Can I Grow Garlic with the Bulbs I Bought at the Grocery?

Conditions

• Garlic you use for seed stock must be adapted to conditions in your area. The National Gardening Association cautions that grocery-store garlic is adapted to the place it was grown -- often California or China -- so it may not do well in other regions.

Considerations

• Grocery-mart garlic has other pitfalls as seed stock. According to Fine Gardening, commercial garlic tastes mundane and has been developed to grow only under highly controlled conditions. Moreover, growers sometimes spray to prevent sprouting.

Sources

• Consider buying seed garlic from garden centers or by mail, selecting varieties best suited to your region. Alternatively, Fine Gardening suggests that you select organic or unsprayed bulbs at a farmers market. You will have to ask if bulbs are organic or sprayed because you cannot tell from looking.