Garlic that you grow yourself is both safer and less expensive than garlic purchased at the supermarket. Garlic thrives in the sun or indoors, with a little care and attention, and it is very easy to grow yourself. You can get an endless supply of this health-boosting plant by planting and growing garlic.
Garlic is a member of the onion, leek, and chive family, and it may be consumed raw or cooked. Garlic is a delicious ingredient in numerous dishes and has a variety of health benefits. You should eat more of it. Garlic fights coughs and promotes heart health in addition to being a natural antibiotic.
The majority of garlic sold in supermarkets is treated with chemicals to prevent it from sprouting, which is one reason to grow your own. As a result, whenever choosing the best variety of garlic to cultivate on your own, buy organic garlic. You’ll learn how to cultivate garlic and get the greatest tips for ensuring a excellent harvest in this step-by-step instruction. To begin with, here are a few reasons why you should add more garlic to your diet.
How to Grow Garlic – The Ultimate Step by Step Guide
You can learn more about the benefits of adding more garlic to your diet later in the article. Let’s learn how to cultivate garlic in a garden or indoors via containers.
Buying Garlic to Grow Your Own
Just a few organic garlic cloves are all you need to get started growing your own garlic. A local farmer’s market, plant nursery, or online seller may all be options for buying a few garlic bulbs. Since it has most likely been treated with chemicals to impede development, garlic purchased at the supermarket isn’t appropriate for growing your own. To grow at home, there are two major varieties of garlic:
Softneck garlic. Large bulbs with up to 20 cloves are produced by softneck garlic varieties. In warmer climates or with milder winters, softneck garlic thrives. Persian star, Mother of Pearl, and Red Toch are some excellent softneck garlic varieties.
Hardneck (stiffneck) garlic. Hardneck garlic varieties prefer cold temperatures to thrive. They don’t store as long as softneck garlic and have a less pungent flavor than hardneck. “Carpathian, Spanish Roja, and German White” are some of the hardneck garlic types that you can grow at home. If you live in a warm climate, choose softneck garlic varieties; if you live in a colder climate, choose hardneck garlic varieties when deciding which type of garlic to grow at home.
Planting
Planting garlic in late autumn or winter before the ground freezes is the best way to get the most benefits from growing garlic. In the Northern hemisphere, the Royal Horticulture Society recommends planting garlic bulbs around Christmas.2 Garlic thrives in rich soil and needs sufficient nitrogen.
Here is how to plant garlic for best growth:
- Instead of peeling the bulb, break it up into individual cloves.
- Keep the cloves 4–6 inches (10cm – 15cm) apart and bury them 2 inches (5cm) deep.
- Planting a garlic clove with the pointed end upwards is recommended.
- Fill in the gaps with soil and water thoroughly.
To keep the area protected from freezing during the winter, cover it with mulch or straw if you reside in colder areas. You can remove the mulch once the threat of frost has passed.
Growing
Some garlic types develop flower shoots from the earth in the springtime. These appear on the flower stalk like tiny bulbs. If you don’t remove these, your garlic plants won’t grow as big. Garlic requires very little attention while growing, just weeds removal and occasional watering during dry spells.
Garlic requires to be watered well in the Northern hemisphere throughout May and June (the Southern hemisphere’s November and December). The bulbs develop in the earth during these months. Unless the weather is dry and hot, you don’t have to water garlic as much at other times.
Feeding
Garlic should be fed every four weeks throughout the growing seasons. This will allow the garlic bulbs to grow as large as possible, as it will provide the necessary nutrients. A natural fertilizer with high nitrogen levels should be used. To encourage healthy garlic development, seek out fertilizers that contain dolomite, blood, and bone compounds.
Harvesting
When the stalks have turned brown, garlic is ready to harvest in the summertime. You shouldn’t tug on the stalks while harvesting garlic. Dig them up carefully with a garden fork or spade, taking care not to damage them. You must let the whole bulbs dry to store garlic. Leave garlic in a shady, well-ventilated spot for roughly two weeks to cure for storage.
During this time, make sure that the garlic bulbs don’t get wet and don’t break the bulbs apart. You know when the bulbs have dried adequately when the root crown is hard and you can easily separate the cloves.
However, your freshly-grown garlic is suitable for eating and adding to dishes as soon as you take it out the ground.
