Ability to grow garlic at home, i.e. on the windowsill, allows you to eat not only the one that has been harvested since the fall, but also fresh, in which quality you can be sure, unlike the purchased one. And for this you do not need special actions, only a basic knowledge of how to plant some plant.
Thanks to our article, you will know how to grow garlic from cloves or seeds on the windowsill. We will tell you in what soil it is better to grow it and whether the vegetable will grow in hydroponics. Let's talk about the conditions of its maintenance and proper care. You can also watch a useful video on this topic.
Differences in planting in the garden and at home
Especially homemade garlic needs careful attention in the winter when there is less sunshine and heat. And it is at this time of the year that most people start to grow it, so that they have an excellent antiviral agent on hand during the season of illness.
Seed material
Winter or spring view?
Most people versed in this business strongly recommend growing winter garlic on the window sill, because it is more resistant to low light or lack of heat, decay also occurs when there is an excess of moisture in the substrate (about how to keep winter garlic in the fall and Is it possible to plant it in the spring, read here). Winter garlic does not have a rest periodso it is great for growing in the winter at home. Spring can also be used, but it has these qualities to a lesser extent.
Variety selection
For planting at home, absolutely any kind of both winter and spring types of garlic will do, so you need to choose only the one grown on the street and which you like because of its taste and quality of storage. But, of course, there are those types of winter garlic that have been tested by experienced practitioners: Sochi - 56, Otradnensky, Kharkov.
It is these varieties give the greatest yield in the winter at home. If the purpose of cultivation - getting garlic feather, you can use the summer summer varieties.
When to start?
Winter varieties, as a rule, are planted at home in the fall or in the winter, because, as mentioned above, this species does not have a rest period, which is its distinctive feature. The term of planting such varieties varies as follows: from late September to early October and from early February to late March.
Summer varieties are planted to produce garlic herbs on the windowsillbecause they give less yield and more arrows. They are planted in the spring: from late April to early May.
Step-by-step instruction
Tank preparation
It will take a sufficiently large capacity for planting: very wide and at least 20 cm deep, so that the water during irrigation does not spill over the edges. The shape of this container plays absolutely no role, just like the material from which it will be made. It all depends on personal preference.
Therefore, the most rational way out will be the independent production of a wooden box with holes made in it in advance to drain excess liquid into the pallet, which also cannot be forgotten.
Seeds and cloves
For planting, you can take seeds, teeth or germinated teeth. Harvesting seeds is a very laborious process, because in the first year the root system is only formed, and in the second, the first shoots appear. It is better to leave this method for the garden and choose teeth. Using teeth, it is possible to get the first shoots already within 1 week after planting, maximum - in 2. Needless to say that already sprouted teeth are an express way of growing garlic, i.e. instant emergence of shoots.
The process itself
So how do you plant garlic, for example, from germinated cloves or seeds, in a pot on a windowsill at home, including in winter? It is necessary to leave some space between the sowing material, 4–5 cm is best. The depth of immersion does not play an important role - in any case shoots will appear. There is only a small difference in the time of their appearance: at a distance of 3 - 4 cm from the surface, they appear in a week, and 5 - 10 cm in only 2 weeks.
Each tooth (dense, dry and clean) is planted separately in a moderately moist soil, where small holes have already been made beforehand, in order to place the teeth upwards with a sharp end. It is not recommended to press the teeth into the substrate, because it will entail its compaction.
If desired, the planting can be divided into several stages: plant teeth in batches with an interval of about 5 to 10 days (depending on the depth at which the tooth will fit) in order to harvest the crop continuously. Also, garlic is sometimes planted in pots with potted plants, it feels great there, and helps to rid the plant of pests, if any. For planting fit any loose soil, even the usual land from the garden.
We recommend to watch a video about growing garlic at home:
What place to put the pot?
The most important condition is a very good illumination with direct sunlight. in the event of a lack of light, fluorescent lamps should be used to provide 8 hours of total illumination. Otherwise, seedlings will appear much later or they will not do it at all.
Care
- It is best to water 1 time in 2 - 3 days, during this period the soil will have time to dry, and the roots will not start to rot from the excess moisture in the substrate.
- You need to fertilize with environmentally friendly additives: mullein or bird droppings. If this is not possible, you can use the purchased feed.
- Lighting should be in the form of direct sunlight and provided 8 hours a day. If the capacitance is in the penumbra, fluorescent lamps should be used.
- If you wish, you can adjust the development: for getting a big head of garlic, you should regularly cut the greens and especially the arrows, and for the greens you don’t need to touch anything.
What time and how to harvest?
Harvesting is possible only when the milk twisted arrows straighten and become strictly vertical, and the leaves begin to dry out and dry. In order to collect the ripe garlic, you need to carefully pull it out of the container and dry it, and then treat it as if it were grown in open ground.
Hydroponic cultivation technology
Growing garlic greens in hydroponics - a method of harvesting without using soil. So how to grow garlic at home on the windowsill through this technique? To do this, it is necessary to clean each garlic clove of the outer coating flakes, pour about half of the shallow cups with water and place the teeth in them. Throughout the growing process, you need to maintain one level of the liquid, and then the harvest can be obtained 2 times: 1 in 3 weeks, and 2 in 2 weeks.
Possible problems and difficulties
The only problem is the illumination, which in most cases is insufficient, and it is precisely because of this that the appearance of the inputs occurs after a specified period. And therefore, before planting garlic at home, you need to make sure that this condition is met, because otherwise all the work involved will be in vain.
Board: If you use a certain type of garlic in a certain period of time when it should grow, then there should be no problems with cultivation, because garlic is very tenacious and able to resist any pest and disease.
Conclusion
The process of growing garlic at home on the windowsill is very entertaining, because everything happens in a short time, and you do not need to wait several months to finally see the results of your labors. It is only important to comply with all the conditions listed above!
