he Life Cycle of a Garlic Bulb
The 2nd Trimester: Care and Feeding of Young Garlic
Spring arrived a bit late here in eastern South Dakota (zone 4). March and April were cold and windy, and the garlic on our farm emerged later than usual after the ice finally left the ground under the mulch in late April!
Now that the little garlic babies have emerged from their winter slumber, I want to share with you some tips for nurturing them into big strong plants.
Spring Checklist: Leave, Feed, Water, Weed
1. Leave the mulch in place: One of the most frequent questions people ask is, should I take off the mulch in the spring? It’s true that the ground will warm up sooner without that layer of mulch covering the ground, but the labor-saving and plant health benefits of weed suppression and moisture retention are typically more valuable in the long run.
If you have a small number of garlic plants and/or you have very wet soil, you may want to remove the mulch, but take care to replace it when the garlic has come up and soil has firmed up. If you wait too long, you’ll need to weed before replacing the mulch.
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