How to grow garlic in pots is an easy to follow step-by-step process. Among all the culinary herbs one could think of, garlic is well known for its distinct flavor which is very useful in a variety of dishes. This makes growing your own garlic at home extremely worthwhile. In this guide I will be showing you how you can go about easily growing your garlic in pots at home.
Garlic does just as well when grown in pots or containers including when grown indoors. This is why so many people are loving growing it at home in pots and containers.
The scientific name of garlic is Allium sativum. It is a member of the onion family. The two main types of garlic are softneck which is also known as Allium sativum and hardneck which is Allium ophioscorodon.
If you are looking to grow garlic in pots with the plan to consume it in bulb form, this will require a long time of waiting. It takes 9 months for garlic to mature into bulbs.
However, the good news is that most people who grow garlic in pots also do this to enjoy the garlic herb leaves along the way. Garlic leaves certainly carry some fantastic garlic flavour in as much as the bulbs have heightened flavour.
Health benefits of growing garlic
Garlic has some incredible health benefits. Before going through how to grow garlic in pots here are some great health benefits associated with garlic that I dug up recently. I hope this will make you want to go out and start your garlic growing project without any further delay.
- Enhances immune system function by stimulating certain cell types
- Garlic reduces cholesterol which is associated with cardiovascular disease
- It has antibacterial qualities
- Garlic is thought to play a role in reducing blood pressur
- It potentially has therapeutic effects
- Garlic is effective in the prevention of common cold
- It has been shown to be effective against Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia
- Regulates blood sugar which is beneficial in diabetes patients
- Garlic is useful in preventing and reversing hair loss
What you will need to grow garlic in pots
You will need the following items and materials to successfully grow your garlic.
1. Get garlic cloves
Depending on how many pots or garlic plants you intend to grow, get a garlic bulb or cloves. Shown here is an example of a garlic bulb. An average garlic bulb will produce as many as eight cloves. You can get garlic bulbs from your local grocery shop or farmer’s market. The garlic must be dried, on the outside just like any normal seed.
2. Get a small container or water glass
You will need a small container, water glass or bottle to deep your garlic cloves to facilitate root sprouting.
3. Get a few toothpicks
Get a few tooth picks that will act as suspenders of your garlic clove(s) over some water.
4. Get a pot or suitable growing container
Since we are growing garlic in a pot, prepare a pot or any container that may be used as a pot. A cut out plastic bottle will also work. A wider pot could accommodate a number of garlic cloves. Your container should have draining holes. In this guide I will be using the pot as shown here.
5. Get growing medium
Good old garden soil will do just fine. If necessary add some compost to it to enhance nutrition. A potting mix will also work fine. Don’t get too hang-up on soil type. Decent garden soil will do. Suffice to say garlic does well in good-draining soil.
Practical Steps to Growing Garlic in Pots
Step 1 – Take garlic bulb and break into cloves
Assuming you have a garlic bulb (vs cloves), go ahead and break the bulb into several cloves. By the way, you can get your garlic bulb or cloves from grocery stores or farmers market. Garlic is so popular it should be fairly easy to access it.
Step 2 – Insert tooth picks and suspend garlic clove in water
When growing garlic at home in a pot, I prefer to first root my clove before transferring it to a pot with soil. How to do this is to take your clove made ready in Step 1 and remove one layer of skin. This is usually dead, dry skin. Next gently and lightly pierce three sides of the clove with tooth picks avoiding piercing through the center as this eliminate any possibility of the cloves sprouting.
Once you have pierced through, suspend the clove over a container with water and set aside for the next 48 to 72 hours. Alternatively, instead of suspending the clove you may let it sit in a container with shallow water without submerging it whole. The point really is to facilitate the emergence of roots before you move the sprouting garlic to a pot.
Some home gardeners also root the cloves by wrapping them in damp paper or cotton towels. This method also works. Use whichever one is convenient for you noting that when using towels you must ensure they are kept wet continuously.
Step 3 – Clove starts rooting in 24 hours
This is how the clove should look some 24-48 hours after being suspended over water. The roots are coming out and there are signs the clove is beginning to sprout. All good signs.
Step 4 – Clove starts sprouting in 72 hours
At about 72 hours, the clove has an apparent life of its own. You should be seeing well developing roots and green shoots. It’s well on its way transforming into a brand new garlic plant ready for transplant to the pot. This takes us to the next step.
Step 5 – Transfer sprouting garlic clove to a pot
In this step, we plant the garlic in a pot. Fill your pot or container with soil and dig a hole in the middle. Gently insert the clove into the hole, roots first.
Leave the green shoots on the surface, only burying the clove under the soil in the pot. Go ahead and water the plant and let the pot sit outdoors or indoors preferably on your kitchen window sill.
Ensure your pot has good drainage so your plant is not water logged. Proceed to water the plant at least once per day for the first few days and every other day after a few days.
Step 6 – Harvest the garlic leaves and use them as desired
In about 3 weeks from date of pot planting, the garlic plant should be ready to have its leaves trimmed off as harvest. In the image is my garlic in a pot some three weeks later. I have already picked some leaves as shown by the pointed arrow. The leaves will regrow as you continue harvesting.
Continue to enjoy your plant this way for a long time to come. In the meantime, the bulb continues to also develop under the soil. One good thing about pot plants is that you can also grow other crops alongside the main crop. In this case I added some lettuce which would grow comfortably along side the towering garlic.
The garlic bulb will form underneath the soil and maybe ready to be dug up several months down the road. Garlic grown in pots this way is most enjoyed for its green leaves. This is more practical. So this is how to grow garlic in a pot at home using 4 simple steps.
Summary of how to grow garlic in pots
- Take a fairly sized mature garlic bulb and break into cloves.
- Insert tooth picks into a selected clove and suspend garlic clove in water.
- After the clove grows roots and sprouts, transfer the garlic to a pot with soil.
- Once the garlic leaves grow taller, feel free to nip some for your recipes.
- Overtime, over a period of months, the garlic bulb will form again under the soil.
- Harvest the bulb when it’s ready.
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