Growing Garlic In Containers - The Definitive Guide

what do you get when you combine a crop that doesn't need much in the way of soil maintenance or attention of any kind with one that loves regimented and diligent spacing using every inch that you give it efficiently you get container garlic that's what even though it's an impressive root crop with impressive Harvest not only is garlic undemanding it also grows in a perfectly predictable manner no wild and crazy Vines offshoots runners or suckers what you plant is what you get and that's all of these qualities combined that makes garlic perfect for growing in pots and containers so today let's go over everything that you need to know to grow container garlic this fall as well let's plant a few hundred more cloves in the process [Music] foreign [Music] garlic is garlic is garlic and no matter where it's planted the same rules apply and I've already covered every square inch of planting garlic in this video right here so for today I'm just going to quickly recap the main points of planting garlic anywhere you choose before we get into growing them in containers specifically garlic is a 100 self-sufficient crop and then it's grown from Itself by planting the individual cloves inside the bulb beginning in early fall about a month before your first fall frost date plant your hard neck garlic cloves four inches apart one to three inches deep in moist organic Rich pH neutral soil if you're growing soft neck varieties all of that still applies except that you can plant it in the spring as well provided you live in a warmer climate and if the name's hard neck and soft neck garlic seem like gibberish to you you're probably not alone they're simply terms that refer to the two types of garlic that we can grow hard neck varieties are always planted in the fall and they're normally grown in cooler climates with a real winter like where I live on the other hand varieties of the softnet kind are usually reserved for warmer regions as they don't require a Winter Chill to ball Bop either way no matter where you live when or what type of garlic you grow it's all planted using these parameters and this goes for container garlic as well great so what's different about it why do we need a separate video on container garlic if it's just grown the same way well let me tell you from experience there's definitely nuances to growing garlic and pots or containers if you want to be successful with it and that's why we're here today just like all of our other crops garlic doesn't know if it's in a pot with a few friends or if it's in a raised bed with hundreds like all plants garlic reacts to its environment meaning its available space moisture nutrients temperatures and Light so if it's planted the same no matter where we grow it why the discrepancy with container gardening well it's because a few of those parameters we just mentioned change pretty drastically when you're growing containers namely available space moisture and temperatures let's go over why those parameters may be a little bit different when you're growing garlic in containers then to illustrate those points let's put up a few different sizes so you can see it in action first up pots and containers have markedly less space than a huge plot or raised bed obviously so even though the spacing rules stay the same the application changes somewhat instead of picture perfect meet side-by-side rows we're now either resolved to either single file or circular patterns the garlic still needs the same amount of space to grow four to six inches between each bulb it's just accomplished a little differently next whenever we're growing in smaller containers the plants inside are going to be subject to inherently more vicious temperature swings with less Mass to buffer itself containers can reach scorching temperatures in the summer especially considering that most pots are black in color absorbing greater solar radiation per square inch and in the winter exposed containers are subject to the full force of the bitter cold meaning some garlic even the cold tolerant varieties could freeze and perish and lastly one benefit of container growing is that it almost always affords excellent drainage no plant likes to stand in soaking wet anaerobic conditions and this is definitely the case with garlic with too much water and not enough air in the soil profile garlic bulbs quickly rot in fact it's one of the most common reasons for garlic crop failure and on the flip side going back to those high temperatures if the soil is constantly high in temperature and the drainage is free and fast well you can see how garlic would dry out pretty quickly so the amount we have to water in the summer skyrockets sure a nice thick mulch layer is going to help with this but no question in hot weather pots need watering but you know what increased watering does well it washes the soil it washes the soil of organic matter as well as nutrients so if we're constantly diluting that soil that means we gotta add nutrients back in and that's an added cost that's not often factored in one more way that growing garlic in containers is slightly different okay that's more than a few things to think about so while that digests let's go ahead and put up a few of those different size containers so we can see the spacing and see how it all works garlic is quite versatile and it can be planted in many different container setups today let's look at the three most common traditional plastic pots larger fabric GO bags and the long shallow herb planters herb Planters tend to mimic the regular garden rose the best so let's start there no matter what pots you use successful container garlic all starts with the soil organic potting mix is designed for container growing is what you're after here and of those the choices are many most are going to be a compost peat moss base and this is perfect because garlic loves that you can definitely make your own using your own compost with some peat moss or better yet use some more environmentally friendly coconut fiber this is smart if you're going to be growing more than one container especially if you're using those fabric grow bags they take a lot of soil okay back to the