Garlic is one of the popular and common flavoring agents in the kitchen. There are many varieties of garlic in the market, but they are generally divided into two types: softneck and hardneck. Softneck and hardneck refer to the type of stem or neck that grow out of the garlic bulb. From planting preference to appearance, there are big differences that exist between these two types of garlic.
Softneck Garlic
Just like how it is being called, softneck garlic's stem is soft and malleable when the plant is matured, which is better for braiding to dry and store. Softneck garlics grow very fast, but they usually do not produce "seed", or bulbils on top of the scape. This is why softneck garlic is usually spread by growing cloves from bulbs.
From the appearance, softneck garlic has smaller cloves per bulb and it does not produce scapes like hardneck garlic. In addition, softneck Garlic has a more pungent taste than hardneck garlic, if you are the one who likes the pungency of the garlic, don't miss softneck garlic!
Hardneck Garlic
The reason why hardneck garlic is being called by "harndneck " is that they produce a very hard woody main stem from the middle of each bulb. Compared to softneck garlic, hardneck garlic has a longer storage time, and has larger and fewer cloves per bulb. Many gardeners like to plant hardneck garlic because it produces garlic scapes and bulbils, which allows the plant to propagate from bulbils from itself.
Since hardneck garlic retains rigidness, it must be hung to dry individually instead of making a garlic braid easily as softneck garlic. If you don't like the type of garlic with less pungency, you can learn more about planting a hardneck garlic. Hardneck garlic tend to be a little bit milder than softneck garlic, gives food a mild garlic flavor with sweet undertones.
Summary
Softneck Garlic
more pungent
have smaller cloves per bulb
do not produce bulbils generally
good for braiding
shorter storage time
better suited for milder climates
mature quickly
Hardneck Garlic
tend to be a little bit milder
have larger and fewer cloves per bulb
Better suited for colder winters
produces garlic scapes and bulbils
must be hung to dry individually
Select which type of garlic for your garden really depends on how cold your winter is.
In northern areas that tend to have colder winters, hardneck garlics do the best.
On the other hand, softneck garlics do well where winter is milder like in southern latitude states. However, this doesn't mean you cannot grow hardneck garlic in southern or growing softneck garlic in northern. You can still grow both types of garlic in your garden and harvest them in the upcoming summer. Hopefully after reading this article can help you learn more about the differences between hardneck and softneck garlic. Welcome to leave a comment if you have any thoughts, have a great week!
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