How to Grow Garlic in Containers (and When to Plant It)

A clove pushed into a pot this October grows roots before the freeze and rests all winter. By June or July it is a full bulb of garlic.

Garlic does grow in a pot, and fall is the most reliable time to start it. It needs a stretch of cold to form a bulb.

One deep pot or a trough is enough. Buy cloves at a garden center, plant them about 2 inches deep, and protect the pot from repeated freezing and thawing.

Plant in fall, and let your first frost set the week

Garlic is a long, slow crop. Planted in October, it is harvested in June or July, about eight or nine months later.

Read your area’s first frost date, then plant within a few weeks either side of it.

Rutgers Cooperative Extension says to plant in October, three to eight weeks before the first frost. South Dakota State puts it one to three weeks after the first killing frost. In Oregon’s Willamette Valley the window runs September through mid-November.

Hardneck or softneck, in one line each

• Hardneck: fewer, larger cloves that peel easily, and a flower stalk called a scape. It stores only two to four months.
• Softneck: more cloves per bulb, no scape, and a shelf life of six to eight months. Rutgers calls it easier to grow.

Pick hardneck if your winters are cold. An Ask Extension expert, answering a Minnesota gardener, names it as the type most suited there. In a mild-winter area, softneck is the forgiving choice.

Pot size, depth and spacing

Garlic can be grown in a container that is at least 8 inches deep, with drainage holes in the bottom.

A wider pot fits more cloves, because they go 4 inches apart. Count the cloves, then pick the right container size for that many.

Spacing and depth follow the same plain steps:

• Fill the pot with fresh potting mix, not garden soil.
• Set each clove pointed side up, 4 inches apart.
• Cover them with about 2 inches of mix.

That 2 inches is Ohio State’s figure; South Dakota State says about 3.

At 4 inches apart, a pot 12 inches across holds about five cloves. A long trough holds one per 4 inches of length.

To see what is sold for this, you can compare deep planter troughs with drainage holes on Amazon.

Heads up: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one, the site earns a small commission, and your price stays the same.

Cloves from a garden center, not the produce aisle

Do not plant supermarket garlic. Rutgers says it may not grow in New Jersey’s climate and is treated to prevent sprouting. It is also more likely to be softneck.

Garden centers, farmers markets and seed catalogs sell garlic grown to be planted. Ask for named varieties, and plant the largest cloves from each head.

Break the head apart no more than a day or two before planting.

Winter care for the pot

A pot gets colder than open ground, because cold reaches it from every side.

The shoots tolerate air temperatures down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit without damage. Below 10 degrees, South Dakota State warns of possible dieback.

In a hard-freeze area, the pot adds a risk of its own.

Ask Extension warns that soil in outside containers can swing between thawing and freezing, and garlic bulbs struggle to survive that. Its expert sent the Minnesota gardener to an open garden bed or an indoor pot instead.

If your winters dip below 10 degrees, protect the pot as described in overwintering container plants outside. Otherwise, cover the top with a few inches of straw and keep the pot in a sheltered spot.

From planting to harvest, month by month

This calendar fits a cold-winter climate with a June or July harvest. Shift it earlier or later by your first frost date.

Cutting the scapes in May or early June increases bulb size.

Harvest when about half the leaves are yellow and drying out.

This week, find a deep pot with drainage holes and set it where it gets full sun. Then order cloves from a garden center or seed catalog.