays to be choosy about the planting location. Here are 6 of the worst spots for growing garlic, plus tips on how to choose the perfect location for your next crop of healthy, plump garlic heads.
1. Too Much Shade
Like other veggies, garlic is a full-sun plant that needs at least 6 to 8 hours of direct light per day to thrive. In lower light conditions, garlic will grow more slowly and develop fewer and smaller cloves in each garlic bulb. Even worse, locating garlic in shady areas causes plant stress and makes your garlic more vulnerable to pests and diseases.
2. Poorly Draining Areas
Garlic grows best in rich, well-draining soil, whereas soil that remains waterlogged and soggy too long may cause cloves to rot before they sprout. If you’re dealing with poorly draining soil, amend it with compost before planting to improve drainage and add nutrients. Another option is to grow garlic in raised beds, which allow moisture to flow away more readily than in-ground gardens. If you are growing garlic in containers, make sure they have adequate drainage holes in the base so your cloves don’t get waterlogged.
3. Near Legumes
While garlic and other alliums grow well with most crops, they make poor companions for beans and peas. Unfortunately, the sulfur compounds in garlic may interfere with nitrogen fixation in legumes and cause these plants to grow more slowly and become stunted. Garlic does make a perfect companion plant for pest-prone plants like cabbage and other brassicas, as well as for peppers, chamomile, and spinach.
4. Small Containers
Compared to many veggies, garlic plants are relatively small and can potentially be grown in pots or other containers. Pots should be roomy, at least 6 to 8 inches deep, and wide enough to space cloves at least 4 to 6 inches apart. Grow bags work for garlic as well. In smaller pots, the growth of the bulbs will be restricted, yielding a poor harvest.
5. Highly Alkaline Soil
Although garlic tolerates slightly alkaline conditions, it grows best in soils that have an acidic to neutral pH of around 6.0 to 7.0. If your soil is too alkaline, adding sulfur or another soil-acidifying product helps to bring the soil pH down and make it more suitable for garlic growing. However, it takes time to lower soil pH and repeated applications to keep it down. If your garden soil is naturally highly alkaline, you might be better off planting garlic in containers with potting soil in the proper pH range.
Tips
Make sure that you don’t grow garlic in areas that have been recently fertilized with a high-nitrogen fertilizer, such as lawns. Too much nitrogen causes garlic to grow lots of leaves and smaller bulbs.
6. Spots Where Garlic Was Planted Before
Rotating crops into different areas in your garden each growing season is key to keeping pests and diseases from building up in your soil and affecting your plants year after year. Crop rotation is also important to avoid depleting the soil of nutrients by growing the same crops in the same spot over and over again.
Do not plant garlic where you grew garlic or any other members of the allium family, such as onions or shallots, during the previous two years. If you grew garlic in a particular part of your garden in year one, you’ll want to wait at least three years before planting it in that same spot again. The longer you wait, the better.
More Tips for Growing Garlic
In addition to carefully choosing where to plant your garlic, use these tips to ensure a successful crop:
- Buy healthy stock. Garlic from the grocery store is not suitable for growing. It potentially contains pests and diseases that may affect your garden long-term and make it hard to grow garlic and other plants in the future. That’s why it’s best to only grow garlic from bulbs purchased from reliable seed supply companies or other sellers that keep disease-free seed garlic in stock.
- Fertilize when planting. Add a bit of bone meal or another slow-release, organic fertilizer into each planting hole you dig to give your garlic cloves a little boost.
- Cover with mulch. Cover the rows with a 3- to 4-inch layer of natural mulch after planting to insulate the cloves from cold and protect them during freeze-and-thaw cycles during winter and early spring.
Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens
