How to Grow

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How to Grow Garlic

If you want to begin growing garlic, you should know that this plant needs eight months to mature and it resists through the winter. Here are the steps, if you want to know how to grow garlic at home:

First, buy garlic bulbs at end of autumn or beginning of winter. Plant then directly in your garden with six weeks before the soil freezes. In mild climates you can plant the cloves in January or February for harvesting at the end of summer or beginning of autumn.
The next step on how to grow garlic is to choose a place where there is sun. Garlic will grow best in an acidic soil.
Dig to a depth of 20-30 cm and mix the soil with compost for the soil to be fertile, to have good drainage and to retain moisture.
Remove weeds on the soil.
Use the largest cloves to plant them and do not use those which are pitted or are blue-green colored, because these are signs of mold.
Insert cloves root with the ends up to a depth of 5 cm and a distance of 12 cm. If you have big garlic, increase the depth and the distance, to about 7 cm and respectively 25 cm.
Cover the plant with compost and a protective layer to retain moisture and to prevent weeds growth. When the soil freezes add another protective layer to protect the bulbs.
Another step on how to grow garlic is to remove the protective layer in spring, in this way the sun will warm the soil and add a new layer when signs of growth begin to appear.
Wet each week until the leaves have browned - that indicates that the bulbs are approaching maturity.
You can clip the leaves to use them, but do not remove more than ¼ of the leaves because you will reduce the size of the resulting garlic.
Start harvesting garlic when ¾ of the leaves are yellow.

Tips on how to grow garlic:

Plant garlic in spring and fall, but do not expect very good results.
Garlic needs time to mature, thus it is recommended to plant it in a place where you will not accidentally come across it.
Avoid planting garlic bought from the supermarket. Usually this garlic is treated with a substance that stops the development of roots.

How to grow mint

Among other vegetables and herbs that people like to grow both indoors and outdoors, a mint plant is not to be overlooked. These days, many people like to use mint in preparing different dishes thanks to the refreshing taste it gives to foods. Not to mention that mint is used as basic ingredient in preparing different alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails that many bartenders offer in their exquisite bars and lounges. And apart from being part in preparing different soft and hard beverages, mint is known for the traditional use it gets in preparing different teas. If you are eager to find out more about the ways to care for this plant, you should read on our article in which we will guide you over how to grow mint.

The first thing you need to hear of is that a mint plant is pretty easy to maintain or to care for as it requests only a few things to live and to produce that leaves you need to collect in order to make your tea. However, you need to know this plant has many health benefits for the ones cultivating it and using its leaves. And if it’s a cure for aging you are after, you should know that the mint tea is definitely a valuable source of antioxidants for your body.

Back to our guidance over how to grow mint you should know that the best way to have your mint plant multiplied and put in several pots is to go to your local nursery store and buy an already grown plant. The reasons for doing so are that growing mint directly from planted seeds could be tricky and difficult. And with an already grown plant you can easily get new shoots or sprigs to collect from your mother plant if you care for it accordingly. If you wonder why you should have more mint sprigs collected and grown in other pots, then you need to know that using a single plant to provide you with the necessary leaves for making teas could not be enough.

Basically, a mint plant needs full sunlight and adequate watering amounts which imply supplying it with water at least once per day. Unlike other green leafy plants, mint needs plenty of water in order to grow fast and look healthy.

Another aspect you need to count in learning how to grow mint is to put your plant inside a large container that should allow it to spread its roots in the soil and to grow bigger. You should also pick some containers that feature holes at their bottom in order for the water not being absorbed for the plant to go out in the plate underneath the pot or container.