Grow Garlic Indoors in a Pot

Growing garlic is an ideal project for the beginning or seasoned gardener. An entire garlic bulb is planted into soil and it creates a garlic vine. You can plant many different kinds of garlic, such as the White Pearl, Lautrec Wight and Purple Moldovan Wight. Garlic can be planted indoors in containers, where it can be grown in most seasons. Planting in containers indoors can also limit the garlic's exposure to disease or insects. Garlic does take attentive care and the right materials to grow a healthy, flavorful plant. This article will tell you how to grow garlic indoors in a pot.

Steps

Preparation

  1. Choose a pot that is at least 8 inches (20 cm) deep and has holes for drainage. If you want to plant more than one garlic bulb, the pot should be big enough to accommodate planting garlic cloves 4 inches (10 cm) apart and 4 inches (10 cm) away from the side of the container.
  2. Obtain a garlic bulb suitable for growing. You could get this from a plant nursery or from a neighbor's garden. The planted parts of the garlic bulb are called "cloves". The whole garlic is the bulb.
    • You may want to get the garlic bulbs from a gardening supply store, since many supermarket bulbs are chemically treated to prevent sprouting and will not grow well.
  3. Put on your gardening gloves.
  4. Mix the potting soil with the gardening sand. It should be a 3 to 1 ratio of soil to sand.
  5. Fill the container with soil, leaving an inch (2.54 cm) of space from the top.
  6. Take the garlic bulbs and separate the cloves. Hold the cloves with the flat end (the bottom) facing down and the pointed end facing up.

Planting the Garlic Cloves

  1. Push each clove 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 cm) into the soil. There should be 1 inch (2.54 cm) of soil between the top of the clove and the top of the soil.
  2. Plant the garlic cloves 4 inches (10 cm) away from each other.
  3. Place the pot so that it receives approximately 8 hours of direct sunlight per day. A great place to store the pot is on a kitchen windowsill.

Caring for the Growing Garlic

  1. Place the container of garlic in a sink, bathtub or another place that will allow water to drain. Water the soil by sprinkling it evenly with water. Allow it to drain through the holes in the bottom of the pot.
  2. Be sure to water the growing garlic enough to keep the soil moist, but not too wet. This will depend greatly on the sunlight and warmth of your house. The warmer your house, the more frequently you will have to water.
  3. Watch the garlic as it starts to sprout chive-like green leaves.
  4. Clip off the flowers at the base when they begin to sprout. When you do this, all the energy will go to making the bulb bigger.

Harvesting and Using the Garlic

  1. Harvest your garlic 8 to 10 months later when the leaves begin to die and turn brown.
  2. Hang the harvested garlic in a cool, dry place, like a garage. They should be dried for about a week.
  3. Eat or cook with the dried garlic. You can also plant the cloves to get more garlic.



Tips

  • If the container is large and you want to plant more than one row of garlic, make sure they are planted at least 18 inches (47 cm) away from each other.

Warnings

  • Do not hesitate to harvest your garlic once the leaves have died and begun to shed. The cloves can become malformed.
  • Growing garlic indoors can cause strong odors to be released. They may overpower other smells in your home.

Things You'll Need

  • Soil
  • Gardening gloves
  • Garlic cloves
  • Water
  • Pot
  • Potting soil
  • Gardening sand

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