Sep 29, 2026 · 15 min · 9 segments
In this episode of The Evergreen Thumb, Erin Hoover covers everything you need to know about growing garlic in Washington state. She explains the difference between hardneck and softneck garlic…
Erin HooverHost
Softneck is the most adaptable type and typically is what you would get in the grocery store.
Hardneck varieties produce scapes, which is the shoot that would produce a flower.
And most softneck varieties do not produce scapes because they have been bred not to.
Even if you don't choose to eat the scapes, you should chop them off anyway because you don't want that head of garlic putting that energy into producing the flower.
Interestingly, even though WSU publications say hardneck's lifespan in storage is shorter than softneck, in my experience, it's been the opposite.
Come late winter, early spring, the hardneck garlic were still edible, and the softneck had kind of just shriveled up and gone mushy.
Maybe I cured them differently, how I'm storing them, or it could be some variation between those two specific varieties.
Because of this, I'm considering moving to entirely growing just the music variety and not continuing to grow the Nootka Rose.
So I'm curious if you have had similar experiences, whether or not The varieties you grow match the research.
Softneck is the most adaptable type and typically is what you would get in the grocery store.
Hardneck varieties produce scapes, which is the shoot that would produce a flower.
And most softneck varieties do not produce scapes because they have been bred not to.
Even if you don't choose to eat the scapes, you should chop them off anyway because you don't want that head of garlic putting that energy into producing the flower.
Interestingly, even though WSU publications say hardneck's lifespan in storage is shorter than softneck, in my experience, it's been the opposite.
Come late winter, early spring, the hardneck garlic were still edible, and the softneck had kind of just shriveled up and gone mushy.
Maybe I cured them differently, how I'm storing them, or it could be some variation between those two specific varieties.
Because of this, I'm considering moving to entirely growing just the music variety and not continuing to grow the Nootka Rose.
So I'm curious if you have had similar experiences, whether or not The varieties you grow match the research.
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