Although it’s not a common thing to grow garlic as an indoor plant, it’s actually very possible and not very hard.
Usually, garlic grown indoors is used for the greens which you can cut and consume raw in salads, as a soup garnish or to combine it in stir-fries and other meals.
But, you can also learn to grow garlic bulbs though. Still, they do want plenty of sunlight and the process takes time.
Garlic is known to be a slow grower-6 months or more to grow it from cloves you’ve planted.
How to Grow Your Fresh Supply of Garlic at Home
You can break apart the bulbs and plant the cloves in pots and keep them indoors at the end of the outdoor gardening season, whenever this is in your part of the world.
You will notice the shoots in a couple of weeks and they’re large enough to cut them off for cooking.
If you do want to grow bulbs, you leave the shoots where they are and grow it throughout the winter months.
If you plant it and keep it indoors in early autumn, you can expect the bulbs by early to late spring.
For this to happen, you need to give a lot of sunlight to the herb, but natural one. They don’t do very well with artificial one.
Prepare the Pot
A good pot for garlic is a clay pot that has drainage holes on the bottom. However, other types will also be a good option.
Always ensure it has drainage holes. Make sure you cover these holes with a towel or a paper to maintain the soil in the pot while giving water the chance to drain out (if they’re larger).
Choose a standard potting mix and fill up the pot, up to 2 inches below the rim.
How to Prep the Garlic Cloves
Divide the bulb into cloves and keep the skin on, although you can still take out some of the drier pieces.
Plant them into the soil with the pointy side up, halfway into the soil. When you’re done, add more soil until it’s covered the cloves well.
Pat it down slowly and water until you spot it draining out of the holes.
How to Care for Your Garlic?
Water the herb often to ensure the soil always stays moist, but never soggy!
You will spot the shoots in a week or two. If you plan to use them for the shoots, cut them, leaving an inch or so on each clove so that it keeps on growing.
How to Grow Full Bulbs?
If you want bulbs, plant a clove per a container and put the pot in the sunniest area; a south-facing window will be optimal.
Water the soil when it feels dry and feed it with a water-soluble fertilizer that’s diluted to half-strength.
Make sure you’re patient-garlic does take time to develop fully into bulbs you can harvest. Stop with the watering when the shoots start to turn brown. In several weeks, when they’ve dried out completely, you can expect the formed bulbs.
You can store them in a dark and cool place and use it when needed.
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