Wild garlic

Wild garlic: plant 15 cm (6 in) apart in the row and 20 cm (8 in) between rows, 4 per square. No known bad neighbours.

Key facts

Spacing in the row	15 cm (6 in)
Between rows	20 cm (8 in)
In a 30 cm (1 ft) square	4 per square
Sun	Part sun, 4–6 hours a day
Root depth	15 cm (6 in)
Height when grown	30 cm (12 in)
Crop rotation group	Roots and onions
Support	None needed

Sowing and germination

How it is started	From bulbs or sets, sown straight into the bed
Seeds per hole	1
Plants kept after thinning	1
Seeds per metre of row	7
Sowing depth	3 cm (1.2 in)
Soil temperature	from 7 °C, best 18–24 °C
Days to emerge	60–120 days
Light while germinating	Needs darkness, cover well
Before sowing	Chill moist for a few weeks
When to sow	Indoors 8 weeks before the last frost; outdoors before the last frost; soil at least 7 °C

From seedling to plant

Pricking out	sown where it grows
Takes transplanting	Easily
Hardening off	5–7 days
Life cycle	Perennial
Cold tolerance	Takes a light frost → hardy, takes hard frost
Soil	Rich, with compost, stays moist, pH 6–7
In a pot	8 L, 25 cm (9.8 in)
Watering	Water when the soil is dry two fingers down; while bulbs form
Feeding	Moderate; at planting, while growing
Support and training	None needed

Harvest and planning

Days to first harvest	0.8–1.1 years, from planting
Ready when	The leaves are big enough to use
Harvest window	Picked again and again, 4–8 weeks
Typical yield	0.5–1.5 kg per m²
Botanical family	Amaryllidaceae
Watch out for	Onion fly, downy mildew
First crop after	2–3 years
Pollination	Fruits on its own

Plan Wild garlic in your garden

Open the free planner, drop Wild garlic onto a bed and see how many plants fit.

Start Planning Your Garden

Sowing and harvest

Sow outdoors	Sep–Oct
Harvest	Mar–May

My dates for this crop

My country Last spring frost where I live

Give the date once and this page, the sowing calendar and the planner all follow it.

Months for a temperate climate: about a month later in the north and a month earlier in the south. Give your own last frost date for exact dates.

What to plant next to Wild garlic →

From the same family

Plants of the Amaryllidaceae family share diseases and pests, so they follow each other in the rotation only after a break.

What to plant after Wild garlic

Crops that still have time to grow on the same spot once it is lifted, from another rotation group.

Sources

The values on this page marked as checked come from these sources: spacing, sowing depth, germination, soil, timing and safety notes, each against the source named here.

People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets — ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center for: safety; checked 2026-10-28
Wild garlic: confusion often leads to poisoning — German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) for: safety; checked 2026-10-28

More in Onion family

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