We usually grow garlic as an annual crop in our home or farm—meaning that we plant it, harvest it, and that’s it! But if we analyze it deeply, the reality is much more interesting than that.
Do you know garlic is a perennial plant natively, genetically, and botanically? Today’s blog will give you a detailed answer to the same question: Is garlic a perennial or annual?
We will analyze both garlic types—hard-neck and soft-neck—bulbil cloning and different crop cycles to clarify the true nature of garlic and how farmers and gardeners use it in cooking or for the market.
Types of Garlic: Why Hard-Neck Matters More for Perennial Growth
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Garlic is found in two common types: hard-neck and soft-neck. Both have differences based on appearance, taste, and growing methods.
But if we consider the big question “Is garlic perennial or annual?” then we have to look at hard-neck varieties.
Because hard-neck varieties produce scape—a hard stem, which makes small flowers, and finally, these flowers turn into tiny bulbils. There can be dozens of bulbils in almost one scape.
The same bulbils are the source through which expert gardeners move to perennial garlic. How? Let’s understand!
How Perennial Garlic Actually Grows: The Cycle Explained
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After planting garlic from clove in the fall, when the stage of scape formation comes in early to late summer, we usually have two options based on our purpose;
- If we want to harvest healthy bulbs, then we cut the scape.
- We do not cut the scape if we want bulbils without garlic bulbs (which are becoming inside the ground).
Now, here, according to research, if the soil is well-fertilized, both purposes can be achieved—meaning that healthy bulbs and bulbils from the above scape.
The study found that in nutrient-poor soils, not cutting the scaps reduced production by 30 percent. Still, gardeners are advised to cut the scape for healthy garlic bulbs.
How Hard-neck Garlic Appeared Like Perennial?
In the second situation, we leave the garlic in the ground for many years to achieve any purpose, whether to see garlic as a perennial or harvest bulbils.
In these conditions, the garlic bulb has 8 or 12 cloves. If we do not pull it out and let it in the ground, these cloves in the whole bulb start to germinate naturally because each garlic clove has a bud with a resprouting ability inside.
Since these cloves grow without any separation, they produce shoots like dense patches and a bushy plant. That is the point from where the life cycle of perennial garlic starts.
Can Soft-Neck Garlic Grow Like a Perennial Too?
Yes, but regarding the perennial concept, hard-neck garlic is mostly analyzed due to its scape and bulbil formation.
However, if soft-neck garlic is left in the ground for many years, its bulb cloves will also regrow like dense patches. That’s why there is less possibility of natural perennial growth in soft-neck garlic.
Why We Grow Hard-neck Garlic as a Perennial?
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We mostly grow garlic as an annual plant: we sow garlic cloves each year and harvest garlic bulbs at the end of the year for use in daily life. Annuals garlic matures after 6 to 9 month, depending on the variety and climate.
This method is very effective and common among gardeners and farmers because clove-planted garlic provides uniform, complete, quality bulbs.
Several reasons may be behind growing garlic as a perennial. If any gardener is thinking of growing garlic as a perennial, he/she might want to harvest bulbils that can be used as a purity seeds stock or new garlic generation.
But growing garlic from bulbils gives fully mature bulbs after 2 to 3 years.
So, the garlic that remains in the ground, whose energy is being spent on forming scape and bulbils, automatically forms clump shoots that may produce more scapes and bulbils in the coming season.
Should I Grow Garlic as a Perennial?
Growing garlic as a perennial is suitable for gardeners who want natural diversity in the soil and want to spread the crop without digging and planting clove each year.
However, this method does not always offer controlled results. The bulb size in the ground may remain small, and the shoots cluster may grow too close, reducing the ventilation.
This method is valuable in a conservation approach, where the goal is storage, experimentation, and seed protection, particularly when the soil is well-drained, fertilized, and maintained.
How to Grow Garlic as a Perennial?
Growing garlic as a perennial is easy and very low maintenance. As usual, plant hard-neck garlic cloves in the fall (around October, depending on the climate).
As its scape becomes in the early to late summer, do not cut so they can naturally produce flowers and bulbils.
These bulbils turn into small bulbs, which you can use to plant new garlic (which will take 2 to 3 years for a matured bulb).
Now, the bulb that you remained in the ground, its cloves will germinate and produce cluster-type garlic shoots.
But these natural processes succeed when the soil is fertile and consistently moist instead of wet.
If the soil remains dry during garlic growth, its bulbs may crack, damage, and lose the ability to regrow as a perennial.
Pros and Cons of Perennial Garlic Growing
Pros
If we grow garlic as a perennial, the foremost and natural benefit is cloves savings, and we are not required to plant cloves year-round.
Especially hard-neck garlic varieties make scape, then flower, and finally bulbils.
Bulbils-planted garlic is a clone of the original parent garlic—the same appearance, disease resistance, and almost the same taste and texture.
Since garlic propagated through vegetative parts (not by pollination), its clones do not contain bacterial contamination and produce “true garlic”.
Moreover, bulbils can also be stored as seed stock. Place these bulbils in a dry place, and plant again next year to achieve disease-free and low-cost harvest.
Do you know? The garlic plant grown from bulbils produces only a leaf in the first year, a small bulb in the second year, and finally adapts fully matured garlic bulb during the third year.
Cons
However, we get a permanent supply of garlic on our land.
But perennial garlic is gathered in one place, without any distance between them, which causes poor ventilation, and leads to fungus and other diseases.
Sometimes, the quality is affected and becomes small and irregular.
Moreover, if the soil is not fertile and dries out, the bulb formed at the bottom is also not able to develop fully, affecting the yield.
However, it all depends on environmental factors, which greatly affect the needs of any plant.
Final Thoughts: Are Garlic Perennials or Annuals?
So, the answer is that garlic is genetically perennial but mostly grown like an annual plant for big and healthy bulbs.
If you wanna grow garlic for self-sufficiency and seed saving with minimal effort, then perennial garlic is a great option.
But if you need large, consistent, and marketable garlic every year, plant it as an annual.
The last and solid point is that you should consider soil conditions, water availability, and crop goals to determine whether perennial garlic is beneficial to you or not.
