馃 Garlic 路 June
Whether June works depends on which corner of the country you鈥檙e standing in. Here鈥檚 the per-city read, sowing, transplanting and harvesting, plus the spacing, the timing and the family-of-four maths.
Days to harvest
180-210 days (6-7 months)
Spacing
15 cm
Cities sowing in June
2
Melbourne, Canberra
Family of 4
Plant 50-100 cloves (4-8 bulbs' worth) for a family of 4; allows generous use plus some to save for next season's planting
June in winter is one of twelve windows the Australian year offers, and whether you can plant garlic this month depends on which corner of the country you're standing in. Below is the per-city read: where garlic is being sown from seed, where it's going in as seedlings, and where it's already being harvested.
Sowing garlic from seed in June: Melbourne, Canberra. Transplanting garlic seedlings in June: Sydney, Hobart, Canberra. Nowhere in Australia is in the active garlic harvest in June.
Across Australia's climate zones, garlic keeps to tropical, not recommended (garlic requires a cold vernalisation period); subtropical, april-june; temperate, march-june; cool, march-may; arid, april-june. June sits inside that window for the subtropical, temperate, arid zones. The longer version, including the climate-zone-by-zone breakdown, lives on the Garlic growing guide.
Garlic is one of the most rewarding and surprisingly easy crops for Australian raised bed gardeners. It requires a period of cold to vernalise and trigger bulb formation, this is why it must be planted in autumn and winter in most Australian climates. Tropical climates cannot grow garlic successfully without using hardneck varieties that require less cold.
If you're planting garlic this June, the bed prep is the same as any other month: a 30 cm-deep raised bed worked through with compost, spacing of 15 cm between plants, and full sun (6+ hours daily). The crop takes 180-210 days (6-7 months), which means a June planting will be ready around December. Use the raised bed calculator to size the bed and the companion planting guide to fill it out.
For a household of four, Plant 50-100 cloves (4-8 bulbs' worth) for a family of 4; allows generous use plus some to save for next season's planting Expected yield is 1 bulb per clove planted (10-12 cloves per bulb at harvest).
The June garlic read changes city by city. The list above is the high-level signal; for the exact dates and bed-by-bed planting plan, the Plant Planner garlic module reads your postcode and your bed dimensions and does the rest of the maths.
Whether June works for garlic depends on your climate zone. The planting windows are: tropical, not recommended (garlic requires a cold vernalisation period); subtropical, april-june; temperate, march-june; cool, march-may; arid, april-june. In June specifically, the broad rules suggest it's a planting month in the subtropical, temperate, arid zones.
Garlic takes 180-210 days (6-7 months). A June planting will be ready around December. Harvest garlic when approximately half the leaves have died back (typically October-December in most Australian climates). Dig carefully with a fork, lifting the whole bulb. Do not pull by the stem. Cure harvested garlic by hanging in bunches or spreading on racks in a warm, airy, shaded location for 2-4 weeks. Well-cured garlic stores at room temperature for 6-12 months.
Plant 50-100 cloves (4-8 bulbs' worth) for a family of 4; allows generous use plus some to save for next season's planting Yield expectation: 1 bulb per clove planted (10-12 cloves per bulb at harvest).
Full sun (6+ hours daily). Moderate, reduce watering as bulbs mature; stop watering 2 weeks before harvest. Soil pH 6.0-7.5. Spacing 15 cm between plants, 25 cm between rows.
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