If you want to constantly have fresh garlic in your house, you can easily grow new plants from the cloves. However, the varieties differ in terms of when they are planted and harvested. The plugging itself is easy.
How to properly plant a clove of garlic?
To plant a clove of garlic, remove the daughter cloves from the bulb, insert them into the prepared soil with the flat end down and at a slight angle. Cover the toes with a maximum of 5 cm of soil and leave a distance of 10-15 cm between plants.
Spring or winter garlic
You can plant garlic cloves in fall or spring. Spring planting is recommended because winter garlic is more often attacked by pests and the bed requires care in spring. The frost-hardy varieties produce larger yields, while spring garlic develops smaller bulbs. This is suitable for beginners due to its low maintenance requirements.
Planting dates:
- Spring garlic: between mid-February and mid-April
- Winter garlic: from mid-September to early October
Preparations
Garlic thrives optimally on a harvested bed. If you want to grow garlic yourself, you should prepare the soil. Clear the area of weeds and loosen the substrate with a plow. Mix around two liters of compost into the soil per square meter. A planting line marks the row and makes planting easier. Take a garlic bulb and remove the cloves from the round.
Planting instructions
The daughter tubers are inserted into the soil with the bottom facing down so that they are covered by a maximum of five centimeters of substrate. Place the toes in the planting hole at a slight angle. This measure prevents the development of root rot. There is a distance of ten to 15 centimeters between the plants so that the herbs develop unhindered.
If you missed the optimal planting date, let the garlic cloves germinate on the windowsill. Place these in a mini greenhouse (€31.00 on Amazon) whose bottom has been lined with damp kitchen paper. Place this in a bright place at room temperature. The garlic seedlings are ready for planting as soon as the first shoots appear.
Harvest
Home-grown winter garlic is ready to harvest in the bed from mid-July. Spring garlic requires a little longer for the main and daughter cloves to form, so the harvest takes place a few weeks after the frost-hardy varieties. Since the weather has a major influence on the time of harvest, you should keep an eye on the plants. The right harvest time has come when two-thirds of the leaves have turned yellow.