herd Planters let's fill it up right to the top and then compress it down nice and firmly to really pack that soil in at four feet wide and just shy of six inches deep these Planters do hold a decent amount of soil but I do like to push it down firmly to remove any of the air gaps easy stuff and that's essentially all the prep that's needed we're ready to plant take the largest of your individual garlic cloves and begin pushing them in pointy Side Up root side down for Zone nine I push mine down about an inch deep if you're colder than that you're going to want to go a bit deeper keep them at least four inches apart from each other and two inches away from the sides they push in super easy and in a four foot her planter I get at least eight cloves now garlic should be watered right after it's first planted especially with dry soil like this but we're gonna need to mulch first otherwise that soil is just going to be blasted everywhere for garlic straw is always my mulch of choice and I lay it on about an inch thick before watering okay that's it after about four minutes the herb style planter is fully planted continuing on let's try one of the fabric grow bags for me I tend to use the 5 7 or 10 gallon sizes and they work extremely well for garlic today for this example let's use the five gallon one same thing fill the bag up with that quality potting mix I'm going to put a little bit less in for this one so that we can see the final spacing a bit clearer again push the largest cloves into plant but this time instead of a straight line we're going to work our way around the circumference of the grow bag using a circular fashion I find that for every gallon it works out to about one clove planted so for a five gallon pot I'm gonna do four around the outside and then one in the center easy stuff to finish the planting I'll just cover those cloves up with a bit more of that soil mulch them and water one more container in the bag lastly we have your regular plastic pots using the rule of one clove per gallon I should be able to get three cloves in this three gallon pot while traditional pots can work well I find they're a bit of a waste of space they always seem to be so tall and after you do a few dozen of them that seems like a big waste of soil either way it's the same process soil to the top space out the cloves push them into the right depth mulch water and we're done all right with the garlic all planted up mulched watered and in the case you spring soft neck Growers fertilized let's talk about the care that's needed to see this extra long crop through the temperatures are dropping and I can really feel winter coming on and this brings us to our first concern with container garlic and that is the temperature yes garlic can Sprout roots in some pretty cool temperatures and the clothes themselves need that winter chilling period to stimulate the bulbing process but too cold and they can definitely perish if your growing container garlic in zone 6 7 and 8 you're gonna need to take extra precautions during the winter and if you're in the colder parts of zone 6 or even five or four well container garlic may not be for you you can still try I have seen it done it's just a little bit trickier and one of the first things you can do when planting garlic in colder climates is the plant that cloves a bit deeper get those cloves below the soil upwards of three inches from the top of the clove to the top of the soil for a little bit more protection as well go with a thicker mulch in fact you can mulch up to a foot or more all you need to do is remove it in the spring both of these things are going to afford the developing bulb a little bit more protection over that winter period in a pot though even these seven gallon ones that's not enough because the sides are still exposed so we gotta get creative one way is to stack all our pots together to simulate one big large bed this will create more thermal Mass leaving only part of the pots exposed another way is to place your pots along a fence or structure just like stacking all the pots together this is going to mitigate some of that exposure no matter how bad the winter gets whatever you do don't bring your garlic inside garlic starts its life out as a cold weather crop and it needs that winter rest to stimulate bulb formation without proper bulb setting your chances at a successful Harvest next year goes way down sure protect the garlic especially if you live in a colder climate but not so much that you break the much needed winter dormancy garlic is meant to start its life off cold after you've figured out a winter location for your garlic you can now start to think about watering this is the question I get asked most often to the surprise of most people I normally only water my garlic once when I plant it and that's it I won't water again until spring it's a hard concept to grasp but it makes sense when you think about it one I planted the garlic just before winter which is my wettest four months of the year if anything these containers are gonna get too much water and two the garlic is essentially dormant there's no leaves to take up and transpire the moisture so watering is just not a huge priority right now the thing we should always remember is no climate's the same and there's no such thing as a universal watering schedule for any crop let alone garlic so garlic does like it moist but never saturated if we're in the dormancy phase like we are now I tend to err on the side of being too dry once we start getting into the leaf and bulb formation stage I'll give it a lot more water but again what that looks like for me is probably going to look very different for you your climate is going to vary from mine and so is your watering schedule luckily like we mentioned before containers tend to drain very well so the risk of saturation is pretty minimal keep the soil slightly moist but never soggy and you'll do good come springtime your garlic is going to be one of the first crops to sprout and this is especially true with the container kind as the pots tend to heat up faster at this point we can now do our first round of fertilizing for garlic you want to use a balanced organic liquid feed that skews