How to Grow Garlic in Containers

Ah, garlic. I have a complicated relationship with this fragrant bulb, often called the “stinking rose.”

Back when I was a child, I had severe emetophobia. Fear of tossing my cookies, if you’ve never heard the term before.

I read somewhere that garlic could help prevent the stomach flu, so when I was twelve years old, I pretty much became a walking garlic clove.

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I ate it raw, lots of it, every single day. I shredded the stuff and put it on toast. My classmates complained that the smell was seeping from my pores.

Finally, after a year of this obsession, I ate too much and it made me get sick.

That brought a firm halt to my overeating of the bulb. But I still love the stuff, and love to include it in my cooking.

Garlic is an essential ingredient in some of my favorite foods: fresh salsa, soups, Italian dishes, Indian cuisine (garlic naan, anyone?), and so much more.

One winter at my home in Alaska, I finally decided to start some indoors in a container, starting with organic bulbs I bought at the store.

We cover how to do this specific method of propagation in another article. But in this one, I’ll focus on teaching you everything you need to know to grow it in containers – whether indoors or out.

Here’s what’s coming in this article:

To get a detailed overview on the history of garlic, check out our article on how to grow it in your outdoor garden.

We’ll just do a quick rundown here.

Garlic is part of the Allium genus, a member of the Amaryllidaceae family. Other plants in this genus include onions, leeks, chives, scallions, and shallots.

There are two main types that