Hobby gardeners have an easy time growing garlic. It starts with sowing the seeds. Since they like to take their time before germinating, impatient garlic growers prefer to tuck in their toes. So it goes smoothly.
Sowing Garlic Seeds. Which seeds?
It's not that easy to get garlic seeds. They are only available in specialist shops for a few weeks in autumn each year. This is because they don't have a long shelf life, having little in common with seeds in the traditional sense.
When we talk about garlic seeds, we actually mean small onions. Following the white or pink flower, they develop into cylindrical shells. Garlic seeds are purple and have a very firm consistency.
If hobby gardeners with their own garlic cultivation are among your friends, there is a good chance of fresh seeds. The onions are cut out of the top hat with a sharp knife.
Dates for sowing are in spring and autumn
Choose a sunny place for sowing that is warm and protected as much as possible at the same time. The soil is ideally loose, humic, rich in nutrients and not too dry. Garlic is sown in February or October.
- work the bed soil into fine crumbs and remove weeds
- rake neatly sifted compost into the clod
- Put the seeds approx. 1-2 cm deep into the soil at a distance of 10-15 cm and water them
The very tightly textured garlic seeds take up to 1 year longer to mature. If that doesn't work quickly enough, put fresh garlic cloves instead. These are larger than seeds and require a planting depth of 5-7 cm.
Sowing garlic correctly in the planter
Commercial vegetable soil serves as a suitable substrate in a bucket or flower box (€16.99). In such a narrow space there is a risk of waterlogging. Therefore, lay a drainage on the ground made of pebbles, grit (€46.95), perlite (€37.51) or crushed potsherds.
If you have a weed control mat handy, spread it out over the drain so it doesn't get clogged by the substrate. Otherwise there are no differences to sowing garlic in the bed.
tips and tricks
Sow garlic between tomatoes, carrots, strawberries or cucumbers. The escaping aroma effectively protects the plant neighbors from pests and diseases.