Plant garlic in your own garden - with these instructions you can grow step by step from sticking to harvesting.
It is indispensable in the kitchen and is considered an absolute must in most countries around the world! Garlic (Allium sativum) originally comes from Asia and is very popular worldwide as a spice in cooking. Incidentally, as a relative of onions, leeks and the like, the "bulb" of garlic is also an onion. In this country, the garlic cloves are mostly imported from other countries, and garlic tastes best fresh. The cultivation of the easy-care garlic plants also works very well in our latitudes. The following tips will help you grow garlic successfully in your garden, too.
Plant Garlic
There are a few things to consider when planting garlic so that the cultivation is successful and a decent harvest can be expected.
The ideal location
Garlic plants are not considered to be particularly demanding, but the right location should be chosen when planting (or sticking) the garlic cloves. For cultivation, the soil should be loose and nutrient-rich, sandy loam is ideal. It is very important for the plant that rainwater and irrigation water can drain off. It is therefore essential to avoid waterlogging. Well-drained soils with a high proportion of sand are therefore well suited for growing garlic. Heavy soils with a high proportion of loam or clay are less suitable. A sunny location should also be selected for optimal growth. Garlic is great for growing in mixed cultures because its intense scent keeps unwanted pests such as aphids away. Tomatoes, strawberries and carrots are particularly suitable as neighbors. However, care must be taken not to plant leeks or onions in close proximity to garlic plants, as these close relatives are attacked by the same pests. Crop rotation should therefore also be taken into account: Garlic should never be planted in the same area where leeks (Allioideae) grew the previous year.
These site characteristics are important for garlic cultivation:
- Loose, permeable and nutrient-rich soil
- No waterlogging (such as with very clayey soil)
- Sunny location
- In mixed cultivation with tomatoes, strawberries, carrots
- Do not plant near leeks or onions
- Not as an afterculture of leeks
Planting garlic plants in pots is also possible without any problems. As a shallow root, a depth of 10cm in the pot is sufficient for successful planting. It is important that the water can drain well. Essentially, the same conditions apply to this cultivation as in the bed.
Garlic Varieties - Regular Garlic or Chives?When choosing the right type of garlic, it should first be noted that garlic cloves from the supermarket are only suitable for growing in the garden to a limited extent. The reason is as follows: the varieties that can be bought there are mostly imported from warmer and sunnier countries. They are therefore not used to our cooler climate in this country and do not grow optimally. Suppliers of seeds or onions therefore have a manageable number of varieties for their own gardens. A distinction is made between regular garlic, where the cloves are used, and chives (Allium tuberosum), where the greens of the plant are harvested.
Put garlic
Garlic is a plant best grown from cloves. The garlic cloves can be planted twice a year, in spring and autumn. For sticking, the toes are placed 15-20 cm apart at a depth of 3-4 cm. A row spacing of 30 cm is ideal. Fertilization is not absolutely necessary for the easy-care garlic plant. For an improved nutrient supply, it is still advisable to prepare the soil with green manure and compost before planting. Only dried garlic cloves should be used for sticking to prevent rot. Using budding cloves that are already green on the inside will also shorten the grow time.
The following tips will help you successfully plug the garlic:
- Put in spring and/or autumn
- Preparation of the soil with green manure and compost
- Spacing of 15-20 cm, depth of 3-4 cm, row spacing 30 cm
- Propelled toes mature faster
Caring for Garlic Plants
In principle, the garlic plant is very easy to care for. The application of fertilizer is not absolutely necessary during the vegetation phase of the plant. Although nitrogen fertilizer increases the yield, the taste is weakened. In order to support the slow-growing garlic in the beginning, weeds in the bed should be removed regularly, as they compete with the garlic plant for nutrients. Garlic is also easy to handle when it comes to water: it should be watered sparingly, as the aromatic plant is sensitive to overwatering. Watering should only be done on very hot days.
Caring for garlic plants is easy if you keep these points in mind:
- Fertilization not necessary during growth
- Regular removal of weeds
- Water little - preferably only on hot days
Harvest Garlic
The time of the garlic harvest depends on when the garlic cloves were planted: When planting the garlic in autumn, you can look forward to the first fresh garlic bulbs as early as July. When planted out in spring, ripening takes a few weeks longer, so the harvest time is from August into autumn. It is recommended to harvest the garlic as soon as the top third of the plant begins to wither. For harvesting, the whole plant is pulled out of the ground. Care must be taken not to damage the bulb as this will reduce its shelf life.
In dry weather, the freshly harvested garlic can dry on the bed. To store the garlic, it is a good idea to plait the green part of the plant and hang it up in a well-ventilated, dry place together with the bulb. Garlic can be stored the longest in a dark and cool place. A small note: it should not be stored in the refrigerator, as it loses its aroma after a few days! Alternatively, garlic can be pickled in oil to preserve the aroma.
Diseases and Pests in Garlic
Garlic cannot exactly be called disease-prone - on the contrary, its smell repels pests such as aphids, making it the perfect neighbor in a mixed culture. In rare cases, the otherwise robustGarlic being attacked by onion flies. The larvae of the animals are a typical pest in bulbous plants. The flies lay their eggs in the garlic plant in May, and the larvae then eat their way through the plant. Crop protection nets offer secure protection, and the flies cannot get through the narrow mesh. If the pests do occur, it is advisable to use organic vegetable spreading agents, for example, to increase the plant's resistance. Other problems can occur in very rainy summers or when there is waterlogging. These conditions increase the likelihood of root rot and fungal infections. Affected plants should be removed from the bed. As a rule, however, problems rarely arise with garlic and cultivation is very easy.
Garlic is well known and loved, but have you heard of chives? We will introduce you to chives and explain everything you need to know about cultivation, care and more.
Many thanks to Floragard for the support!