A nutritionist has warned gardeners not to make a common mistake if they are planting garlic this autumn. Posting on TikTok as Rosa's Kitchen Garden, the nutritionist and gardener behind the popular account shared advice for anyone growing the popular vegetable.

Rosa warned: "If you're planting garlic this autumn, then please don't make this mistake. The mistake that a lot of people make is planting it too shallow. Garlic needs to feel the cold in order for the cloves to properly divide, but not so shallow that it freezes and gets lifted up by the frost, especially in the UK with our cold, damp winters.

"So you want to plant your clove about two inches deep, pointed at the end up, and around six inches apart from each other, to allow itself some room." She explained: "If it's too close to the surface, then frost can push it out, and it will just sit there and never really form into a proper bulb, and you'll be really disappointed come next July to August."

The gardener also shared a warning about a common supermarket mistake. She said: "Another thing is don't plant supermarket garlic. It's often treated to stop sprouting, and you'll just end up disappointed.

"Also, some supermarket garlic comes from China, so if you're trying to grow Chinese garlic in a UK climate, then it's just a recipe for failure basically. So if you're going to plant garlic this autumn, then buy seed garlic or elephant garlic from a proper supplier."

Rosa concluded: "Once your garlic is planted, I always top mine with mulch. I use leaves, compost, or even a thin layer of straw just to protect it from the heavy frost and to keep in the moisture, and then I just forget about it. I let the cold do its thing and divide up the cloves.

"So don't worry if you see nothing for weeks, come spring, you'll have some little green shoots. and then hopefully by summer some big green shoots will start to die back, and then it will be ready to harvest."

The video was popular with viewers, and it gained over 20k views and hundreds of likes. There were also questions from some commenters.

One viewer asked: "Should I cover it with straw or more compost (left from my tomatoes)?" Rosa replied: "Yes that'd be great mulch!"

Another viewer commented: "I'm just about to build my new greenhouse, is this good to grow in? I'm based in Ireland." Rosa said: "I garlic needs the frost, so the bulb divides. So I wouldn't recommend growing it in a greenhouse!"

Someone else wrote: "How much do you water?" Rosa answered: "I only water over summer when it's really dry, in winter they shouldn't need watering!"