Learn how to grow garlic and harvest the freshest cloves right from your indoor garden with this easy-to-use guide.
Garlic (Allium sativum) is usually grown outdoors for its edible bulbs and greens.
Learn how to grow thetastiest garlicright on your windowsill.
Credit:FotoDuets / Getty Images
Choose an indoor location that receives six to eight hours of bright light dailygarlic thrives withlots of sunlight.
If you have a bright south- or west-facing window, locate your garlic pots there.
If you dont have enough bright light indoors,add a grow lightto the environment.
Credit:Andy Lyons
Soil and Water
Garlic should be watered consistently so thewell-draining potting soilfeels moist but never soggy.
If youre in doubt about whether the garlic needs water, feel the soil.
If the soil is dry to the touch, itstime to water the plants.
Temperature and Humidity
Average home temperatures and humidity are suitable for growing garlic indoors.
Garlic tolerates dry conditions, so you don’t need to supplement the humidity.
However, remember to drill drainage holes in the bottoms to prevent soggy soil.
The width of the container is dependent on how many garlic cloves you plan to grow.
Plant individual cloves close together in a single pot if you grow garlic exclusively for greens.
Using purchased potting soil and keeping the pots containing garlic indoors all year limits pests.
Snip them off with clean kitchen shears to use in salads,stir-fries, and other dishes.
To harvest bulbs, wait until the leaves turn brown and droop.
At this point, stop watering the plants and allow the remainder of the leaves to dry out.
sativum)andhardneckgarlic(Allium sativumvar.ophioscorodon).
Both garlic varieties can potentially be grown indoors, especially if you want to grow garlic greens.
Hardneck garlic grows best in a cold environment, which can be difficult to achieve indoors.
You canorder garlic online or from seed catalogs.
Whether you prefer the familiar white or want to try acolor-tinted garlic variety, you might find it online.
Here are a few varieties to try.
The bulbs are 23 inches in diameter, and the plants are 12 to 24 inches tall.
The cloves have a slight pinkish tinge.
This long-storing cultivar has a mild flavor and is easy to grow.
‘California Early’
Allium sativum’California Early' is a classic softneck garlic with a mild flavor.
It grows quickly to 14-18 inches tall and can be harvested sooner than most othertypes of garlic.
‘California Late’
Allium sativum’California Late' is the most common garlic grown in the United States.
It produces large bulbs with stronger flavor than ‘California Early’ and matures later.
Its bulbs are largearound 3 inches wideand produce many cloves.
When grown from cloves, garlic bulbs should be ready to harvest in about eight to nine months.
That depends on how many cloves you plant.
