I grow it in pots. What I do is I plant one clove per 6" pot, and I place the pots into the raised beds I build every winter for my plants (I group all my pots together and fill in the cracks between the pots with more soil - I confine all this with whatever wood I have handy). When I dig the pots up again in the spring (mid-late April), they have developed fairly nice root systems and are just beginning to sprout above the surface. I carefully repot the cloves into a really big pot and finish growing them in there. Garlic in pots needs very regular watering and feeding (half my big pot is compost).

How cold does your garage get? Is the temperature stable? If it's only a few degrees below freezing, it might be ok. The main problem would be if it warms up in there too early in the spring, the garlic will sprout and need the sun when it's still too cold outdoors.

If you can put them alongside the wall of the garage outdoors, and dump some extra soil over the pots to help insulate them, that might be better.

BP

BP: Thank you so much for responding so thoroughly. The garage is attached to the house, but not heated. I've never taken any temperature readings inside the garage, but it certainly makes perfect sense to do so if I'm thinking of overwintering anything in there.

You've given me very good guidelines to enable me to find a solution that would help them to survive the winter in pots.

One last question. How many plants do you transfer to the 'very big pots'? Thanks again.

I should also mention that if you do put the garlic alongside the garage (or wherever) wall, I would also recommend you put down some newspaper or a trash bag as a soil barrier first. I buy shower cutrains from the dollar store to use under my pots - a few holes poked in them ensure drainage. When I dig my pots up in April, the roots have usually grown out of the bottom of the 6" pots - sometimes as much as a foot of roots dangles out the holes. If they roots were to grow into the ground under the pots, you'd probably break a lot of them and that would likely set the garlic back a bit.

I only have one big pot that I use for garlic - I think there were around 10 plants in there this year. When I transfer them to the big pot, I place them about three inches apart (maybe a little less). The mature cloves will be two to three inches across, so that gives them enough room to grow, but also conserves space. I'd have to measure it to be sure, but I think the big pot is about 16" in diameter, and at least two feet tall. I can take a pic of it tomorrow, to give you an idea of the size, but there is no garlic in it right now (basil gets the pot once the garlic gets harvested).

Overall, it's prety easy to grow this way. It takes more effort than just planting the cloves in the ground, but it's so worth it if it's the only way you can grow garlic. You know how homegrown tomatoes are so much better than grosery store ones? It's the same with garlic :-)

BP

BP: Thanks again for the detailed response. I do have beds, that are currently filled with perennials. I've planted some veggies and herbs amongst the flowers from time to time, but find that I can better control the compost and fertilizer needs of the very hungry veggies by planting in large pots (that sound very much like your pots!!). Having been sorely disappointed with the garlic that I've bought, I can see your point about growing my own. Here goes....