growing garlic in pots

1. GROWING GARLIC -TIPS FOR GARLIC IN POTS
GROWING GARLIC
GOT VAMPIRE TROUBLES? GROW YOUR OWN GARLIC
Garlic from New Zealand supermarkets has mostly been imported from China and has been grown with
considerable assistance from herbicides and pesticides. Most of the imports have detectable levels of heavy
metals. In addition, the garlic bulbs are fumigated on arrival at NZ ports.
Growing garlic is super easy in a GreenSmart PotTM. Garlic has plenty of health benefits and is considered
to be a natural antibiotic. Did you know that you will increase the effectiveness of garlic by letting it rest for
a while after chopping it up? Read more here.
The old adage is that growing garlic should be planted before the shortest day and harvested on the
longest day. They thrive on starting out with the chill of approaching winter. Mid April to mid June is the
ideal time to plant your own organic garlic. Chilly winters produce stronger flavoured garlic. Planting can be
done in spring but will result in smaller bulbs. Spring planted bulbs should be kept in the fridge for a few
days before planting to trick the bulbs into thinking they have been through a winter.
HOW SHOULD I GO ABOUT GROWING GARLIC?
This is the ultimate in low care gardening when growing garlic in a self watering planter. It is better to buy
certified bulbs from your local garden centre. You can grow them from regular supermarket garlic but be
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2. suspicious of imported garlic as it will probably have been treated with anti-sprouting chemicals. Start by
gently breaking apart a head of garlic – discard any odd shaped or small cloves. Remove the skin from the
biggest, healthiest cloves. Plant them 5-7 cm deep with the pointed end upwards. If you plant them too
shallow the mature plants will fall over when the plants are full size. You’ll be able to lay out 4 rows of 7
cloves in a large pot or 3 rows of 6 in a small pot. They require full sun – at least 6-8 hours per day. They
like well drained loamy soil with plenty of organic matter. The first shoots will appear after about a month.
Most NZ areas get sufficient rain during the period May to October so the GreenSmart pot will catch plenty
of rain and you won’t need to worry about adding water into the water sight glass until the plants are
more mature in the warmer months. The self watering mechanism will take care of water requirements until
the garlic become thirsty in summer. Avoid overhead watering as it encourages fungal disease on the
leaves. It is easy to add liquid fertilisers (eg comfrey tea or seaweed) into the water sight glass of the
planter. Be sparing with the watering as you want the soil to be moist but not soaking wet. Stop watering a
couple of weeks before harvesting.
WHAT SORT OF FERTILISER IS REQUIRED?
Enrich the potting mix with plenty of organic material. eg poultry or sheep pellets, Yates Dynamic Lifter,
blood and bone, fish fertiliser. Enrich the soil as much as possible.Heavy rain will wash some of the fertiliser
down into the water reservoir from where the self watering action of the wicking section will provide water
to the plants by its capillary action. Once the plants start growing you can add liquid fertiliser into the water
sight glass. This is particularly useful in September-October.
PESTS AND DISEASES
Apply insecticidal soap spray to avoid thrips. Be sure there is good air circulation. (not a problem for
Wellington gardeners!)
COMPANIONS
Growing garlic should also be planned as a beneficial companion plant for a wide range of plants.Avoid
planting garlic with beans and peas.
HARVESTING
The garlic bulbs will be ready to harvest when the lower leaves have turned brown. Usually this will be
about six months after planting. Dig them out- don’t pull them up and don’t damage the outer skin. Save
the biggest bulbs to plant next year.
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Gardening made easy
Ally from Pauanui, Coromandel has been
telling family and friends about
GreenSmart Pots. Here are her
comments: “Gardening made easy. Order
on line and the goods are delivered to
your door in a couple of days. How easy
is that!! I love, love, love your pots . We
only have a Read More ...
Fish Fertiliser in Self
Watering Pots
One of the many fantastic things about
selling GreenSmart Pots is that we get all
sorts of enthusiastic feedback from
gardeners about how they use the pots
and their results. Here’s a description
from Monty of Whangaparoa
about Schnapper Juice fish fertiliser and
how he uses it with GreenSmart self
watering Read More ...

3. garlic harvest
Let them dry in a shady airy spot for three days then allow them to cure for three weeks without trimming
or washing them. Store them in mesh bags or plait the soft necks. Don’t refrigerate. Save the biggest
bulbs to plant next year. You can plant them April to June next year.
garlic plaiting
DIY ORGANIC INSECTICIDE
GreenSmart Pots
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4. Click here for a simple but effective insecticide that you can make from garlic.
Happy gardening,
Bill
2 RESPONSES TO “GROWING GARLIC -TIPS FOR GARLIC IN POTS”
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rennae says:
April 28, 2014 at 11:02 am (Edit)
Hello,
Just wondering, how long will the garlic be good
for once cured?
Thanks,
REnnae
Bill says:
April 29, 2014 at 11:28 am (Edit)
It will keep for 6 months if kept in dry conditions

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