Fancy growing garlic for free? Expert shows how to turn one supermarket clove into 'six or eight' plants

Now that autumn has settled in, you’re no doubt looking forward to cosy nights in, where warming interiors and good food are non-negotiables.

As you get your favourite autumnal kitchenware out, you’ll no doubt have plenty of recipes in mind as the nights draw in. And what would a hearty lasagna, a warming stew or any other cold-weather staple be without plenty of garlic?

And just like growing your own thyme, growing garlic when you know how. Gardening expert Ish Kamran (@gardening.with.ish) shared how to grow your own from nothing more than one clove from your latest supermarket bulb.

How to grow garlic from shop bought garlic

Sharing with his followers, Ish explains, "You don't need any kind of fancy seeds to grow your very own garlic bulbs. You just need one bought from the shop.”

His expertise comes in handy here as he also explains that, when it comes to growing your own, not all garlic is equal. He prefers to use organic or locally sourced garlic because, unlike the ones often found in supermarkets that originate from China, they are more likely to grow bigger.

He continued, "Just one garlic bulb will grow between six and eight of your very own garlic plants because it's not the bulb you bury, but the individual clove and you'll get plenty of those."

Now, for the hard part - which he explains is not hard at all. In fact, garlic is not only one of the foods you can grow in pots if you’re low on space, but it also requires little maintenance.

He shared, "Planting garlic is incredibly easy and, in terms of maintenance, even easier. You can have this in the ground or in a pot. They don't need a massive amount of room, but give them plenty of room and the bulb will get bigger."

Explaining why now is the best time to do this for a healthy crop in the spring, he explained, "You can plant these directly, as I'm about to do here and leave them over the course of winter and they'll take care of themselves. It's actually the cold snap which splits each individual clove up to make even more cloves and make a successful bulb.

"If you keep it in a greenhouse throughout the course of the winter, you'll end up with one giant bulb and none of these individual cloves."

Now for the specifics. When planting up your garlic, you want to leave them about three to four inches apart just so they've got enough nutrients.

Ish adds, "A good multi-purpose compost, either from the shop or from your own compost heap, will help massively with giving it the beneficial things it needs to grow. "

In terms of planting the garlic, you want to put the pointy end at the top and the flat bit at the bottom, pushing it down to about double the depth of the actual bulb.

Once watered, simply leave it outside and let the elements take care of the rest.

With his final advice, Ish explained, "In terms of growth, you might get a few green shoots here and there, but don't worry about it; leave as is. In the spring they'll get nice and bushy; make sure you keep this well watered, don't let it dry out and then from June/July onwards you'll start to see the foliage die off and that's when your garlic bulbs are ready to pull and you'll have one of these from a clove.

It really is that simple.