When to plant garlic

Garlic (overwintering allium) is classed fall planted in the cited extension guidance. The timing rules below are relative to your local freeze dates — enter a location to turn them into calendar dates.

The rules this site applies
MethodFrost-relative windowRule & reconciliation
Fall planting
(plant cloves)
1–2 weeks after the median first fall freezeMinnesota: plant cloves in the fall, usually one or two weeks AFTER the first killing frost (before the ground freezes). Harvest is the following summer.

No start seeds indoors window: Garlic is grown from cloves planted in fall, not from seed or spring transplants.

Variety assumption: Overwinters in the ground; bulbs are harvested the following summer.

Crop rule sources (1)
Reviewed city pages for garlic
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