Topic: Garlic Bulbils

[Ophi]

I saw these mentioned on the swap shop and wondered what they are.  I usually order my garlic each year from the Isle of Wight people.  Can you grow on and produce your own?

[goodlife]

When garlic produces 'flower head'..usually there is tiny rice size miniture bulbs (bulbils) instead of flowers like unions have.
By harvesting those you can  grow them on and produce your own garlic bulbs..but its slow process. It takes about 3 years to get them into 'normal' bulb size.
The good points growing this ways is that those bulbs will the totally adapted to your growing conditions, it is cheap way to make new stock and lots of it and you get desease free stock. There is virtually no chance of carrying any soil born deseases..like onion white rot..when obtaining bulbils from other sources.
One year I spent good amount of many for garlic bulbs from well know source..only to find each clove was hit with onion rot..something I've never had on my plot..and every single clove par one of the bought stock died down for it. I know it was coming from those..as my existing variety never had it and one bulb of them was effected and that was growing next to the new stock. >:(
So now I start new varieties from bulbils or I grow bought bulbs in separate 'trial' bed first before allowing them into ground.

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I usually order my garlic each year from the Isle of Wight people. Do you not save any of your existing stock for growing on? If you save one or two largest cloves from each bulb, providing your stock is healthy, you don't need to keep buying garlic every year.
One of my varieties I've kept growing on for 'donkey's years'..by just growing few extra bulbs more than I need for eating. I save all largest cloves and eat rest.
If you want to try growing some bulbils..I've got some spare..

[Robert_Brenchley]

I'm growing garlic from the local market this year. Just buy a few bulbs, plant the biggest cloves, and eat the rest. There's no need to keep buying it, especially at the prices they ask for planting garlic. You get better bulbs as well, since you're only planting big cloves; if you buy it, you end up planting all sizes.

[Mr Smith]

Most of my garlic this year is shop and market bought although I have put sveral varieties of seed garlic in, which will be the better garlic?, I'll wait and taste, :)

[Ophi]

So if I keep one or two cloves from the garlic I harvest in June what is the best way to store it until I plant it in Winter?

[goodlife]

Keep few bulbs whole untill you are ready to plant your cloves...cloves store best condition when the bulbs are intact. Use all largest cloves from those bulbs for planting and use the smaller ones for eating.
You can start planting your garlic from late October onwards..so there is not need to wait much later than that.
I thend to get 3-4 cloves for  planting from my bulbs..but it all depends of variety..some have more evenly sized cloves and other only make odd few large ones.

[goodlife]

On the 'other hand'...you can plant all cloves from a single bulb..there is nothing wrong with that...those smaller cloves just produce smaller bulbs...but is all edible... ;)

[Ophi]

Thank you, I will give it a go  :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

If you lift it in July, and plant in October, you only have to store it for a matter of two and a half months, and individual cloves will easily last that long if they're kept reasonably cool. You can plant earlier if you have the space, and it won't come to any harm.

[Ananke]

Until now i'd just been throwing the bulbils away.  At the end of last year I decided that it was such a waste and I put some into a tray of compost.  Nothing showing yet but fingers crossed  :)

[goodlife]

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Until now i'd just been throwing the bulbils away Lot of people do and they produce perfectly good and edible spring greens. They start growing much later than their parents in ground,, so no hurry. You can transplant some to grow on or let them grow and use them like strong garlic flavour 'chives'..chopping the tops into your foods.
Other way using the heads, is not letting them grow into bulbil stage,,but harvesting them as green scapes..just as they unfold from the stem and are still soft..just chop them up into stirfry's etc...lovely..they are quite sweet and gentle with garlic flavour if used in that stage.

[The-goodlife2012]

ive grown garlic for 20years now and every year i let 2 or 3 plants seed in the head and they grow well takes a couple of years for them to mature too munching size but they are worth the wait and i only choose the strongest plants for this

[galina]

Until now i'd just been throwing the bulbils away.  At the end of last year I decided that it was such a waste and I put some into a tray of compost.  Nothing showing yet but fingers crossed  :)

bulbils usually have softer skins than cloves.  They can go straight into the garlic press.

[compostbin]

 ??? ??? ???,......in 20 years,...of being crazy,...about growing crops,....got a greenhouse just last year,....& a coldframe,....but somehow,...have never ever ever grown garlic,...onions yea,..........for the whole 20 odd years,...but never garlic,...do they need firm ground too,..like onions?....koz wanna try to grow some this year

[The-goodlife2012]

compost bin,

Ive found they like any soil type and i feed with an onion fertilizer and watered resonably well 3 times a week on a really dry spell but until that happens the fend for them selves also if you plant to close they will get a yellow rust on the leaves fell for this in my first year so i now plant a good 300mm apart and the same for the row width, you can plant some now and get a spring growth on , when i started i purchased the seed from a supermarket as i think some garden centres over charge you on garlic, eg went into my local yesterday elephant garlic clove 1 x segmant £1.40  , supermarket 65p for a whole bulb.

garlic is a good plant ,plant it not much worry about it just grows and make a good companion for carrots