Italian Red, Garlic Bulbs

Italian Red Garlic Bulbs

Heat-tolerant porcelain performs across much of America
Early bulbs combine strong flavor with dependable storage
Large cloves simplify peeling and meal preparation
A certified favorite for warm-region garlic growers

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Key Attributes

Botanical Name

Allium sativum

Days to maturity

240 Days

Sun

Full Sun

About Italian Red, Garlic Bulbs, Garlic Bulbs

Italian Red is a certified, great tasting and excellent storing garlic! Italian Red Porcelain is the garlic variety that is widely grown throughout the United States originating in California. Early Italian Red hardneck garlic is a very heat-tolerant porcelain-type garlic that can be planted in spring in northern gardens for a fall harvest! This garlic variety produces 6-10 large cloves per bulb that are fairly mild with a little garlic spiced flavor which intensifies during storage.

Growing details

Planting

Germination Type

M - Fall Sow Recommended

Row Spacing

18"

Plant profile

Maturity

Summer

Life Cycle

Annual

Plant Height

18-24"

Growth Habits

Clumping, Upright

Type

Porecelain Garlic

Seed & variety

Seed Type

Open Pollinated

Growing Season

Cool-Season Crop

Before Planting

Garlic needs a long cool period followed by lengthening spring days. Give it full sun, loose moisture-retentive soil near pH 6.0–7.0, and a bed free of recent onions, leeks, or garlic. Break bulbs apart only shortly before planting and retain the largest sound cloves.

Planting

Plant cloves in fall, usually shortly after the first killing frost but before the ground freezes. Stand each clove with its pointed end up, place the base roughly 2–3 inches below the surface, and allow about six inches between plants. Cover the bed with clean winter mulch after the soil cools.

Watering

Roots form in autumn and resume early in spring, making timely moisture important. Keep the bed watered through leaf growth and bulb expansion, then reduce irrigation as lower leaves brown. Wet soil near maturity stains wrappers and promotes decay.

Fertilizer

Garlic uses nitrogen heavily early in the season. Supply it at planting or soon after shoots emerge, with a second spring application where needed, then stop once bulbing is underway. Late nitrogen delays maturity and weakens storage quality.

Harvesting

Begin harvest when several lower leaves have browned but upper leaves remain green. Loosen bulbs with a fork rather than pulling the stems, protect the wrappers, and cure whole plants in a shaded, airy place before trimming or storage.

Tips

Keep spring weeds from overtaking the narrow leaves and remove winter mulch gradually if it keeps soil cold and wet. Cut hardneck scapes after they curl when larger bulbs are the goal; the tender scapes are edible.

Pests & Diseases

White rot, Fusarium basal rot, Botrytis neck rot, and viruses often arrive on garlic bulbs. Plant only firm, clean cloves from trusted stock. Yellowing with white growth and tiny black bodies near the base indicates white rot; remove plants and soil carefully, sanitize tools, and never move bulbs from that bed.

Onion maggots, bulb mites, nematodes, thrips, white rot, and basal rot may affect garlic. Plant clean stock, rotate alliums for several years, avoid moving contaminated soil, and discard bulbs with soft or moldy tissue.