Gardening Plants & Flowers Herbs

How to Grow and Care for Garlic Indoors

Most people do not grow garlic (Allium sativum) indoors since it doesn't grow well under artificial light, but it is not too hard if you have a bright, full-light window. You'll have the most success growing garlic greens or scapes indoors versus full garlic bulbs. Cloves require chilling for several weeks for them to develop into full bulbs. It is also a slow-growing plant that takes six months or more to grow from planted cloves to full bulbs.

Garlic and other onion family members are toxic to dogs and cats. Toxicity is more pronounced in bulbs, although leaves are also toxic to pets. Do not grow it indoors if your pets nibble on your houseplants.

items for planting new garlic indoors

The Spruce / Michele Lee 

Common Name Garlic
Botanical Name Allium sativum
Plant Type Bulb, vegetable
Toxicity Toxic to pets

Can You Grow Garlic Inside?

Garlic is perfectly suitable for apartments or homes, provided you have a sunny location with at least six hours of sunlight to grow it. A south- or west-facing window would likely work best. If growing garlic for their shoots, plant the cloves close together. To grow bulbs, first, chill the bulbs in the refrigerator or another cold location for several weeks before planting.

Like many perennial bulbs, garlic—especially the hardneck varieties—must have this cold dormant period for the planted cloves to develop into mature bulbs. A chilling period is less crucial for softneck types, which will grow more successfully without the chilling period. Softneck varieties are often preferred for indoor growing.

When planted indoors in early fall after a chilling period of several weeks, you may have harvestable bulbs by early to late spring if the plants get plenty of sunlight. But if your goal is just green shoots to snip off for cooking, the chilling period is unnecessary. The green shoots should be large enough before you begin snipping them off for cooking.

How to Grow Garlic Indoors

Garlic bulbs are typically broken into cloves and planted in pots for indoor growing at the end of the outdoor gardening season, whenever that might occur in your region.

Sunlight

Garlic needs at least six hours of direct sun per day, which can be hard to achieve during the short days of winter. Garlic bulbs will not thrive with artificial light. If you want to develop full garlic bulbs, plant only one clove in each container, then place it in the sunniest location (usually a south-facing window) to get full sun all day. If you are growing garlic just for the greens, it won't need quite as much sunlight.

Temperature and Humidity

Garlic can grow indoors all year long if kept out of sweltering temperatures or freezing temperatures. A range of 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal. Garlic is native to relatively arid regions of central Asia and Iran, so it thrives in dry conditions. There is no need to bolster humidity to grow indoor garlic.

Watering

Water garlic often enough so that the soil stays moist but not wet. Within one to two weeks, you should see green garlic shoots coming through the soil. Usually, garlic plants should get about 1 inch of water per week; however, with really fast-draining sandy soil, give up to 2 inches per week. The rule of thumb is not based on inches but more on touch—water the pot whenever the potting mix feels dry to the touch.

Fertilizer

If you are growing garlic for the bulbs, feed the plants twice a month with a water-soluble balanced fertilizer diluted to half strength. Feeding is not necessary for garlic that you are growing only for the greens.

Pruning and Maintenance

Wait until the shoots get a couple of inches tall before you start snipping them with scissors to use the greens for cooking. Leave about 1 inch of the green shoot on each clove so the shoot will continue to grow.

If your aim is mature bulbs, be patient—garlic cloves take a long time to develop into bulbs for harvest. When the leaf shoots begin to turn brown, withhold all watering. Within a couple of weeks, the shoots will be entirely dried out, and the bulbs should be ready to harvest for cooking. If you wish, garlic bulbs can be stored in a dark, cool place for several months to be used as needed.

Container and Size

A simple clay pot at least 6 inches deep with a drainage hole in the bottom makes a suitable container for growing garlic, but other containers can also work. The width of the container depends on how many cloves you plant.

If growing bulbs, plant them at least 6 inches apart. If only growing greens, you can plant the cloves next to each other in a single pot. Ensure the container has drainage holes, and if it doesn't, make holes.

If using a ceramic container that doesn't already have drainage holes, drill drainage holes with a special ceramic bit. If using a metal can, such as a leftover coffee can, bore drainage holes using a hammer and nail. Use a regular drill to bore holes in a plastic planting container.

