Planting garlic in a pot is an easy task that will take no more than a few minutes. If you care for it properly, you can enjoy its flavour in the warmer seasons. Although popular belief is that winter is a bad season for everything related to plants and planting, the truth is that this is not so definitive. There are some crops, such as garlic, which if planted in December, can be harvested in spring and summer. What makes this month ideal for growing garlic is the cold. This vegetable needs to be exposed to low winter temperatures for a long period of time so that the bulb can divide into cloves. This process is called vernalisation, and if it is not done, you are likely to end up with a single bulb of garlic, similar to an onion. We will explain step by step how to plant it in a pot and leave it in the right way.
1. Choose the right variety of garlic
Keep in mind that it is not advisable to use garlic from the supermarket for planting. The reason is that it contains growth inhibitors that prevent it from sprouting. Instead, opt for garlic sold in nurseries for planting. You can choose between the hardneck variety, which produces garlic bulbs with large cloves but needs intense cold to grow. Or the softneck variety, which produces garlic with small but more abundant cloves. The latter is also suitable for planting in temperate winter areas
2. Prepare the pot and substrate
A key step when planting garlic in December is choosing the right pot. Choose a deep pot so that the bulb has room to grow and develop. If you have one that is 20 or 30 centimetres deep, that will be sufficient. As for the substrate, it needs to have good drainage to prevent waterlogging that could rot the crop. It also needs to be aerated so that the garlic gets more oxygen. A combination of perlite and worm humus is a good alternative.
3. Plant the garlic
Start by separating the cloves from a head of garlic, without removing the skin. Select the largest ones and bury each one in the substrate, between three and five centimetres deep. There should also be a ten-centimetre gap between each clove, so that they have room to grow. If you live in a place with mild winters, in addition to using softneck garlic, it is important to pre-cool the cloves. To do this, simply store the garlic in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator for about fifteen days before planting. This will improve bulb formation.