When to Plant Garlic: Fall Timing by Zone, Region and City

Plant garlic in fall. Across most of the country, Zones 6 to 10 on the 2023 USDA map, set cloves out from about five weeks before your median first fall frost to a week after it. In the far north and Upper Midwest, Zones 3 to 5, wait for the first frost and plant within two weeks of it; North Dakota waits for the first hard freeze and plants one to two weeks later. Either way, roots grow for several weeks before the ground locks up, while most of the shoot stays underground until spring.

The bulb you dig next summer is built from the roots and leaves made between fall planting and late spring. A clove planted in fall also gets the winter chill garlic needs to form a full bulb. A spring clove gets neither, which is why spring planting is the fallback rather than the plan.

Garlic planting dates by city

Minneapolis and Chicago follow the Zones 3 to 5 rule, and Fargo follows North Dakota's hard-freeze timing. Every other city follows the Zones 6 to 10 rule, except that Houston's window runs to the end of December, the month Texas lists for Zone 9b.

Frost dates are medians from NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals for each city's main weather station; in half of years the first frost comes earlier than the date shown.

For any other town, look up the median frost dates for your nearest weather station. In Zones 6 to 10, count back five weeks from the median first frost (32°F, 0°C) and forward one week: a first frost of October 20 gives a window of September 15 to October 27. In Zones 3 to 5, plant from the median first frost to two weeks after it. In North Dakota, use the median first hard freeze (28°F, −2°C) instead and plant one to two weeks after it; in Fargo that freeze falls on October 10. If you are not sure which zone you garden in, look up your hardiness zone first.

The two rules meet different risks. Where fall turns cold fast, waiting until after the first frost keeps cloves from pushing shoots before winter. Farther south the ground stays open long after the first frost, so planting in the weeks around it still leaves the six to eight weeks of rooting time cloves want before the ground freezes, or the whole winter where it never does.

Garlic planting months by zone

Colder gardens within a zone plant toward the start of each range; gardens near the coast, where the first frost comes later, plant toward the end.

Months combine state extension planting calendars; your own frost date sets the exact window.

Why garlic goes in the ground in fall

Garlic needs a cold spell to form a proper bulb. After planting, cloves need about 6 to 8 weeks below 40°F (4°C), or roughly two months between 32 and 50°F (0 and 10°C), before the bulb will swell. Without that chill most varieties make weak shoots and poorly formed bulbs. Hardneck types depend on it most.

The second reason is leaf area. Bulbing starts when the days turn long and warm in late spring, and from that point the plant makes no new leaves. Every leaf present on that date feeds the bulb, so large tops at bulbing mean large bulbs at harvest. A fall clove has roots in place by winter and grows quickly as soon as the soil thaws. A spring clove starts months behind and reaches the bulbing date with far less foliage.

Fall timing in cold climates balances two risks. Planted too soon, cloves push leaves well above the soil before hard cold. Planted too late, they have too few roots when the ground freezes.

In the South, cold is rarely the limit; time is. Cloves planted late make too little leaf growth before spring bulbing begins, so Southern gardeners plant earlier in the season relative to their frost date.

Garlic planting times by region

Every region plants in fall; what changes is the month.

Windows are the state recommendations for home gardens; your own frost date fine-tunes them.

Cold-winter gardens

Across the northern states, hardneck garlic is the safer choice because it survives long, hard winters better than softneck. Most of the North plants in October. Gardens near the coast, where the first frost comes later, plant into November.

The South and Gulf Coast

Fall planting is the only way to get full-size bulbs in the Southeast. Texas plants four to six weeks before the first freeze and does not recommend spring planting at all. Choose Artichoke softnecks or Creole types; Rocambole hardnecks do poorly in warm climates. Tennessee sits on the transition, and gardeners there can grow hardnecks, softnecks or both.

The Pacific Northwest

Plant from September through November, about 2 inches (5 cm) deep. Unlike the South, the region grows hardnecks well: 'Music', 'Chesnok Red', 'German Red' and 'Spanish Roja' are standard choices there, alongside softnecks such as 'Inchelium Red' and 'California Early'.

Mild-winter and frost-free gardens

In Florida and other Zone 10 and 11 gardens, plant from late fall into early winter and grow Artichoke softnecks or Creole types. Where winters do not stay reliably below 40 to 50°F (4 to 10°C), hardnecks will not get enough natural chill.

Hardneck or softneck: the type that suits your winter

Pick the type to match your winter: it decides how much cold the cloves need, how hardy they are and how long the harvest keeps.

Clove counts and storage life vary by variety within each group.

Hardnecks for cold winters

• 'Music' (porcelain): large bulbs with a strong flavor, and a reliable performer in northern New England.
• 'German Extra Hardy' (porcelain): four to seven big, spicy white cloves, also proven in northern New England.
• 'Chesnok Red' (purple stripe): 8 to 12 cloves that keep their shape and flavor when cooked.
• 'Spanish Roja', 'German Red' and 'Russian Red' (rocambole): proven cold-climate choices. The first two are grown in North Dakota and the third did well in northern New England. 'Spanish Roja' keeps four to six months and 'Russian Red' about six; both have easy-peel cloves.

Softnecks and Creoles for mild winters and spring planting

• 'Inchelium Red' (Artichoke): vigorous and mild, with 10 to 20 cloves and bulbs that can top 3 inches (7.5 cm) across.
• 'California Early' and 'California White': recommended for Texas. Grown in cold climates, California types adapt poorly and turn very hot in flavor.
• 'Italian Late' (Artichoke) and 'Silver Rose' (silverskin): long keepers, at six to nine months and up to eight months, and both tolerate spring planting.
• Creole types such as 'Burgundy' and 'Ajo Rojo': easy to grow in the South, tolerant of rough weather, 8 to 12 cloves, and seven to eight months in storage. Creoles are classed with the softnecks by some growers and with the hardnecks by others.

