Sources of Garlic for Planting

Saving Cloves

• One of the most cost-effective ways to grow garlic is with saved cloves from your current garden or that of a neighbor. After harvesting the garlic, cure the cloves as you do for the ones meant for the kitchen, but set aside the largest cloves for replanting in the garden. When you separate the bulb into separate cloves, use the largest cloves from the outer section of the bulb. The small inner cloves produce smaller bulbs, so these are better used in the kitchen.

Garden Centers

• When possible, growing garlic from local sources is preferred as these varieties are known to grow well in your area. Garden centers and nurseries may stock only local varieties or they may carry a choice of garlic from a variety of nationwide seed suppliers. When in doubt, ask which types available are local. Depending on the nursery, you may have a wider choice of garlic available than you would from a single mail-order source.

Seed Suppliers

• Both mail-order and online seed suppliers provide convenience. These suppliers also give you access to garlic varieties that may not be readily available from local sources. Choose well-known, reputable suppliers to ensure you get quality, disease-free garlic stock. Keep in mind that the garlic may be shipped over several states, so the varieties may not grow as well in your area. When it comes to shipping, choose a supplier that ships at the planting time for your area, not for the area where the supplier is located at. Otherwise, you may receive the garlic too early or too late for your planting time.

Grocery Garlic

• Grocery store garlic is usually treated with growth inhibitors to prevent sprouting, so it isn't a suitable choice for seed stock. One exception is organic garlic, as these are usually left untreated. There is no guarantee that the cloves are disease-free as there is with garlic purchased from other sources, so plant at your own risk. Farmers' markets also give you access to locally grown cloves. Let the farmer know you plan to plant the cloves. Often farmers at markets have some large, healthy cloves set aside for customers to buy as seed stock.