Can I Transplant Garlic? | What You Need To Know

You’re shifting to a new location, and you’re worried about what will happen to your garlic plants. Perhaps you could take the garlic along with you to your new home, but you wonder whether or not it’s possible to transplant garlic. 

You can transplant garlic with proper care and procedure. Keep as much soil as you can around the root while taking it out and replant it in the new location as deep in the ground as the garlic was in the last place. Use mulch and water properly, and your garlic can survive the transplant. 

In this article, I’ll talk in detail about the correct method to transplant garlic and what you’ll need for this process of garlic transplantation.

Can You Move Garlic Once Planted?

Maybe your garlic is getting mixed up with one another, and you want enough space among them. Or, perhaps, you have to move to a new place, and you want to know if you can move garlic once planted. 

You can move garlic once planted from one place to another. When taking the garlic plant out of the ground, ensure there’s enough soil around the roots. You can transfer the plant to a box. Again, make sure the root is covered in soil. You can now move the plant to the new location. 

It would be best if you took out individual plants one by one. Ensure that the soil isn’t frozen when doing this. 

How Do You Start a Garlic Transplant?

If you follow the correct procedure, you can successfully transplant your garlic and enjoy a good crop of it. However, you need some gardening tools and meet the soil requirement for this procedure.

You can start a garlic transplant by preparing these gardening tools:

• Hand Shovel
• Bucket
• Dry Straw/ Grass
• Pitchfork

Once you have all your tools ready, you can prepare the soil for transplant.

How To Prepare the Soil for Transplant

Garlic needs ample sunlight and loose, fertile, well-drained soil to grow well. You’re more likely to have an abundant harvest if you provide it with proper nutrients. It would be best if you enhanced your garden beds with 3 to 4-inch (7.62 to 10.16 cm) layers of organic matter, such as compost or other substitutes designed for vegetables. 

Once you’ve arranged the tools and prepared the soil, you’re ready for the garlic transplant. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide of what you need to do:

1. Make a hole in the soil for each clove. Note that the distance between each clove should be a minimum of 15 cm (5.91 in). The depth of each hole should be around 10 cm (3.94 in).
2. Use a hand shovel to loosen the soil a bit. Dig the ground but keep sufficient distance from the bulb so that you don’t end up hurting the plant. 
3. Pull off the plant slowly by holding onto its long leaves. Make sure you take a sufficient amount of soil along with it. 
4. Move the plant to a new location. Sow the plant deep into the hole and add some more soil and dry straw.  
5. Sprinkle the ground with water. But make sure you don’t overdo it. 

Great! You’ve successfully transplanted your garlic!

When Can You Transplant Garlic? 

So now you know how to transplant garlic from one place to another. The next question you may have in mind is when the right time to transplant garlic is?

You can transplant garlic when the weather is dry and warm. If you plant the garlic in winter, you can transplant it to a new bed by the first week of April. 

It’s best to carry out this process in the late afternoon. Also, remember, you can keep the garlic out for at most two days before replanting it. 

Can You Transplant Garlic After It Sprouted? 

Sprouting in garlic is a sign of garlic protecting itself from any bacteria. So there’s nothing wrong with it. 

You can transplant garlic even after it sprouted. It doesn’t matter whether the clove used is a disease-free bulb bought from a nursery or a bulb you got from the grocery store.  

It would be best if you transferred garlic to soft soil. You can lose the soil bed using a pitchfork.

The roots may take about a month to properly settle in the new place. Make sure you keep the soil moisturized and allow proper drainage of water. 

How Do You Dry Garlic To Replant?

It’s pretty simple to dry garlic for long-term storage. Doing so may take 3 to 4 weeks, but it’ll last for a very long time once it’s dried.

You can dry garlic to replant by tying it into a bunch. Another way is to spread it out somewhere with proper ventilation. After a few weeks, you can trim the roots close to the bulb. Do this when the garlic is dry.

For the step-by-step instructions, follow these steps:

1. Tie the garlic into a bunch or spread it out in a place of good ventilation, leaving the outer layer intact. It’ll take a few weeks to cure, depending on the size of the clove, until the outer layer shrinks and the texture gets papery. 
2. Trim the roots close to the bulb once your garlic is dry. Only keep about a 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) of the root.
3. Use a soft brush to clean dirt off the bulb. You can remove the outer layer of the wrapper if required but don’t eliminate the papery outer layer; else, your garlic won’t last long. It would help if you left the stalks intact since you plan to braid your garlic. 

Now your garlic is ready for replantation. Do store it in a cool and dry place. 

Can I Move Garlic in the Spring?

Mostly garlic is planted in the fall season, as it helps develop their bulb. And the plant starts showing some growth in the spring as it begins to get warmer. 

You can move garlic in the spring, but make sure the roots are intact when you move them. Spring is the period of the garlic’s active growth, so if you take care of the plant, you can move them successfully. You should add fertilizers regularly and mulch the soil with grass or rotten wood shavings.

If not properly managed, the harvesting wouldn’t be the same, and you may get fewer or smaller bulbs.

Final Thoughts

If you follow the correct procedure and take good care of your garlic plant, you can successfully transplant your garlic. 

When taking the plant out, ensure there’s enough soil around the root. Also, make sure you plant it in a place where it can receive direct sunlight and has proper drainage. 

You can transplant garlic even after it’s sprouted. However, try to transplant it when the weather is dry and warm.

For more, don’t miss Can I Use Miracle Grow on Vegetables? | What You Need to Know.