Crop fact sheet · Cool season
Garlic
Not in season right now in Houston. Dates below.
Your dates in Houston
| Window | Order seed by | Start indoors | Plant | First harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026 | Oct 7 | — | Oct 28 – Nov 11 | from Mar 17 |
| Fall 2027 | Oct 7 | — | Oct 28 – Nov 11 | from Mar 16 |
Worked out from AgriLife planting windows (days before/after average frost) and Houston's average frost dates. "Order seed by" is our own 3-week heads-up, not an AgriLife date.
The numbers
- How to plant
- Plant cloves 1" deep, 4" apart, rows 14" apart.
- Days to harvest
- 140–150 days
- Yield per 10 ft of row
- 4 lb
- Sun
- Full sun
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae (for rotation)
Water
Water regularly through winter; give 1-2 inches per week from the start of spring growth until maturity. Stop watering once cloves are full and bulbs have well-formed wrapper scales.
Feeding
- At planting: Work in a 3-4 inch layer of well-decomposed compost; apply about half the nitrogen and the phosphorus at or before planting.
- Spring growth / every 2-3 weeks: Side-dress the rest of the nitrogen as spring growth starts; Travis County AgriLife suggests a high-nitrogen feed (fish emulsion or blood meal) every 2-3 weeks.
Not sure what your soil needs? Get a soil test first.
Texas heat
Planting into soil warmer than 85°F is a problem; wait for fall cooling. Garlic needs 6-8 weeks below 40°F, and bulbing starts once days exceed 13 hours and soil passes 60°F, so it matures as late-spring heat arrives.
Pests to watch
- thrips
- armyworms
- cutworms
- mites
Diseases
- pink root
- white rot
- purple blotch
- Botrytis
What to do about them: pest sheet · what's wrong with my plant?
When it's ready
Harvest when leaves lose color and the tops dry and begin to fall over.
Storing it
Cure plants out of direct sun for 10-14 days, remove tops and roots, then store in a cool, dry place (ideal about 50°F, 65-70% humidity).
Texas tips
- AgriLife table: plant cloves 4-6 weeks before the first fall freeze; spring planting not recommended. Travis County AgriLife plants mid-October through early December for May-June harvest.
- Plant cloves pointy end up once soil at 2 inches is below 85°F. Softneck types suit mild Texas winters.
- In Central Texas, refrigerate hardneck cloves a few weeks before planting.
- Don't plant garlic after onions.
Varieties that do well in Texas
California Early, California Softneck/White, Elephant, French Mild Silverskin, Mexican Purple, New York White, Texas Rose, Inchelium Red