Irrigation
Garlic is shallow-rooted to about 40cm depth and in dry weather on sandy soils needs daily watering. On dry days, water the crop in the early morning and to replace 130% of daily evaporation using sprinkler irrigation. If evaporation exceeds 6mm, then irrigation should be split into two waterings, ideally one early morning and one early afternoon. Good watering is especially important from early bulbing until three weeks before harvest. Uneven watering will contribute to split skins.
The soil needs to be dry when the leaves start to die down and watering is decreased as the bulbs mature. With Italian White, irrigation can stop when the gaps between the cloves are first visible. The crop can be pulled three weeks later.