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Planting
Garlic is a long-term crop and takes 6-8 months from planting out cloves to harvest. Plant in Perth any time from March to May, waiting until the first cooling nights before planting. Always resist planting cloves if temperatures are still above 38 degrees because this will cause bolting.
Alliums hate a crowd, meaning they hate to compete for space from things like weeds, big sticks, rocks and large clods of soil. Cultivated your soil well, making sure it's friable, light, free draining and organic rich.
Fertilising
Apply a liquid feed fortnightly or an organic based granular feed monthly from planting on wards. Zinc and Magnesium are the main trace element required. Symptoms of zinc deficiency in garlic include stunting of plants and yellowing of young (inner) leaves which develop burnt tips. Manganese deficiency is seen as streaking of younger leaves and leaf twisting around the stem axis. Be careful not to over-do it, too much fertiliser will result in side shoots in the garlic.
These usually produce larger bulbs and higher yields but they do produce side shoots in spikes of hot weather. They will not produce a hard-flowering stalk, which makes it a great choice for braiding. The cloves are smaller than hard neck varieties. These varieties can easily be stored for up to 9 months and are better for regions where winters are mild.