Growing Garlic from a Single Clove

Growing garlic is very easy to do. All you will need is a single clove to grown an entire head of garlic.  But you can’t just buy garlic from the store and think that it will grow into garlic heads.

Most of the garlic sold in the supermarket has been treated so that it will not sprout.   Organic Garlic Works best. You can get it in the organic section of your supermarket, from the farmer’s market or online from sources such as Amazon.(affiliate link)

Growing Garlic is easy to do.

I got mine from the supermarket.  It looked like this:

Organic garlic is more expensive than normal garlic but it normally has very large cloves (sometimes mistakenly called Elephant garlic for this reason).

For growing garlic, large cloves are what you want.  This photo shows how large they are.  I use organic garlic in all my recipes daily.  It’s full of flavor.

Directions for growing the garlic in the ground:

• Fall is the time to plant garlic. It loves the cold and will be ready to use next spring and summer.
• Just place the end of the clove with the root down into the soil the same way that you plant any other bulb.  You do not need to remove the paper slip from the clove.  The dark area will turn into a root in time.
• The larger the clove, the larger the head will become.
• If you plant the garlic in pots, place your container in a warm part of your home with direct sunlight, or outside on a deck or porch, and wait for the garlic to root itself and begin to send up new shoots.
• Once the garlic has become established in the soil, cut back the scapes (the shooting flowery tendrils) and the plant will begin to put all its resources into growing a big delicious garlic bulb.
• In order for the garlic to form a bulb, most types require at least 40 days with the temperatures below 40º F.
• After getting those cold days, the garlic will split into several new cloves and form bulbs.  Generally this will take about 6 months.
• Harvesting the garlic is the fun part.  See more information on planting and harvesting garlic here.

Once you have completed this process, just take off another clove and start all over again.  You can also plant it directly into the soil in zones 3 and warmer.  It has a long growing season but planting in the fall will ensure that your bulbs will be larger and more flavorful next summer.

The clue for harvest time is when the tops start to go yellow and fall over.

If you want to grow the garlic in a pot, follow the steps above as well as these:  The pot will need to be at least 8 inches in diameter with a similar depth, to allow for good grown of the roots.  Plant the cloves about 4 inches apart to allow for the bulb to swell. They will grow best in rich compost.  Keep the compost mixture evenly moist but not wet.

Ready to head to the store for organic garlic?

And if you find that your head of garlic has already sprouted, you can use it as an indoor plant to grow garlic greens.

See more gardening tips.

 Note:  As a word of caution, there are some states where it is not legal to do grown garlic from store bought garlic. Idaho is one that a reader alerted me to, and in this state they are required to purchase garlic for planting at a local store like Zamzow’s or D and B Supply. The reason, is to protect the cash crops. Be sure to check with your local agricultural agencies to see if yours in one too.

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