how to plant garlic

If you love adding garlic to your dishes and are tired of constantly buying new garlic bulbs at the nearby supermarket, instead of continuing to buy them repeatedly, just grow garlic yourself. It is one of the simplest crops to grow and doesn’t require much effort from you.

I will explain how to plant garlic cloves and grow them into a new garlic bulb most simply and quickly. No special conditions are needed, just the willingness to learn.

So let's say we went to the grocery store and bought garlic bulbs for our cooking. We came home and used most of the garlic bulbs for some dishes. We have a few leftover garlic cloves we can plant these cloves in the ground, and they will grow into a new garlic bulb.

Before we plant the garlic cloves, we want to know a few important things:

Where to plant the garlic cloves?

You can plant garlic cloves in the garden beds or in a pot. If you plant it in the garden beds, it's important that there is enough depth in the soil so there is enough room for the garlic bulb to grow.

If you don't have a garden at home and only have a balcony or a wide window, you can grow garlic cloves in a pot. Choose a 20-liter pot to ensure there is enough room for the garlic cloves to grow and produce new bulbs.

If you choose a pot, it must have drainage holes so the excess water from our watering can drain and not remain stagnant. This can cause rot, and the garlic will die.

The place where the garlic will grow must have at least 6-8 hours of full sun a day to ensure the garlic grows in the best way.

Garden soil:

The planting mix must be well-aerated because this will help with water drainage and also provide aeration for the plant. The soil should contain fertilizers to nourish the garlic and help it grow healthier and stronger.

How to choose the right garlic?

We should choose the largest and nicest garlic cloves we can find, not small and deformed cloves, to ensure that the bulb that grows from the garlic clove will be large and nice. We prefer purple garlic over white garlic because it is of higher quality and larger.

Growing Seasons:

The suitable seasons for growing garlic are autumn and winter, as garlic does not like very hot climates and high humidity.

How to Plant Garlic?

From each garlic clove we plant, one garlic bulb will grow. We take a whole garlic bulb and gently separate the cloves without breaking them, leaving the skin on the garlic and not peeling it.

If the garlic from that bulb has already started to sprout, we prefer to use it. When the garlic sprouts, we will see a green stalk growing from the tip of the garlic clove. If the garlic has not yet sprouted, you can put the cloves in a bag and place them in the refrigerator for two weeks, and some of the garlic cloves will sprout.

To plant the garlic, we take the cloves and insert them into the soil at a depth of 5 cm in a vertical position, placing the pointed end of the garlic upwards. We plant the cloves 20 cm apart from each other to ensure they have enough space to grow.

When the garlic cloves grow, they will produce green leaves and stalks, which can be harvested and eaten. They are very tasty when fried. It's important not to overharvest and to leave some leaves on the stalk to ensure the garlic can absorb sunlight better.

Water garlic:

Especially in the beginning, we want to water the garlic frequently to provide enough water for the garlic to sprout. We want to keep the soil moist, but if it rains and there is extremely cold hardy, we want to avoid excessive watering.

Water only when the soil is dry or not particularly moist. When the garlic starts to grow stalks, are waterless, and even only once a week.

Harvest garlic:

After three months, when the garlic has grown a stalk and the stalk begins to yellow and dry out, we want to pull the garlic bulb from the soil before it starts to break apart.

Sometimes the bulb peeks out of the ground, and you can see a large, healthy garlic head. Here, too, there is an opportunity to harvest the garlic, as it's better early than late.

To remove the garlic bulbs from the ground without damaging it, we will dig around the garlic. When most of the garlic is already detached from the soil, we will gently pull it out by the bulb and the base of the stalk.

After that, we will wash the garlic from the soil and leave it to dry in the sun for a few days. You can also hang it up. There is an option to use the stalk for cooking before drying the garlic.

how to store garlic:

After the garlic has dried, we will store it in a cool and shaded place, away from humid and hot areas as they will cause it to rot.

This simple and short process I taught you in this article can be repeated every year at the beginning of autumn. You can produce a supply of garlic for most of the year with this method, investing little time and energy. When you grow garlic yourself, you will also enjoy the wonderfully tasty garlic leaves.