What month to plant garlic in zone 7

[crazzzymike13]

I've been googling and can't get a straight answer! I live in north
Tx in zone 7. What month do I plant garlic? Am I too late?

 

[Ridgerunner]

You can still do it but I'd suggest doing it as soon as you can work the ground. You will get garlic.

I plant mine in October. They sprout and just sort of set there all winter, then take off in the spring. The leaves can get frostbitten but that's no big deal. What happens is that they develop the roots so they are better ready to go when the weather warms up.

 

[majorcatfish]

crazzymike can not speak for n.texas z7 ,but would have agree with ridgerunner your too late to plant now, and plant as soon as you can work the soil or last hard frost.

we live in z7 in n.c. and planted late October and another planting in a different plot at Christmas..<tiller had to go see the doctor that's why so late >... here's the differences in the 2 plantings, both have been though 5" of rain
4.5" snow, 1/8" of ice and 19 degree weather with winds 50 mph...

October planting....... nice and established

December planting.....pretty sorry looking.

too much rain followed by very cold weather,the garlic was heaved out before they had a good root system. would have to say will lose about half in that plot but going try to save.
couple big bags of potting soil and peat moss should do the trick..<I hope>

good luck on your garlic keep us posted on how it does....mc

 

[MontyJ]

You can still do it but I'd suggest doing it as soon as you can work the ground. You will get garlic.

I plant mine in October. They sprout and just sort of set there all winter, then take off in the spring. The leaves can get frostbitten but that's no big deal. What happens is that they develop the roots so they are better ready to go when the weather warms up.

+1 ^ You have a long growing season, just get it in as soon as the ground can be worked. Mulch it well to help prevent heaving if it freezes late.

 

[HunkieDorie23]

It is best to plant garlic between Oct - Dec but you can plant it as late as March. If you can plant it now, I would put it into the ground. You can plant it as late as March put it will be smaller that garlic planted in Oct. Small garlic is better than store garlic.

I didn't realize that Texas had zone 7. I thought that was a state that couldn't grow garlic because of the warm weather.

 

[so lucky]

Hope I'm not hijacking this thread--this is still garlic-growing related, so maybe ok. I planted grocery store garlic in April. It never seemed to take off, and I figured it rotted, but in the late summer it came up and flourished. I dug one and it hardly had any bulb at all, so decided to leave them in the ground and see what happens. Then my chickens ate it off--not to the ground, but down to about an inch stub. So do you think it will come out in the spring and develop for fall harvest? What is there is still green.

 

[MontyJ]

A lot of store bought garlic has been treated to prevent it from sprouting and growing. (That info is from a professional garlic grower, so I can't vouch for the validity, however he knows more about garlic than anyone I have ever met.) Perhaps that's why it didn't do well?

 

[so lucky]

Hmmm. Didn't think of that.

 

[crazzzymike13]

Thanks for the replies! Very helpful advice. I think it's good for me to wait and plan. Around spring I usually start gardening on impulse and I usually make a big mess and have more plants than I need. So this year I've been planning early and getting everything ready before I start seeds. So this time around I can figure out where the best spot will be for garlic

 

[HunkieDorie23]

Thanks for the replies! Very helpful advice. I think it's good for me to wait and plan. Around spring I usually start gardening on impulse and I usually make a big mess and have more plants than I need. So this year I've been planning early and getting everything ready before I start seeds. So this time around I can figure out where the best spot will be for garlic

I am with you, I have to really think about stuff before I take the plunge. I have a book the talks about a perennials garlic bed. He only digs up the garlic when he needs it and uses the larges bulds and plants the bulbils and cloves. I put mine into a 8'x4' beds this year and am considering it. I planted a lot of bulbils last year the then replanted them into the bed this year. I am hoping that I can just go to the perennial bed so that I will havest the biggest bulbs from the beds and them just replant as needed and leave the smaller bulbs for another year to get larger. Good luck with your plan.