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Garlic Planting Calculator — Cloves, Spacing & Timing
Calculate garlic clove quantities, spacing, and planting depth.
Length of each planting row, in metres — cloves are spaced 15cm apart along it (20cm for elephant garlic).
How many parallel rows you will plant, set 30cm apart.
Softneck stores longest and gives the most cloves; hardneck has fewer, larger cloves and a scape; elephant garlic produces a few very large cloves.
Unit price for cost estimation
Survival rate of planted cloves — around 90% is typical for autumn-planted UK garlic; drop it for wet or heavy soil, bird damage or rot.
How We Calculate This
Cloves per row = (Row length ÷ Spacing) + 1, since a clove sits at each end of the row. Total cloves = Cloves per row × Rows. Bulbs to order = Total cloves ÷ Cloves per bulb, rounded up. Each clove grows into one bulb.
Yield assumes a 90% survival rate by default, which is typical for autumn-planted UK garlic in good conditions; lower it for wet, heavy soil or bird damage.
Spacings follow RHS guidance: Softneck and Hardneck 15cm, Elephant 20cm, all with 30cm between rows. Standard cloves are planted 2.5cm deep (tip below the surface), elephant garlic 10cm deep.
Frequently Asked Questions
Autumn planting (October-November) is best. Garlic needs a cold period to develop properly. Spring planting is possible but gives smaller bulbs.
Plant individual cloves with the tip about 2.5cm below the surface (pointed end up), which is the RHS standard for standard garlic. In light, free-draining soil you can plant a little deeper (up to ~5cm) for larger bulbs, but do not plant deeply in heavy soil. Elephant garlic goes deeper, at 10-15cm.
Softneck varieties have 10-15 cloves. Hardneck varieties have 4-8 larger cloves. Elephant garlic has 3-5 very large cloves.
It may work but is not recommended. Supermarket garlic may carry disease and may not be suited to UK conditions. Buy certified virus-free seed garlic instead.
The RHS recommends spacing cloves 15cm apart with 30cm between rows. Softneck and hardneck both use 15cm in-row spacing; elephant garlic needs 20cm or more. Tighter spacing (down to 10cm) yields more but smaller bulbs.
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Last updated: February 2026
All calculations are estimates based on standard gardening guidelines. Results may vary with soil conditions, climate, and plant varieties.