1.  Select Ideal Garlic Plot Location.  
Begin by selecting a "Garlic Plot" that receives full sun, during the day, (throughout the spring and summer). Garlic thrives in full sun. Choose a location that receives (at least) 6-8 hours of sunlight per day during the spring and summer. Garlic planted in an area that is shaded, may fail to sprout anything above ground or they may produce very small bulbs as compared to garlic that receive full sun. Because the garlic plant's leaves are a fundamental unit for carbon uptake and water use, and they automatically interface carbon, water, and energy balances governing physical, biochemical, and physiological processes involved in leaf gas exchange. The garlic leaf is the focus of photosynthesis, which in turn makes possible Big Bulb Size. 

2. Soil Conditions Are Critical.   
Soil is an important factor when trying to grow large, good-tasting bulbs of garlic. To produce large garlic bulbs,  it is important that your soil is light an fluffy, has good drainage, has a pH around 7.0 and is filled with optimum nutrients and organic matter. Garlic prefers loose, "fluffy" soil with high organic matter content and good drainage. Clay or heavy wet soils can cause cloves to rot or develop poorly.  If your soil is not suitable for garlic, consider growing it in a raised bed.  Raised beds allow you to control the soil type and facilitate better drainage. The individual cloves are planted to the depth of about 2 ½ times their size in well-drained soil of good tilth. The growing tip (the sharp pointed end) is planted pointing upward. Cloves planted upside down will develop a curved shoot that results in misshapen bulbs. If your soil is sandy, or thin, add healthy additions of compost, plus aged manure. If you have too much clay you may experience a devastating moisture problem. Garlic does not grow well in standing water and tends to rot if it sits in moist soil for too long. Clay soils may result in a dirty garlic bulbs as clay tends to cling to the paper-like outer skins of garlic bulbs and can be difficult and time-consuming to remove. Clay soils can also hinder harvesting garlic, as dry clay ground may become hardened and difficult to dig.

3. Plant the largest cloves.  
The largest garlic heads typically are grown from the largest cloves. Large cloves have more energy stored within, and, as a result can produce a larger garlic plant and bulb. Before planting, we separate cloves from bulbs, and select the largest cloves for planting (and sometimes use medium-size cloves as well). If you only have access to small cloves, you can plant them, though, keep in mind it may take two - three years of successive plantings to achieve a large bulb size.   The larger the clove, the larger the garlic bulbs it produces. Plant the cloves two inches into the soil, pointy-side up. Each garlic plant needs room to grow;  Room for the roots to explore and gather nutrients and water. Spacing them at 6 to 8 inches apart when planting is a good rule. Plant garlic in the Fall (September and October are the best months to plant). 

4. Provide adequate water, but not too much!  

Unlike many other garden vegetable plants, Garlic requires relatively small amounts of water. Typically, no watering is necessary if your garlic is covered with mulch and your region receives adequate spring rainfall. If your region experiences little rainfall in the spring, water your garlic crop every few weeks.  

5. Remove Weeds.    
Garlic has a very shallow root system. Like onions, it does not compete with weeds very well. Weed your garden regularly!  Weed control is essential for proper development of garlic plants. Weeds compete with this crop for space, water and nutrients. Mulching with straw can help reduce the amount of weeds.  Weeding can also help loosen the soil. 

6.  Mulch.   
Some garlic growers do not mulch their garlic patch and have grown fantastic garlic year after year. In a damp climate, mulch might create an environment for disease if it contacts the stem and is kept too damp. First, mulch is a viable weed-control option, as mulch inhibits weed growth by depriving weed seeds of the light needed to germinate. Second,  proper mulching Insulates the soil, provides a buffer from heat and cold and helps the soil retain water to help the roots stay moist. Third, mulch contains important minerals and nutrients, and when it decomposes, it helps make the soil more "fluffy", and prevents soil compaction.

7. Remove scapes.  
Scapes are the flower stalks that the garlic plant produces in the spring and early summer. By removing the scape, the plant sends it's energy in to increasing the bulb size, rather than in putting energy toward flowers and seed. If our goal is to grow large garlic bulbs, remove the scape.  

8. Harvest at the right time. 
If our goal is to harvest large healthy bulbs, timing is important. If you keep the garlic bulbs (heads) in the ground too long, the cloves will begin to separate from the clove; this is not good. If we harvest too early, the bulbs may not reach their full potential. Once garlic has matured, it will not grow any more. When the bottom three leaves of the garlic plant turn brown and begin to droop downward, dig one bulb from the soil. Inspect it. How does the head look? Are the cloves covered in a nice array of paper? Most importantly, don’t wait too long, or the papery covering will start to break down. Each of the remaining green leaves corresponds with a paper covering on the bulb, with more layers of papers corresponding with longer storage life. If you wait too long in which leaves have deteriorated, fewer papers will be left to protect the cloves.  

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