What kind of garlic did you plant? Some are small and then there is elephant garlic. I plant my garlic cloves in Aug/early Sept, and harvest it in July. I cure it after washing off the dirt, by laying it on the back porch in a single layer, in the shade for 10 to 15 days. Then I move it inside to a cool room . I harvested 53 heads of garlic this year, 3/4 th of it was elephant garlic.
I do water it regularly. I soak the ground at least once a week during the growing season. When ever I came across one that didn't get the water (wasn't close enough to the soaker hose), found that it didn't split into cloves. Those I replant right away for next year.
Good luck and have fun.
Dwayne