Storage
Garlic bulbs may be kept between 4 and 8 months depending on the variety. Garlic hardnecks preserve for 4 to 6 months, whereas garlic softnecks preserve for about 8 months. You should preserve the papery outer wrappers on and keep the garlic bulbs intact in order to store it properly.
You should remove about 2cm from the top of the bulb for hardneck garlic types. To allow air to flow around them, store them in mesh bags. Softneck garlic stems may be braided and hung in a cool, dry area.
Common problems with growing garlic
Garlic is a natural pest repellent that is easy to grow and has a long lifespan. When growing garlic, however, there are a few common issues. Garlic buds and leaves may be destroyed by birds that pick at them. Cover the garlic plant with horticultural mesh to keep birds away.
Soil-borne fungus, according to the Royal Horticultural Society, can cause garlic bulbs to rot. Yellowing and wilting stems are the visible signs of white rot in garlic. 3 The leaves of the leek will turn bright yellow, and humidity may worsen the condition. Leek rust (which also affects garlic) will appear around the base of the bulb.
Growing Garlic Indoors
Having an all-year supply of garlic is easy to do with growling indoors. Pests and fungal infections that may harm your garlic crop are also helped by this. Just a suitable container, enough sunlight, and a little care and attention are all you need. With drainage holes, your pot should be at least 8 inches (20cm) deep. You’ll need a pot big enough to leave 4 inches (10 cm) between cloves if you want to plant more than one clove in a pot.
Place the container in an area that gets a lot of sunlight. You must make sure the soil is moist while the garlic is growing. The temperature in your house and the quantity of sunlight your garlic gets are factors that determine how often you water it. You should cut off blooming flowers as soon as they appear, just like you would with garlic growing outdoors. The size of the garlic bulb will be maximized as a result of this.
Top Reasons to Eat More Garlic
What are some of the health benefits of increasing your intake of garlic now that you know how simple it is to cultivate it at home? Garlic may benefit your health in a variety of ways. Here are a few of them. You should use fresh, crushed garlic when applying it to treat infections and promote overall health. For the allicin and other medicinal compounds to form properly, always leave crushed garlic in a room temperature for 10 minutes.
Prevention of the common cold
Garlic’s antiviral and antimicrobial properties help to prevent the common cold. People who consume garlic on a regular basis are less likely to catch a cold, according to one research into the benefits of garlic in cold prevention. Garlic aided in the healing process if they were already sick.
Garlic is a natural antibiotic
Garlic contains antibiotics that may help to eliminate infections and other chemicals. Sulphur compounds in garlic, according to a research published in The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, are effective at killing off drug-resistant bacteria such as MRSA.6 For the best medicinal benefits, you should use fresh garlic.
To cure bacterial skin infections naturally, for example, mix a tablespoon of crushed garlic with a tablespoon of coconut oil. Please read my article on the 6 frequent errors to avoid while using garlic as an antibiotic if you want to learn how to properly utilize it medicinally.
Garlic is antifungal
Several fungal diseases, such as ringworm and candida yeast illnesses, may also be treated with fresh garlic. Freshly crushed garlic, according to the publication Microbes and Infection, has antifungal properties that are particularly effective against the fungal pathogen Candida albicans. E. was also wiped off the face of the Earth. Bacteria, nematodes, and other coli pests.
Anti-cancer properties
Some research have suggested that garlic may protect against a variety of cancers. Garlic intake has been linked to a decreased risk of lung cancer, as well as stomach, colon, liver, and ovarian cancer, according to the journal Cancer Prevention Research.
Garlic for heart health
The importance of a healthy heart diet is well-known. Garlic has the ability to benefit your cardiovascular system by improving its health. According to the Nutrition Journal, regular consumption of garlic lowers cholesterol, prevents blood clots, lowers blood pressure, and helps prevent heart attacks while also maintaining a normal pulse.
Garlic for diabetes
If you have diabetes, eating garlic is a fantastic idea. Individuals with type 2 diabetes may benefit from garlic because it lowers blood pressure. According to one research, administering garlic to diabetics increased HDL cholesterol levels (“good cholesterol”) by a significant amount. Garlic may help lower LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol) in persons with type 2 diabetes, according to the research.