Why Is My Garlic So Small?

Fall planting and clove size

Garlic is planted from cloves and rewards a long growing season, which is why timing is foundational. Clemson Extension is direct that garlic must be planted in the fall to permit full development: fall planting lets the cloves root and grow through cool weather so the plant has ample leaf area before warm spring days signal it to form a bulb. Spring-planted garlic simply has less time, and small bulbs are the common outcome.

The clove you start with matters too. Clemson advises planting the larger outer cloves, spaced 3 to 5 inches apart, because bigger cloves and adequate spacing give each plant the resources and room to produce a larger bulb. Starting with small cloves or crowding the row tends to give small bulbs in return.

Scapes, crowding, and fertility

Hardneck garlic sends up a curling flower stalk, or scape, and leaving it on costs you bulb size. Clemson Extension notes that stiffneck garlic varieties should be topped in early summer by cutting the flower stalk, and that if you do not top stiffneck types the bulb size is reduced by an average of 30 percent, because the plant diverts energy into the scape. Removing scapes as they appear redirects that energy into the bulb (and the scapes are edible).

Spacing and feeding are the other levers. Crowded plants compete and stay small, so the 3-to-5-inch spacing matters, and Clemson describes a fertility program of pre-plant fertilizer plus scheduled side-dressing to keep the crop growing. Because several factors stack up, treat persistently small garlic as a checklist rather than a single cause: fall planting, large cloves, scape removal on hardnecks, adequate spacing, and steady fertility, and if it still underperforms, ask your Extension office to help you diagnose it.

Sources

Reviewed 2026-07-18. We cite university Extension, government, and established horticultural sources — and never invent pesticide rates or dangerous treatments.

• Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC - Onion, Leek, Shallot & Garlic — Garlic must be planted in the fall to permit full development; plant the larger outer cloves 3 to 5 inches apart; stiffneck (hardneck) varieties should be topped in early summer by cutting the flower stalk, and failing to top stiffneck garlic reduces bulb size by an average of 30 percent; a pre-plant fertilizer plus side-dressing program supports the crop.

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