Potting Soil and Drainage

Garlic bulbs like well-draining soil and may rot if left soaking in soggy soil. For this reason, container drainage holes are a must. To prevent the potting mix substrate from leaking out of the pots' drainage holes, cover drainage holes at the bottom of the container with a paper towel, coffee filter, or a piece of plastic window screen.

As for the best potting soil to use with indoor garlic, it thrives in loamy, sandy soils. Do not use garden soil or bagged topsoil since it will not drain well when confined in a container. Plant garlic in peat, perlite, vermiculite, coconut fiber, potting mix, or compost.

covering the drainage hole with a paper towel
The Spruce / Michele Lee

Potting and Repotting Garlic

You can use any mature garlic bulb you've grown outdoors for indoor planting or purchased as a seed garlic bulb. Many growers recommend storing the bulbs in a refrigerator for a few weeks before planting them in the fall.

Split the garlic bulb into cloves by prying it open. Keep as much of the skin on as possible, though it's okay to brush off parts of the dry, papery husks. Discard any cloves that are soft or show signs of decay.

Fill the container with a standard potting mix so the surface is about 2 inches below the rim. Plant the cloves pointy-side-up in the container, embedding them halfway into the potting mix. Leave at least 6 inches between cloves if growing bulbs. You can plant the cloves close together for garlic greens but don't allow them to touch.

Fill the container with more potting mix until it covers the garlic by about 1/2 inch, making sure to fill in all the spaces between the cloves. Pat the soil down gently. Water slowly until water comes out of the bottom of the container. Add more potting mix if you see any garlic cloves poking through.

splitting the garlic head into cloves
The Spruce / Michele Lee

Moving It Outside for the Summer

Considerations

You can take an indoor-outdoor hybrid approach to grow your garlic by bringing it outside once it's already sprouting on your windowsill in the spring. Garlic is a sun lover, and it's also a cold-hardy bulb outdoors. It is a USDA zone 4 hardy plant, which can withstand temperatures as low as -30°F.

Growing it outdoors in the full sun will give it the extra kick it needs to develop the flower and bulb to full size. On sweltering days, provide more water to sustain the plant through a hot spell. Usually, by July, it's time to harvest the bulbs when the green tops have browned.

When to Bring Garlic Back Inside

Garlic doesn't have to be brought back inside since it can overwinter in the ground or containers. In winter, it enters a dormancy state. As soon as the temperatures warm, it triggers the plant to come out of dormancy and spur growth.

However, if you want garlic greens throughout the winter, move them inside before temperatures turn sweltering hot. Hot temperatures, intense sun, and a lack of water will make the sprouts brown. When sprouts turn brown, it indicates that the bulb is mature and ready to harvest.

Gradually acclimate your garlic to life inside over two weeks to prevent shocking or stressing the plant. Bring the plant in for two hours, then four hours the next day, then six, and so on.

Before bringing your plants indoors, inspect them carefully for hitchhiking bugs. If you notice a few insects or a pest infestation, deal with the problem outside before bringing it indoors. Keep an eye out for damaging onion thrips. Thrips have wings but are not great fliers. They look more like long worms with long legs. Control thrips by washing the plants with water, planting sticky traps, treating them with neem oil or pyrethrin, or, as a last resort, chemical pesticides.

FAQ
  • What varieties are best for indoor growing?

    There are two basic types of garlic: hardneck and softneck. The softneck varieties are best suited for indoor growing since hardnecks prefer colder temperatures. Popular softneck varieties include 'Silverskin,' 'Inchelium Red,' 'California Early,' and 'California Late.'

  • Can you plant a store-bought garlic clove?

    Store-purchased garlic bulbs can be used for planting, but growth results are less reliable than bulbs sold as "seed garlic." Seed garlic is the best quality bulb, particularly sold for planting and growing garlic.

    Grocery store garlic is sometimes sprayed with a sprout inhibitor, making it less likely to sprout in the soil. Since grocery store garlic is sometimes stored for many months, older bulbs are less viable than younger bulbs.

  • Is garlic a type of onion?

    Garlic is in the allium family, so it's closely related to onions (Allium cepa), but it is a separate species from onions.

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  1. Garlic. American Society for the Prevention of the Cruelty to Animals.