It is commonly said that garlic takes 8 to 10 months to grow completely, but do you know how much natively time garlic takes to succeed? And how long does garlic take to grow based on different factors?
Garlic is a perennial plant genetically and natively. When we harvest garlic, it reacts as an annual plant that completes its lifecycle in only one year. But it is not truly annual; our harvesting process shows it as an annual bulb plant.
How Long Does Garlic Take to Grow If It is Perennial?
Perennial plants grow year-round, but environmental factors highly affect their growth and force them to behave as annuals or biennials. Similarly, garlic is a must-have food for cooking and other uses, so we usually grow it to harvest.
If we do not harvest and leave garlic year-round in the ground, it will not fully mature into harvestable bulbs. Instead, the new young bulb (which you do not harvest and leave in the ground) starts to regrow inside the following year, but it will be weak and small.
Additionally, the bulb may crack, dry out, and not be able to store energy for a long time. That makes the garlic a perennial. But harvesting garlic is crucial for healthy bulbs in our daily uses.
Now, let’s discover how long harvestable garlic takes to grow so that you can also determine the exact planting duration of garlic to use in cooking or anywhere.
How Long Does Garlic Take to Grow?
Garlic is mostly grown for harvest and used for various purposes, so when planting garlic, you might be confused about how long garlic takes to grow.
Based on the six growth stages of garlic and the general planting duration, garlic takes 8 to 10 months to grow, but this time may be up and down due to several factors. The following factors decide the exact and most trustable planting duration for garlic.
Factors That Affect Garlic Growth Time
These factors are connected, so you must identify all factors in your situation to calculate the most reliable growth time for garlic.
Garlic Variety: Soft-neck Vs. Hard-neck
Garlic variety decides two things: the suitable place where it grows and the growth time. If the planted area or region and its season patterns are according to Variety preference, its growth may be complete early.
For example, soft-neck garlic grows well in mild to warmer places, therefore, it is planted in early to late spring. However, soft-neck usually matures earlier than hard-neck garlic because it does not have to make scape like hard-neck garlic.
Hard-neck garlic varieties prefer cooler conditions for vernalization and bulb formation. It is mostly planted in the fall and may take more time than sot-neck garlic. Additionally, hard-neck garlic develops scapes, which also increase its growth time.
Regional Climate and its Seasonal Patterns
The growth time of garlic is also dependent on seasonal patterns (intense and duration of cold or heat).
In colder areas, where winters are harsh and long, planting duration may be from 8 to 9 months, especially for hard-neck garlic. In tropical and subtropical areas where the weather is usually warm for a long time, garlic, particularly soft-neck, may take 6 to 7 months.
Do you know that in mild places, where winter and summer are not too long, both types of garlic can be planted in the fall? Because a soft-neck garlic variety (polish soft-neck) can survive in cool weather.
It all means that if conditions and region climate (where garlic is planted) are according to variety preference, the growth time will also be earlier but not over to its genetic program.
Planting Time: Fall Vs. Spring
The next factor is planting time, which decides how long garlic takes to grow. It means that when we plant garlic in the fall, it takes a long time due to the coming winter because, generally, winter is the dormancy season.
But in this way, garlic, especially hard-neck, has enough time to establish roots under the ground before the weather warms up.
On the other side, spring-planted garlic may grow earlier than fall-planted because the spring is already a growing season for all plants.
But as I have already said, garlic variety is the foundation of all factors. Hrad-neck garlic is planted in the fall, while soft-neck is planted in the spring. These times give preference to growing conditions according to garlic varieties.
Planting Method: Clove Vs. Seed
By the way, we mostly plant garlic from clove, but still, you need to know how the planting duration of garlic may change if we use seeds instead of clove.
Seed planting takes a long time because they need to germinate for seedling formation in proper photosynthesis, which takes time forward 2 to 3 months more.
It means that if we plant hard-neck garlic from seeds, the growth time will be 11 to 12 months or more. Similarly, in the case of soft-neck garlic, planting from seeds increases planting duration by 9 to 10 months.
However, sometime planting garlic from seeds seems like impossible and not recommended. Here’s you can start garlic generation from bulbils that develop from its scape flower. If you plant garlic from bulbils, it may take 2 to 3 year for matured, disease resistance an clone bulb.
Planting garlic from cloves is an easier and quicker method than seed planting because cloves already have well-prepared roots inside for making greens and then healthy bulbs quickly.
The Final Thoughts: How Long Does Garlic Take to Grow
Now, you have to consider all factors in your situation. See which type of garlic you want to grow or have planted: if it’s hard-neck, it will take more time than soft-neck.
Then, see how your regional season patterns: if your area is mostly warm, your soft-neck garlic will flourish earlier than before, while if your area experiences long winters, your hard-neck garlic gets enough chilly periods for vernalization, minimizing the growth time.
But remember, both garlic varieties have minimum and maximum temperature tolerance so unsuitable growing conditions also affect the planting duration of garlic.
The last thing you have to see is whether you have planted it through seeds or cloves: if it is propagated from seed, then your garlic may take extra time of 2 to 3 months, and if you planted it through cloves, growth time will be less.
The Last Tip: Fast-Growing Garlic
If you want to harvest quickly, some garlic varieties grow faster than others. Try California (soft-neck) and Early Italian, these thrive best in warmer situations and can be matured only in 6 months.