Artichoke softnecks are the most adaptable group and need the least winter cold. They are also the first to mature, followed by hardnecks and then silverskins, so planting a mix spreads the harvest out.

Elephant garlic is a leek grown like garlic, with a few very large, mild cloves. It does well in the South. Plant it on the same schedule, 2 to 2.5 inches (5 to 6 cm) deep and about 6 inches (15 cm) apart.

How to tell the bed is ready

Garlic is timed by frost, not by a soil-temperature reading. The only hard limit is frozen ground, and cloves can go in any time the soil can still be dug.

What matters more is drainage. Choose a spot in full sun with loose soil rich in organic matter and a pH of about 6.0 to 7.0, with 6.2 to 6.5 ideal. Poorly drained soil rots bulbs, so on heavy clay or wet ground, plant in a raised bed. Keep cloves at least 6 inches (15 cm) in from the frame, because soil along the edges freezes harder, or run a single row down the middle of a narrow bed.

Garlic is a heavy feeder and competes poorly with weeds, so the bed needs both fertility and a clean start.

How to plant garlic

1. Buy seed garlic. Order from a seed company, garden center or local farm rather than the supermarket.
2. Prepare the bed. Clear the weeds, loosen the soil, and mix in compost and fertilizer so the cloves root into rich ground.
3. Split the bulbs on planting day. Separate the cloves only when you are ready to plant, leave the papery skin on, and plant the largest outer cloves. Big cloves grow big bulbs, so keep the small ones for the kitchen.
4. Plant pointed end up. Set each clove with its flat root end down, at the depth for your climate in the table below, 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) apart; 3 to 5 inches (7.5 to 13 cm) is common in the Southeast. Rows can sit anywhere from 6 to 24 inches (15 to 60 cm) apart; closer spacing shrinks bulbs unless water and fertilizer are generous.
5. Water in. If the soil is dry, water after planting so the cloves begin to root.
6. Mulch in cold climates. Spread 3 to 6 inches (7.5 to 15 cm) of clean straw or shredded leaves over the bed to even out soil temperature. Some growers mulch right after planting; others wait until the ground starts to freeze, because mulch laid early can encourage sprouting. On the Northern Plains, where snow cover is thin, 4 inches (10 cm) of straw is the norm.

Plant toward the deeper figure in colder gardens; shallow cloves are more easily hurt in winter and early spring.

The plant spacing calculator works out how many cloves a bed holds, and the mulch calculator how much straw covers it.

If you plant too early, too late or in spring

Garlic is hardy, so most timing mistakes show up as smaller bulbs rather than lost plants.

Too early

Cloves planted well before the first frost, or into a warm spell of 50 to 60°F (10 to 16°C), often send up a few inches of green before winter. This does little harm: the shoots tolerate cold unless the winter turns extreme, and you can leave them alone. Mulch helps protect them. Next year, plant later in your window.

Too late

Late cloves go into winter with few roots, and in the South they reach spring bulbing with too few leaves. In cold areas, plant anyway as long as the ground is still workable, then mulch at once rather than waiting. In the South, move planting earlier the following fall.

Spring planting as a fallback

If fall slipped by, plant as soon as the soil can be worked in spring and accept smaller bulbs. Texas does not recommend spring planting at all.

Winter care, spring growth and harvest

Pull the winter mulch back in spring once the danger of hard freezes has passed; until then it shields early shoots from cold snaps. You can lay it back down between the rows once shoots are about 6 inches (15 cm) tall to hold down weeds. Avoid heavy mulch that keeps the soil cold and wet in spring.

When shoots reach 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm), side-dress with nitrogen. Keep the bed weeded and evenly moist while bulbs swell.

Cut hardneck scapes

Snap or cut the scapes once they start to curl. Left on, scapes can cut bulb size by as much as 30 percent. The loss is far smaller, under 5 percent, in well-fertilized soil, so removing them pays most in lean beds. The scapes are good to eat.

Read the leaves for harvest

Dig when about half the leaves have turned brown; a garlic plant has about six. Dig too early and the bulbs are small and keep poorly; too late and the bulbs split and the cloves pull out of their wrappers.

Harvest comes earlier the farther south you garden:

• Mid-May to mid-June in Tennessee, late May to mid-July in Georgia, and early summer in South Carolina
• June to early July in New Mexico, and June or July in New Jersey
• Around July 1 in central Maryland
• Mid-July in Pennsylvania and Oregon
• Mid to late August in North Dakota

From fall planting, that is about 140 to 150 days in Texas, 180 to 220 days in Tennessee and 250 to 270 days in Maryland.

Cure and store

Cure whole plants for two to three weeks in a warm, shady spot with good airflow, until the necks are dry and the skins papery. Store the cured bulbs somewhere dry and airy: room temperature works, 45 to 55°F (7 to 13°C) at 50 to 60 percent humidity is better, and long-term storage near 32°F (0°C) also works. The household refrigerator is the poor middle ground, cool and damp enough to set cloves sprouting. Never keep garlic in oil at room temperature, because it can carry botulism spores; refrigerate garlic-in-oil and use it within a week.

To line garlic up with the rest of the year's crops, see when to plant vegetables and when to plant onions, and add your planting window to Sow's garden calendar.