Hardneck vs. Softneck Garlic: Which Type Should You Plant?

Garlic (*Allium sativum*) divides into two main subspecies with fundamental differences in how they grow, how they store, what they taste like, and which climates suit them. Most grocery store garlic is softneck. Most of what serious home growers and farmers market vendors grow is hardneck. The.

Garlic (Allium sativum) divides into two main subspecies with fundamental differences in how they grow, how they store, what they taste like, and which climates suit them. Most grocery store garlic is softneck. Most of what serious home growers and farmers market vendors grow is hardneck. The differences are real and worth understanding before you plant.

I don't grow garlic at my Long Island property currently — the deer pressure and lack of a dedicated vegetable enclosure make alliums a frustration — so this guide draws primarily on University Extension research rather than personal experience. I grow ornamental alliums extensively, but that is a different plant entirely.

Botanical Distinction

Per Penn State Extension, Allium sativum divides into two subspecies:

• A. sativum var. ophioscorodon — hardneck (also called ophioscorodon or top-setting garlic)
• A. sativum var. sativum — softneck (also called artichoke or silverskin garlic)

Hardneck garlic produces a rigid central stem (the "neck") that extends from the bulb upward and terminates in a scape — a curling flower stalk that produces small bulbils at its tip. Softneck garlic does not produce a scape; its leaves and outer skins remain soft and pliable, which is why it can be braided.