Growing garlic

jackb

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This year is my first serious attempt at growing garlic, well, actually I planted the bulbs in the fall. We purchased a few bulbs from growers at a garlic fest in Bennington, VT over the labor day weekend, which we planted in October; the varieties were: Italian Purple and Canadian Music. We wanted more bulbs to fill a raised bed, so I purchased some more from Agway. It was California soft neck, so I asked them if it would grow in our area, and I was assured it would. Well, we had a very very hard winter, and, not a single soft neck bulb survived, even though the bed was covered with a deep layer of straw. All of the bulbs from the growers came up and look pretty good to me. Also, I bought two types of garlic bulbis on eBay, which were tiny. All of the bulbis came up, much to my surprise. I have no idea of what I should do with the bulbis. I assume they are picked, dried and replanted in the fall.
jackb

 

Ridgerunner

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I generally grow Silver Rose softneck and Elephant Garlic, which is like a hardneck. Mine is well ahead of yours but yours is looking good.

Italian Purple is a hardneck, I could not find the Canadian Music variety. Softneck garlic does not bolt and form bulbils like hardneck garlic does. The hardneck will send up a hard stalk and a flower, called a scape, will form on top. Some people really like those scapes to eat, as part of a salad. If you let them form they will make those tiny bulbils you planted.

You have it right with those bulbils you planted. When the garlic plants from those bulbils die you harvest what is under them, called a round. The round is basically one garlic clove. You can use it as garlic but if you plant it this fall it will make a regular head of garlic next summer.
 

jackb

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Thanks, great information! My wife was saying she saw scapes for sale in the market and wanted to try them. Well, perhaps a few if they come, but I would rather have the bulbils. We love garlic and use a lot of it.
jackb
 

Chickie'sMomaInNH

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i have 3 soft necks in my garden this year, Transylvania, Late Italian and Susanville. i've had them a couple years now with no issue. i have tried California yet.

plant the bulbils in about an inch of soil. i'll warn you, when they are growing in pots in the house it may smell very garlicy for some time! i started mine at the same time i started onion seeds. my DH was selling mine this past winter on ebay and the one that sold out the fastest was Rosewood. porcelain types seem to grow the best from bulbils. it can take about 2-3 years to get a full sized clove from the bulbils but is considered one of the best ways to grow a variety that didn't come locally. they acclimate to your soil better this way with less disease that the bulbs might carry from the soil. the bulbils will look like grass when it comes up.
 

jackb

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i have 3 soft necks in my garden this year, Transylvania, Late Italian and Susanville. i've had them a couple years now with no issue. i have tried California yet.

plant the bulbils in about an inch of soil. i'll warn you, when they are growing in pots in the house it may smell very garlicy for some time! i started mine at the same time i started onion seeds. my DH was selling mine this past winter on ebay and the one that sold out the fastest was Rosewood. porcelain types seem to grow the best from bulbils. it can take about 2-3 years to get a full sized clove from the bulbils but is considered one of the best ways to grow a variety that didn't come locally. they acclimate to your soil better this way with less disease that the bulbs might carry from the soil. the bulbils will look like grass when it comes up.

Thanks for that information also. I just checked the labels on the bulbils, they are red and white and German purple. They are doing good, but are very hard to weed, as you wrote, they look like grass.
 

Chickie'sMomaInNH

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when the tops die back is when you want to harvest. i've harvested mine around end of July but some types will be harvested sooner or later than others.
 

Smart Red

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If you can leave that garden area alone, you don't have to harvest the bulbils. They will die back, but they will return at their proper time in the late summer and grow as if you had planted them -- or rather, the ones you plant will grow like the ones left in the ground. You need not ask me how I know this. My bulbils are growing well and are much bigger than grasses despite being lost and forgotten last summer.
 

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