All varieties
Turban garlic
The earliest to harvest.
Good for raw heat and most plants per pound of seed.
By winter
- Frozen hard for weeks. Grows in hard winters, but sprouts early in fall. Best where winters are milder.
- Frost, then thaw, repeatedly. Grows well where frost comes and goes. It sprouts early in fall.
- Rare or brief frost. Grows where frost is rare.
At a glance
- Neck
- Between hardneck and softneck, with a weak scape
- Keeps
- 4 to 6 months
- Cloves per bulb
- 5 to 9, plump
- Flavor
- Medium hot.
- Braiding
- Sometimes. Grows softneck in mild winters.
- Harvest
- Earliest of all
- Seed per pound
- About 60 plants per pound of seed.
Varieties to order
Thai Purple
Hardneck · Keeps 6 to 7 months · Early harvest
Order from Filaree Hood River
What each supplier says
- Group
- Turban (Filaree)
Turban (Hood River) - Neck
- hard (Filaree)
hard (Hood River) - Cloves per bulb
- 6 to 10 (Filaree)
6 to 8 (Hood River) - Per pound
- 6 to 8 bulbs/lb (Filaree)
38 to 48 cloves/lb (Hood River) - Keeps
- Through winter (Filaree)
6 to 7 months (Hood River) - Flavor
- Mild-Medium (Filaree)
Hot, moderate to strong raw (Hood River) - Climate
- Mild winters / Southern (Filaree)
Extremely adaptable, hot dry and cold northern (Hood River) - Harvest
- Early (Filaree)
Early (Hood River)
Xian
Hardneck · Keeps 6 to 7 months · Early harvest
Order from Filaree Hood River
What each supplier says
- Group
- Turban (Filaree)
Turban (Hood River) - Neck
- hard (Filaree)
hard (Hood River) - Cloves per bulb
- 6 to 10 (Filaree)
8 to 10 (Hood River) - Per pound
- 6 to 8 bulbs/lb (Filaree)
42 to 50 cloves/lb (Hood River) - Keeps
- Through winter (Filaree)
6 to 7 months (Hood River) - Flavor
- Medium-Hot (Filaree)
Medium to hot (Hood River) - Climate
- Mild winters / Southern (Filaree)
Adapts to hot dry and cold northern conditions (Hood River) - Harvest
- Early (Filaree)
Early (Hood River)
Chengdu
Order from Filaree
What each supplier says
- Group
- Turban (Filaree)
Early Portuguese
Hardneck · Keeps through winter · Early harvest
Order from Filaree
What each supplier says
- Group
- Turban (Filaree)
- Neck
- hard (Filaree)
- Cloves per bulb
- about 8 (Filaree)
- Keeps
- Through winter (Filaree)
- Flavor
- Mild-Medium (Filaree)
- Climate
- Mild winters / Southern (Filaree)
- Harvest
- Early (Filaree)
Red Janice
Hardneck · Mid harvest
Order from Filaree
What each supplier says
- Group
- Turban (Filaree)
- Neck
- hard (Filaree)
- Cloves per bulb
- 6 to 10 (Filaree)
- Per pound
- 6 to 8 bulbs/lb (Filaree)
- Keeps
- Longer than typical Turbans (Filaree)
- Flavor
- Hot (Filaree)
- Climate
- Mild winters / Southern (Filaree)
- Harvest
- Mid (Filaree)
Tuscan
Hardneck · Keeps 6 to 7 months · Early harvest
Order from Hood River
What each supplier says
- Group
- Turban (Hood River)
- Neck
- hard (Hood River)
- Cloves per bulb
- 6 to 8 (Hood River)
- Per pound
- 38 to 48 cloves/lb (Hood River)
- Keeps
- 6 to 7 months (Hood River)
- Flavor
- Medium to hot (Hood River)
- Climate
- Diverse climates, valuable for southern growers (Hood River)
- Harvest
- Early (Hood River)
What the catalogs say
The earliest garlic out of the ground, by weeks, which matters where summer heat arrives early. Filaree notes Turbans may grow softneck in a mild winter, in which case they braid. Hood River reports bulb size is not significantly affected by leaving the scapes on, unlike other bolting types. Underrepresented in the USDA genetic study. Varieties include Chinese Purple, Red Janice, Shantang Purple, Thai Fire, Xian.
Storage is contradicted. Filaree gives about four months, Hood River five to six.