Growing garlic in pots indoors is not difficult, and you’ll be able to get the supply of fresh green stalks, flowers, and even the garlic bulbs. Learn more!
If you have ever wondered about how to grow garlic indoors, then the good news is that it is going to be considerably easier than you were perhaps aware. This is something that you will be able to achieve even with next to no previous gardening experience.
What are Garlic Sprouts?
When you grow garlic indoors using this simple water-only method, you can harvest garlic sprouts! Garlic sprouts, which also go by the name garlic scapes, are the stalks that grow out of garlic bulbs. They are extremely tasty and have a milder, lighter flavor than traditional garlic.
Garlic sprouts also have a ton of great health benefits like fighting cancer, protecting your heart, preventing strokes, strengthening your immune system, and preventing wrinkles and premature aging. Garlic sprouts, in particular, are powerful, because garlic that has sprouted for five days has the highest antioxidant activity.
Choosing a Container and Spacing
Look for a pot around 8-10 inches deep, minimum. If you intend to grow garlic greens, plant the cloves closely. However, if you are thinking about growing garlic bulbs, maintain a four-inch gap between each clove. Also, make sure that the pot has drainage holes in the bottom.
You can try growing garlic indoors from the grocery store garlic, but they are treated with chemicals so for the best result buy from local farmers, order them online or check out your local gardening store for the organic garlic bulbs. Also, remember that you don’t need to remove the paper like husk from cloves.
Planting and Growing Garlic Greens Indoors
To grow garlic greens indoors, plant three or four cloves in a pot filled with potting soil. Sit them on a sunny window ledge and water them lightly. The garlic greens will grow in just seven to 10 days and can be snipped. If you plan to have garlic greens on hand, you’ll need to keep up with planting new cloves in succession as the cloves will be exhausted once they have grown the greens.
How to Care for Garlic
Soil
It is important that you use the right soil that is well-draining, and permeable. Soil-less potting medium is best. You can also make one for yourself instead of buying– Mix peat or cocopeat (coconut fiber), compost or manure, and either perlite or vermiculite (if you don’t have both, use sand) in equal parts.
Watering
Outdoors, garlic prefers evenly moist soil. However, since you’re growing garlic indoors, you may need to careful. Watering must be done according to the indoor growing conditions. Like, how much sunlight and warmth your potted garlic plants are receiving. Regular watering to keep the soil slightly moist is preferable.
Fertilizer
Garlic needs a good amount of fertilizer to grow well, indoors is no different. Fertilize the garlic plant twice a month with organic general purpose fertilizer during the warm growing season. You can also use kelp meal or fish fertilizer to ensure your garlic plant has enough nutrients for optimum growth.
Harvest
Once your shoots are over 3 inches tall you can begin to harvest them. Only remove a third of the sprout at a time. To continue growing, the garlic sprouts need those blades to take in energy from the sun. If you cut it down too much it will not continue to grow. Make sure you are using sharp scissors to harvest the garlic sprouts. You don’t have to harvest your garlic right away. Garlic sprouts can grow up to ten inches tall! Thank you for reading!!
