Growing garlic couldn’t get any easier. In fact, there are people who never even looked back at their garlic plant after planting and still got a harvest.
But that’s the thing you see. If you’re that person, you can never hope to see a great harvest full of flavorful garlic. To get the best results, you have to give your plant enough food and care.
And that’s where we come in with the best fertilizer for garlic. In this piece, we’ll go over a variety of fertilizers, each crucial in a different way. I know it sounds confusing now.
So, let’s not build the suspense anymore and get on with it, shall we?
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Comparison of Our 5 Best Fertilizer for Garlic
| Product | Features | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Neptune’s Harvest Organic Hydrolized Fish & Seaweed Fertilizer | Ingredient and Ratio: Fish & Seaweed. 2-3-1 Weight : 36 Ounce | Check Price |
| Liquid Kelp Organic Seaweed Fertilizer | Ingredient and Ratio: Seaweed Weight : 32 Ounce | Check Price |
| Espoma BM24 Bone Meal | Ingredient and Ratio: Bone Meal, 4-12-0 Weight : 24 Pounds | Check Price |
| Down to Earth Blood Meal Fertilizer Mix | Ingredient and Ratio: Blood Meal, 12-0-0 Weight : 5 Pounds | Check Price |
| Jobe’s Organics Garden Lime Soil Amendment | Ingredient and Ratio: Lime Weight : 6 Pounds | Check Price |
How to Choose a Fertilizer for Garlic?
The truth is garlic doesn’t really require a fertilizer. The nutrients in your soil are adequate for most garlic variants. However, you do need to add fertilizers for a full crop.
Sure you’ll get garlic without fertilizers. But when you eat those with your favorite dish, you’ll notice that the taste is just not there.
So, what fertilizers does garlic need?
Our suggestion would be to start with an organic fertilizer that’s rich in nitrogen. While you might think that’s enough but it’s not.
In fact, you should keep a bone meal, blood meal, and a natural kelp fertilizer. Each of these fertilizers will play a different role in promoting the rapid growth of the plant.
The good news is we’ve put together all these fertilizers on our list. And it goes without saying that they are the best in the market. Let’s go through the products now and then we’ll talk more about the ins and outs of garlic fertilizers.
Best Seaweed Fertilizer
1. Neptune’s Harvest Organic Hydrolized Fish & Seaweed Fertilizer
We’re starting off with an all-natural organic fertilizer from Neptune. If you’re thinking of trying something out of the box, this is the answer.
Neptune captures fish from the North Atlantic for making this highly efficient organic fertilizer. And you know what they say, the more it stinks, the better it is for the plant.
So, get ready to withstand a horrible smell for your precious garlic plants. However, you can’t put all your focus on the smell.
You see the seaweed and fish are processed with extreme care to make the best organic garlic fertilizer. In fact, you can use it for the other plants in your garden too.
If you don’t mind the smell, this organic fertilizer should be at the top of your list. And frankly, the smell won’t create problems if that’s what you’re worried about. Chances are high your local raccoons won’t dig up the garlic soil.
To wrap it up in one sentence, we’ll say, it stinks a lot but it’s worth it.
2. Liquid Kelp Organic Seaweed Fertilizer
Next up, we have the Liquid Kelp Organic Seaweed Fertilizer. It’s similar to our previous product that’s also an all-natural and organic fertilizer. But what makes it different?
Well, it only has seaweed in it while the previous one had both seaweed and fish. So, chances are you’ll have a much easier time dealing with the stink.
However, don’t go thinking that just because it doesn’t have fish in it, it’ll work less efficiently. You see seaweed alone is enough to bring out the true colors of your plant.
The growth and flavorful fruits/vegetables are one thing. But this fertilizer works to make the immune system of your plant stronger. So, even if it falls prey to any diseases, it’ll recover quite efficiently.
Other than that, all we’ve got to say is that you can’t overuse a kelp fertilizer. No matter how much you use this product, your plants will love you more for that. Although don’t misuse it as it can burn plants.
Best Bone Meal Fertilizer
3. Espoma BM24 Bone Meal
When you think about growing garlic, you can’t forget about using a bone meal. This kind of fertilizer is essential for root vegetables such as garlic, potato, onion.
Even if you have poor soil, you can increase the nutrients with the help of a bone meal. Simply mix it with your soil and soon you’ll start seeing the results.
Moreover, the price of this fertilizer is quite affordable too. Based on our experience, it’s rare to get 24 pounds of bone meal at this price point.
Simply, use this bone meal once in your garlic plant while it’s in the planting stage. After a few weeks, you’ll instantly see the differences.
With 24 pounds, multiple garlic plants will get sufficient amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus. Moreover, there’s always the option to buy another pack if it’s a large garden.
