garlic

Also known as: churl's treacle; clown's treacle; common garlic; poor man's treacle

A perennial vegetable grown as an annual, garlic produces an aromatic, strongly flavoured, edible bulb. Each bulb consists of a number of individual cloves (bulblets) are widely used in cooking. Garlic can be either softneck which produce bulbs with small tightly packed cloves, seldom flower and store well or hardneck which have strongly flavoured cloves, often produce flower stalks, but only store until mid-winter

Scientific classification

Species: garlic (Allium sativum)
Genus: Allium
Family: Amaryllidaceae

Skin irritant/allergen. Wear gloves and other protective equipment when handling
Toxicity: Bulbs · Herbs - Culinary
Plant type: 0.1-0.5 metres
Height: 0.1-0.5 metres
Spread: Deciduous
Foliage: Clump forming
Habit: Spring · Summer
Season of interest: Full sun
Sunlight: 10 – 20 °C
Ideal temperature

garlic pictures

Distribution of garlic

Distribution map

Plant distribution

Native
Introduced
Cultivated

Source：WCVP v16 · Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew · CC BY 3.0 · Boundaries：WGSRPD / TDWG

Culture

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Toxicity

Skin irritant/allergen. Wear gloves and other protective equipment when handling

Quick identification of garlic

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garlic care guide

Moist soil during active growth, then reduce watering after foliage yellows
Watering: Full sun
Sunlight: 10 – 20 °C
Ideal temperature

Watering

Moist soil during active growth, then reduce watering after foliage yellows

Fertilizing

Light bulb fertilizer at emergence and again after flowering

Pruning

No pruning required

Propagation

Propagate by dividing the bulb into cloves

Growing

Grows best in a sunny, sheltered spot with fertile, well-drained soil. If you have heavy soil try growing your garlic in a raised bed or container. To produce good quality bulbs garlic needs a period of cold, so it’s best planted in late autumn or early winter. Divide each bulb into individual cloves and space the cloves 15cm apart, with the tip 2.5cm below the soil surface. Space rows 30cm apart. Harvest from early summer once the leaves have turned yellow. See our grow your own advice page about garlic cultivation for further advice

More growing and care information →