Editing Garlic (section)

== Cultivation ==
[[File:Garlic for sale in a market in France.jpg|thumb|Garlic for sale in a market in France]]

Garlic is easy to cultivate and may grow year-round in mild climates.<ref name="rhs">{{cite web|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=677|title=Garlic|date=2017|publisher=[[The Royal Horticultural Society]]|location=London, UK|access-date=January 25, 2017}}</ref> While sexual propagation of garlic is possible, nearly all of the garlic in cultivation is propagated [[asexual reproduction|asexually]] by planting individual cloves in the ground.<ref name="SFNA" /> 
In colder climates, cloves are best planted about six weeks before the soil freezes. The goal is to have the bulbs produce only roots and no shoots above the ground.<ref>"October is garlic planting time", Michigan State University Extension, 2011, https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/october_is_garlic_planting_time Accessed Dec. 2019</ref>
Harvest is in late spring or early summer.

Garlic plants can be grown closely together, leaving enough space for the [[bulb]]s to mature, and are easily grown in containers of sufficient depth. Garlic does well in loose, dry, well-drained soils in sunny locations, and is hardy throughout [[USDA climate zones]] 4–9. When selecting garlic for planting, it is important to pick large bulbs from which to separate cloves. Large cloves, along with proper spacing in the planting bed, will also increase bulb size. Garlic plants prefer to grow in a soil with a high [[organic material]] content, but are capable of growing in a wide range of soil conditions and [[pH]] levels.<ref name="SFNA" />

There are different varieties of garlic, most notably split into the subspecies of hardneck garlic and softneck garlic.<ref name="rhs" /> The [[latitude]] where the garlic is grown affects the choice of type, as garlic can be day-length sensitive. Hardneck garlic is generally grown in cooler climates and produces relatively large cloves, whereas softneck garlic is generally grown closer to the equator and produces small, tightly packed cloves.<ref name="rhs" />

Garlic [[scape (botany)|scapes]] are removed to focus all the garlic's energy into bulb growth. The scapes can be eaten raw or cooked.<ref name="cult">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/garden/30garden.html|title=The Cult of the Cloves|last=Tortorello|first=Michael|date=September 29, 2010|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=October 5, 2010}}</ref><ref name="scapes">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/dining/18appe.html|title=A Garlic Festival Without a Single Clove|last=Clark|first=Melissa|date=June 18, 2008|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=October 5, 2010}}</ref>
[[File:Single clove garlic.jpg|thumb|Garlic grown without the process of vernalization]]

=== Propagation ===
The method of propagating garlic from planting cloves is called [[Division (horticulture)|division]]. Asexual propagation of garlic for production purposes requires cool temperatures that can vary depending on the cultivar. Hardneck varieties require long cold temperature exposure whereas softneck varieties thrive in milder climates. This cold climate is required for the process of [[vernalization]], a form of [[Stratification (seeds)|stratification]] of the cloves necessary for the development of multiple-clove bulbs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Garlic Production for the Gardener |url=https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C854&title=garlic-production-for-the-gardener#:~:text=Garlic%20cloves%20require%20a%20period,bulbing)%20by%20low%20winter%20temperatures. |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=extension.uga.edu |language=en}}</ref> [[Solo garlic]] is the result of garlic grown without the process of vernalization.

=== Production ===
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; clear:right; text-align:center;"
|+ Garlic production – 2021<ref name="fao">{{cite web |date=2023 |title=Garlic production in 2021: Crops/World Regions/Production Quantity/Year (from pick lists) |url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC |access-date=27 November 2023 |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Statistics Division (FAOSTAT)}}</ref>
|-
!  style="background:#ddf; | Country
!  style="background:#ddf; | Millions<br /> of [[tonne]]s
|-
| {{CHN}} || 20.5
|-
| {{IND}} || 3.2
|-
| {{KOR}} || 0.8
|-
| {{BGD}} || 0.5
|-
| {{EGY}} || 0.3
|-
| {{ESP}} || 0.3
|-
| '''World''' || '''28.2'''
|}

In 2021, world production of garlic was 28 million [[tonne]]s, with China [[Garlic production in China|accounting]] for 73% of the total.<ref name="fao" />

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Allium sativum 003.JPG|Bulbs (top-setting, grown in lieu of flowers)
File:Garlic plate no 6 bv73c1191 bk128b698 crop.jpeg|Garlic, from ''The Book of Health'', 1898, by Henry Munson Lyman
File:Alliin Structural Formula V.1.svg|[[Alliin]], a [[sulfur]]-containing compound found in garlic.
</gallery>