Best Blood Meal Fertilizer
4. Down to Earth Blood Meal Fertilizer Mix
The Down to Earth Blood Fertilizer is the best blood meal you’ll find in the market. Well, you don’t have to believe our words for it. Do some research about blood meals and you’ll know what we mean.
But as you’re already here, let’s go through with it. As you already know, nitrogen is an absolute must when thinking about growing garlic. And the people at Down to Earth know well about that.
With an NPK ratio of 12-0-0, your garlic plants will be getting tons of nitrogen throughout its life stage. Not only it’ll ensure the compost breaks down faster but also the plants will grow like crazy.
However, if you buy this fertilizer, make sure to use it only in the growth stage. That means after the 50 day have elapsed, you need to reduce the usage. You see, as garlic plants grow, the need for nitrogen becomes less.
Overall, this bag of blood meal fertilizer is more than enough for a 100 square feet garlic garden. Although don’t use it too much as overusing can actually burn your plants.
Best Soil Amendment
5. Jobe’s Organics Garden Lime Soil Amendment
Let’s close our list with the Jobe’s Organics Garden Lime Soil Amendment. Now, why’d you even need a garden lime to grow garlic?
Well, garden limes aren’t essential in this case. But the problem is most area’s soil has a significant imbalance of pH. When the pH is imbalanced, no matter how much fertilizer you put into it, it’ll go in vain.
Although it’s better to do a soil test before you apply the lime. But once you figure out what you need, then this product can do wonders for you.
From the fertilizer’s effectiveness to the overall soil structure, it’ll improve every aspect of the garden. You’ll get much better crops along with a healthy soil.
Best Garlic Fertilizers- The A-Z Guide
Growing garlic is fairly easy. But you do have to make sure it has all the necessary settings beforehand. We know it sounds like a big deal. But after getting to know the details, it’ll be clear as water-
Soil
Whatever the variety may be, the growing conditions will be the same. Hard-neck and soft-neck garlic, both prefer average or kind of loamy soil.
So, bad news for people with sandy soil. However, you can fix it by adding a lot of humus and compost. Mix it properly and there you have it, the perfect soil for growing garlic.
Although our suggestion would be to make it a raised bed or a large container. The reason is when you need to add fertilizers to the plant, it’ll be a lot easier to do. You see this way you can add fertilizers exactly where it’s needed.
Another problem you might face is garlic bending and tipping over. But worry not as there’s an easy fix to this problem. What we do is, provide a 2-inch space between the plants. By doing this, the roots of the plants support themselves.
Organic Fertilizer
Let’s face it- no matter how well chemical fertilizers perform, deep down, we all love organic fertilizers. But before adding any extra organic fertilizers, gardeners should focus on putting compost as the main fertilizer.
This is even more crucial for people who live in coastal areas. Those areas often have sandy soil, so this is a great way to ensure the soil holds moisture.
However, compost fertilizer is not enough to promote rapid growth. That’s why you should keep your eyes on a blood meal, bone meal, and soil amendments.
Other than enriching the soil quality, these items will make sure your garlic garden is growing at full speed.
Timing
Before you think of doing a soil test, it’s better to fully prepare the soil. Adding the compost is already covered. Now, you need to add an all in one balanced fertilizer for the root and leaf development.
However, you need to keep one thing in mind. You see every time it rains, a fair amount of fertilizer gets washed away. So, once you add in those nutrients, try to plant the bulbs as soon as possible.
Although the case is about potassium and nitrogen. When the plant’s at its initial stage, you should use more nitrogen but less potassium. But as the plant grows big, let’s say about 50 days. That’s when you do the exact opposite.
More potassium and less nitrogen, interesting, right? Now we’re left with bonemeal and the fertilizers such as kelp, blood meal.
While you can use kelp and blood meal throughout the growth phase but don’t use bonemeal more than once during the initial phase as it’ll promote flowering and trust me you don’t want that.
Usage
Most expert garlic gardeners we’ve seen recommend using additional fertilizers twice or thrice in a garden. Although it largely depends on the type of fertilizer you’re using.
There are fertilizers that provide nutrients for a whole month. However, make sure you read the reviews before buying those.
You can put the fertilizers beside the plants gently mixing those with the soil. On the other hand, there’s the option to get concentrated or liquid fertilizers. As you already know, liquid fertilizers don’t need to be mixed into the soil.
In fact, you add liquid fertilizers through your irrigation system. However, it’s better to know garlic prefers taking potassium when mixed into the soil.
Verdict
At the end of the day, the choice is always up to you. You can choose to let your garlic grow only with regular soil. Or, you can get the best fertilizer for garlic and bring home juicy and tasty garlic cloves.
With the proper usage of the right fertilizers at the right time, anyone can ensure rapid garlic growth. So, before you plant those, gather up all the information. The fertilizers alone can’t do it all, you need to know how to use those as well.
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