When to Plant Garlic by Zone: Fall Dates for Zones 3–10

The rule, from two extension services

University of Minnesota Extension: Plant cloves in the fall, usually one or two weeks after the first killing frost. Roots and shoots form in the clove before the first hard freeze, but the shoots usually stay below ground until spring.

Penn State Extension sets the other edge: plant early enough in the fall so that a good root system can develop before the ground freezes, but late enough to prevent shoot emergence above the soil line. Plant too early and leaves come up in autumn; plant too late and the clove sits unrooted through winter.

So the window opens around your first frost and closes when your ground freezes. Both move with your zone — and inside it, as the next section shows.

Your zone is not your date

The table gives a zone's middle, and zones are wide. In zone 5 the middle half of stations runs from September 29 to October 11; in zone 9 it runs from November 21 to December 13. A hardiness zone measures the coldest night of winter, not when fall frost arrives — why that matters.

For your own date, enter your ZIP code in What can I still plant?. It names the NOAA station nearest you, its first fall freeze, and how far away it is. To check your zone, use the ZIP code zone finder.

How to plant garlic, step by step

1. Buy seed garlic. Minnesota advises cloves from garlic seed producers, not the grocery store. Choose the largest, healthiest bulbs: UC Master Gardeners in Butte County say small cloves give small bulbs.
2. Prepare the bed. Well-drained soil, full sun. Minnesota gives a pH of 6.0 to 7.0; Penn State warns that poorly drained soil invites bulb rots. Oregon State suggests raised beds in heavy soil. Get a soil test before adding fertilizer.
3. Split the bulbs just before planting. Minnesota says separate cloves a day or two before; Butte County says plant soon after breaking the bulb, peels left on.
4. Plant pointed end up. About 2 inches deep (Oregon State, Butte County), or with the base 2 to 3 inches down (Minnesota). Space cloves 4 to 6 inches apart.
5. Mulch. 3 to 4 inches of leaves or straw (Minnesota), 2 to 4 inches of straw (Penn State). It evens out winter soil temperatures, holds moisture and stops frost heaving.
6. In spring, pull the mulch back once hard freezes are over so the soil warms, or leave it for weeds. Minnesota says avoid nitrogen after the first week of May, or bulbing may be delayed.
7. Harvest the next summer. Minnesota gives late June to late July; Oregon State says start checking in late June by pulling one plant and cutting it across. Stop watering two weeks before harvest (Minnesota). In Florida, UF/IFAS says harvest when about half the leaves have dried and bent toward the ground.

Hardneck or softneck?

Hardneck garlic sends up a flower stalk, the scape, which curls in early summer. Cut it and eat it: Oregon State says removing it in May or early June increases bulb size. Minnesota names Rocambole, Purple Stripe and Porcelain as common hardneck types.

Softneck garlic rarely makes a stalk and, says Oregon State, tends to form larger bulbs. UC Master Gardeners in Butte County note that softnecks are what most grocery stores sell and that they store very well. Minnesota warns that grocery softnecks do poorly in its climate. In Florida, UF/IFAS names softnecks such as Artichoke or Creole as the varieties that suit its gardens.

Where the frost rule needs adjusting

The Pacific Northwest

Oregon State Extension gives September through November as the best time to plant garlic in Oregon: a calendar window rather than a frost rule.

The South and the Gulf Coast

The median station's first freeze is November 9 in zone 8 and December 1 in zone 9, and later still in zone 10, so an "after the first frost" rule would push planting toward winter.

Florida (USDA zones 8b–11b): UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions says garlic can be planted from late fall through early winter. It recommends softneck varieties such as Artichoke or Creole, which suit Florida gardens, and says to harvest when about half the leaves have dried and bent toward the ground.

For the rest of the South — Texas, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast outside Florida — we found no extension source on garlic timing that we could use, so we do not give one. Ask your county extension office.

California and the desert Southwest

UC Master Gardeners in Butte County say fall is the best time for a summer harvest and recommend softneck varieties. In the Phoenix and Tucson areas, the Phoenix fall planting page and the Tucson planting calendar carry the University of Arizona's own garlic windows.

Where it never freezes

In zone 10, 45 of the 234 NOAA stations the ZIP codes cite record no freeze at any probability. There the frost rule has nothing to count from.

Common mistakes

• Planting grocery garlic in a cold climate. Most of it is softneck, which Minnesota says does poorly there.
• Planting by the calendar instead of your frost. The table above shows zones are weeks apart, and stations inside a zone are too.
• Planting too early. Penn State says plant late enough that shoots stay below the soil. A few inches of autumn growth usually survives, but mulch helps.
• Planting too late. A clove that has not rooted before the ground freezes has nothing to start from in spring.
• Planting small cloves. They make small bulbs (Butte County).
• Skipping the mulch in cold zones. Freeze-thaw cycles heave cloves out of the ground.
• Late nitrogen and late watering. Minnesota: no nitrogen after early May, and stop watering two weeks before harvest.

Related

• What can I still plant? — your own station's first fall freeze, by ZIP code
• USDA hardiness zone by ZIP code
• Your state's zones and frost dates
• Planting by the Moon: What the Evidence Says
• How to Protect Plants from Frost: Covers, Timing, Temps
• When to Plant Fall Bulbs by Zone: Tulips, Daffodils, More