The Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is one of the major health remedies that land has to offer and, in fact, has medicinal properties backed by science. Garlic has a substance called allicin, which has antibacterial properties.
In addition, it is a natural antibiotic and has sulfur compounds that help detoxify the body, reduce blood pressure, improve blood circulation, stimulate the immune system, etc. Garlic is a vegetable that is used in Mediterranean cuisine and has a strong and spicy flavor.
Formerly it was grouped within the lily family, but today it is located within the amaryllidae. Read on to learn how to plant garlic.
When are garlic planted?
If you are lucky enough to have a garden or patio in your house and want to create your own vegetable garden, you will surely be interested in knowing how to plant garlic.
The sowing of garlic should be carried out during the autumn, from October to January for the northern hemisphere, and from April to July for the southern hemisphere, depending as long as the climate of each zone. In Spain, it is best to do it in November.
How to plant garlic?
Planting garlic is really easy and if you have never done it before, you will get excited when you know that with such a head of garlic you will be able to obtain new plants. Remove the cloves of garlic or bubos, avoiding taking the ones in the center of the head because they do not grow in the same way. Plant the garlic cloves directly into the ground at a depth of 3 cm, placing them with the tip facing up. In this way, your leaves will come out more easily.
If you have any doubts about which is the tip of the garlic, you should simply look at a clove of garlic to notice that one of its parts is flatter and that another ends in a tip. This part is what should go up.
Between plants and plants, you should leave about 15 cm apart. If you are going to plant garlic in a pot, you should do it in a 6-liter pot. Between each clove of garlic, you should leave a span of approximately. Remember that you will have to consider 3 liters for each garlic, so in a 6-liter pot, you will only get two.
Care
Garlic is undemanding when it comes to watering, although it likes moist soils, but not waterlogged. If you puddle the soil, the garlic will rot. Use soil that does not retain moisture too much. The ideal is to use a loose substrate, although it adapts to any type of soil. On the other hand, do not compost with manure because the plants will rot.
Although it is not a demanding plant in terms of the climate, it is true that it loves the sun and the cold to grow well. For this reason, you should plant the garlic in a place where it is very sunny, both in the planter and in the garden area. When flowers come out, cut them to give the plant strength. The bud of the garlic flower that is cut is delicious, so it is advisable to make salads with it.
When to harvest garlic and how to propagate
It has three and a half months from the garlic planting, although when the leaves wilt, it will be time to collect them. On the other hand, to propagate garlic, you will only have to plant the garlic cloves as we have explained previously.
Pests and diseases of garlic cultivation
As with all plants, garlic can also be affected by parasitic causes such as the moth, the onion fly, the ringworm of garlic and onion, and the garlic weevil.