slightly higher in nitrogen dilute to the manufacturer's specifications and water it in thoroughly really soak it in nice and good the fertilizer is for the roots not the foliage and not the top one inch of soil amazingly for a crop that's grown for nearly an entire calendar year garlic is actually only fertilized twice once right when that garlic first sprouts in the spring like we just talked about and then I'll give it another good feeding in the early summer about six to eight weeks before Harvest Time and what about that Harvest well container garlic is harvested in the exact same manner as your regular bed or plot garlic the only thing that I found over the 12 plus years of growing garlic is that the container stuff can be ready a little bit sooner everything else is exactly the same and it's quite simple beginning early to mid-summer eight to ten months after you've first planted your hard neck garlic the foliage on the plants begins to fail it turns yellow brown and crisp once two to three sets of the top leaves have done this you know the bulbs are ready to dig up if it's your first time and maybe you're a bit unsure garlic has grown right at the surface so just move a little bit of mulch and soil aside and take a peek just like with our regular bed garlic you want to be digging out the bulbs rather than yanking on the stems the one benefit of container garlic though is it's usually planted in a nice new loose potting mix so the bulbs come up much easier in fact once you get a couple of those bulbs up the soil in the pot is so Disturbed they kind of all come up at once easy peasy fresh harvested garlic can be eaten right away no doubt it's delicious but garlic is an all at once crop you're never going to be able to eat that much garlic right in the beginning so we need to find a way to store it after harvest I grew my garlic into bundles for easier handling 7 to 12 balls per bundle seems to be ideal luckily it's pretty simple hang your garlic up in a dry well aerated location such as a garage shed or even a greenhouse for about three to four weeks you really want to let those outery paper layers harden up here you can see the benefit of bundling that garlic up into those groups instead of hanging a hundred bulbs individually up to cure I can hang 10 bundles and be done in about five minutes let the bulbs sit like this for at least three to four weeks no question it's this step here that's gonna dictate the longevity of storage for your harvested garlic after that trim the roots as well as any of that excess soil cut the stems of the hard neck varieties down to about two inches and remove one to two of those dirty outery paper layers what you're left with is a picture perfect bulb of garlic that's gonna last you anywhere from four to seven months and for a detailed video that dives into all things garlic harvesting check out that link right there it really does leave no garlic bulb Unturned at this point we've come full circle and the garlic that you've harvested is gonna be ready for fall planting in a couple of months it's an amazing cycle of self-sufficiency that you just don't get with other crops but for us here today that was a lot of info to cover both in general and for container garlic specifically so for maximum attention let's spend a little bit of time right now on those main takeaways on how to grill your own container garlic successfully garlic is not only undemanding and low maintenance it also grows in a perfectly predictable manner this makes it more than ideal for container gardening as long as your container is at least six inches deep and it drains well you can grow garlic successfully in just about anything beginning four weeks before your first fall frost date plant your largest hard neck garlic cloves one to three inches deep in your container of choice using your favorite potting soil foreign mulch thoroughly water well and the work is essentially done containers do inherently become more exposed to the elements over winter so do find them some shelter either group them together or by using adjacement placement come springtime your garlic will be quick to sprout and that's when you can give it its first feeding over the spring summer keep your garlic pots moist but never saturated they can be fertilized the second and final time roughly eight weeks later nearing mid to late summer the foliage on your garlic is going to begin to fail this lets us know that the bulbs are ready to harvest make sure to dig up those bulbs carefully because damaging them now is gonna ruin their chances for long-term storage [Music] after you've harvested all your garlic hang those bulbs up to dry for about four weeks clean them up and you've just successfully grown container garlic [Music] container garlic more than any other crop it actually feels like an advantage to be growing them in the smaller portable pots certainly a benefit for those patio and space challenge gardeners though even traditional Growers might like it if they give it a try for me I like growing it both ways but I gotta admit container garlic was one of the first crops that I truly mastered so it's always going to have a special place in my garden hopefully after today's video and all the things that we covered with container garlic you guys find the same success with it as well hey guys thanks so much for watching this concludes the garlic growing Guide Series for the most in-depth look at harvesting your own garlic check out that video right there as well check out the playlist below to every garlic video I've ever made [Music]

Channel: The Ripe Tomato Farms

Views: 324,823

Keywords: how to grow garlic, planting garlic, growing garlic, the ripe tomato farms, how to grow garlic at home, garlic, growing garlic from cloves, growing garlic from store bought garlic, growing garlic at home, growing garlic at home indoors, garlic planting, garlic plant care, garlic plant problems, planting garlic bulbs, fall gardening, planting bulbs, planting garlic in containers, planting garlic in fall, planting garlic from cloves, how to plant garlic, when to plant garlic

Id: 8vDWcku-xRk

Length: 23min 3sec (1383 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 30 2022