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How to Grow and Care For Garlic Indoors

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Learn how to grow garlic indoors with these top tips.

If you don’t have a garden or want more plants indoors to green up the atmosphere, have you thought about growing garlic?

Yes, you’ll find out how to grow garlic indoors in this article

Your garlic plants will produce lovely greens that you can use to pep up various dishes.

Growing garlic bulbs indoors is more difficult, but read on to find out more.

How to grow garlic greens indoors

How to grow garlic greens indoors (1)

You can grow garlic greens – lovely fresh shoots that taste garlicky – by potting up individual cloves. Here’s how.

Step-by-step guide: How to grow garlic indoors

how to grow garlic indoors

Things you’ll need:

  • container with drainage holes – it needs to be at least 10 inches deep. 
  • bulb of garlic – buy organic or from a reputable seed supplier for best results – find out more about this below.
  • Suitable potting mix – combine compost with perlite or vermiculite for the best results. Don’t use garden soil: the drainage will not be as good.
  1. Fill your containers with potting mix. Water them and let it drain so that the soil is moist, but not waterlogged.
  2. Break up your bulb of garlic into individual cloves.
  3. Plant cloves with the pointy end upwards. You can pack them in quite closely when you are growing garlic greens, as you’ll be harvesting the green part above the soil, not the bulb.
  4. Make sure your cloves are planted with an inch of soil covering them.
  5. Place your containers where they will get plenty of light – at least 6 hours a day ideally. A south or west-facing windowsill is ideal.
  6. Water to keep the soil moist but make sure your pots drain; otherwise, the cloves could rot. A good idea is to place containers on trays of pebbles to give water space to drain away.

You will start to see green shoots sprouting from your garlic cloves in as little as a few days.

Once they are about 6 inches or more, snip them as you do with chives, leaving about an inch of greenery to encourage more growth. 

It’s worth planting quite a few containers of cloves, as you may find one clove only produces its green shoot once.

Can you grow garlic bulbs indoors?

Can you grow garlic bulbs indoors?

This is a bit more difficult. Most people say it’s much better to grow garlic outdoors because the plants need the winter weather to develop their bulbs properly.

Bear that in mind if you are thinking of trying to grow garlic indoors.

You won’t have the natural fluctuation of the seasons to encourage growth (unless you don’t do heating!).

The good news though, is that you can grow garlic in pots or containers. If you have a patio or balcony, try growing garlic there.

Your garlic plants will be exposed to the elements. Success will depend on your local climate, of course!

Here are some easy steps to growing garlic in containers.

Step-by-step guide: How to grow garlic bulbs in containers

Step-by-step guide: How to grow garlic bulbs in containers

Things you’ll need:

  • A suitable pot with drainage holes – each clove needs four inches of space around it. Choose a container that’s at least 10 inches deep.
  • bulb of garlic – organic or from a reputable seed supplier for best results – find out more about this below.
  • Potting mix – use a mixture of compost with perlite or vermiculite for the best results. Don’t use garden soil as the drainage will not be as good.
  1. Fill your containers with potting mix. Water them and let it drain so that the soil is moist, but not waterlogged.
  2. Break up your bulb of garlic into individual cloves. Choose the biggest cloves and keep the others for cooking.
  3. Plant cloves with the pointy end upwards. This time your garlic cloves will need more room – at least 4 inches around each clove, to give them enough room to develop.
  4. Plant the cloves 2-3 inches deep with an inch of soil covering them.
  5. Place your containers outdoors on a patio or windowsill with plenty of sunlight – at least 6 hours a day.
  6. Water regularly to keep the soil moist, but make sure your pots drain properly and the soil dries out between waterings; otherwise, the cloves could rot.

You might find the greens die off as winter comes. Don’t worry; they will re-sprout in the spring.

How long does it take to grow garlic in pots?

How long does it take to grow garlic in pots?

Growing a garlic bulb takes about 9 months.

If you are planting garlic bulbs in September and October, you should expect to harvest them next summer, in June or July.

You’ll know when they are ready to harvest when the greens start to yellow and die off.

Garlic bulbs need to dry out before you can use them – string them together and hang in a cool dark place until they are rustly to the touch.

That means they are ready to use.

Buy organic garlic to grow your own

Buy organic garlic to grow your own

Now you’ve seen how to grow garlic indoors, choose the right cloves for the job! 

Shop-bought garlic is often treated to prevent it from sprouting while it sits on the shelves.

This means it is more difficult to grow new plants from. 

Buy organic garlic from a local farmers’ market, nursery, or mail-order bulb supplier to avoid this problem.

You should find your cloves sprout within a matter of days.

Caught the veg-growing bug? Read more:

The Complete Guide to Winter Greenhouse Gardening

When is the Best Time to Plant Potatoes?

21 Different Types of Potato Varieties With Pictures

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