Garlic Bulbs

Garlic bulb FAQs

Garlic bulbs are easy to grow for any gardener and very rewarding. Pop your garlic sets into a prepared bed in autumn or spring and step back until harvest time, it’s that easy! They take up hardly any space in the veg patch. The two main types of garlic are softneck, which typically have the most cloves per bulb at harvest time but aren’t very cold tolerant, and hardneck types, which have less cloves per bulb but are much better at dealing with cold temperatures. Try growing a mix to see what works well in your space.

From the medium flavoured garlic ‘Germidour’ to the intensely flavoured garlic ‘Rose Wight’ and the easy-to-peel garlic ‘Eden Rose’ you can rest assured that quality is guaranteed with Dobies.

How to grow garlic from a bulb

Split up your garlic bulb into individual ‘sets’. Each of these ‘sets’ will have produced its own whole new garlic bulb by time they’re ready to harvest. Choose a spot that receives plenty of sun to grow your garlic. They do best in rich, fertile soil that has plenty of drainage.

Plant each set ten centimetres deep and roughly twenty centimetres apart. Water your garlic really well, and keep watering every week during spring and summer. Hand weed around your bulbs and cut out any flower spikes, known as ‘scapes’, as they appear from your hardneck varieties to keep your plants focused on producing big juicy bulbs. Have a go at cooking up and eating your scapes, they are a tasty ingredient in their own right!

How long does a garlic bulb take to grow?

Garlic takes roughly between nine and ten months to grow from a set into a bulb, depending on weather and when you plant your garlic. Garlic should be ready to harvest in July and August. Look for the tale-tell yellowing of the leaves and stems that indicates the bulbs are nearly ready.

Can you grow garlic bulbs indoors?

Garlic has a long growth period and needs a long, cold spell to form a new bulb. It’s best to plant your garlic sets outdoors in autumn or early winter to make sure they get the cold period unless they’re special spring planting varieties. Growing your garlic indoors can be a good way to grow ‘garlic greens’ which can be enjoyed like chives, but won’t result in good quality garlic bulbs.

If you’re short on space, try and grow your garlic in a container. You’ll need to supplement your container grown garlic with fertiliser as it grows and make sure you keep the soil moist to get a good result