When Is the Best Time to Grow Hydroponic Garlic? A Detailed Guide to the Planting Method

Recently, videos of hydroponic garlic have been appearing frequently on Toutiao, making people curious and eager to learn the hydroponic method. In fact, the method of growing hydroponic garlic is very simple; you just need to prepare a container. So when is the best time to start hydroponic garlic? How do you plant it?

Hydroponic Timing

Divided by time, late September to the end of October is the autumn crop, early November to the end of January of the following year is the winter crop, and after early February of the following year is the spring crop. Among these, the autumn crop is the best, and the spring crop is the worst.

Hydroponic Method

1. Take the garlic. You can peel off the cloves and arrange them in a container, which suits a relatively small container. You can also peel off the outermost skin of the garlic head to directly expose the cloves, then place it in the container.

2. Add water directly, just enough to cover the bottom of the garlic. This helps with rooting.

3. Generally, change the water every 1~2 days to keep the water fresh. In the early stage, you can go 3 consecutive days without changing the water to help with stabilization. After rooting and stabilization, you can change the water more frequently.

4. Generally, after starting hydroponic growing, roots can appear the same day, and green can be seen after 2~4 days.

Hydroponic Precautions:

1. A temperature of 10~25°C is suitable for the growth of garlic leaves.

2. The basal plate at the bottom of the garlic head is where roots will grow later. Without the basal plate, it cannot root or grow leaves.

3. If you break it apart clove by clove, then each clove must have a basal plate.

4. Be careful when peeling, and do not damage the garlic head. If it is damaged, the broken area will later rot and become moldy.

5. You can use a container for hydroponic hyacinths. This kind of container holds the garlic cloves in place better. You can also use a vegetable washing basket.

6. Place the garlic cloves with the basal plates facing down, neatly in the basket. Do not crowd them too much, because they will expand a bit after contact with water. At the beginning, do not change the water; just add water to avoid disturbing them.

7. Find a container of suitable size, pour in clean water, and let the water surface just touch the basal plates.

8. After about 4 or 5 days, root hairs will grow, and afterward you can change the water regularly. Generally, you can harvest in about 30 days by cutting off the garlic leaves and waiting for the next round of growth.

Usually, the entire hydroponic period for autumn-winter garlic is more than 60 days, while for the spring crop it is usually more than 40 days.

If you wait until it has grown fully before harvesting (when a single plant has more than 5 leaves), you can usually get two harvests. This is the method described here. If you harvest when a single plant has grown to 2 or 3 leaves, then over the entire hydroponic period, getting 6 or 7 harvests is also very possible.

Except for the final harvest, which must be pulled up with the roots (at this point the nutrients in the garlic cloves are already exhausted, and continuing hydroponic growing is of little value), for the other several harvests, as long as the garlic cloves are still there, harvest like cutting chives, leaving a 2 or 3 cm stubble, that is, harvest by leaving stubble. After this kind of harvest, they can grow again later.

Mid-stage of hydroponic growing (5~45 days):

During this period, the garlic roots are already fully stabilized, and care is very easy. You only need to change the water regularly; it is recommended to change the water once every 5~7 days. Usually, after two weeks of hydroponic growing, a very good ornamental effect can be achieved (a garlic sprout forest initially forms). If you let it grow fully, then during 25~35 days of hydroponic growing is the best harvest time. Harvest the first crop, leaving the garlic cloves and garlic roots, and they will sprout again later.

Late stage of hydroponic growing (after 45 days):

This period is generally the growth time for the second crop of garlic sprouts (provided they were harvested after full growth). At this time, the garlic roots are prone to growing green algae, so when changing the water, you also need to wash the root system 1~2 times. Also, at this time, garlic cloves can easily rot or shrink. If you notice this, remove them promptly!