What is garlic seed and what is not garlic true seed GARLIC SEED There is alot of confusion on what constitutes garlic seed. In gardening circles most would consider garlic seed as the bulbs you buy from stores, yet real or 'true' garlic seed is far more rare. If you are after garlic bulbs consider visiting our online store . True garlic seed is neither the bulb, the cloves or bulbils - as these are a clone of the plant and should be considered as 'seed garlic' rather than 'garlic seed'. Most growers purchase or grow their own bulbs and divide the cloves just prior to planting. Few grow from bulbils and in rare cases garlic gurus try to grow for true seed. True garlic seed comes in the form of tiny little black seeds barely larger than sand grains. Our growing garlic seed page has more information on what true seed is and how to grow it. The diagram below best illustrates (roughly to scale between the different images) of the difference in size between garlic bulbs, cloves, bulbils and true garlic seed.

Ten tips to follow to get the best chance of healthy big garlic bulbs TOP 10 TIPS Disappointed each season with small, weak and poorly performing garlic bulbs? These are our top 10 tips for the best chances of harvesting the largest, healthiest and the best looking garlic bulbs. 1) Choose the right garlic type Each of the ten garlic groups prefers a particular climate zone. We have divided the country into three main garlic growing zones . Choosing the right garlic for your climate zone is the first step for growing big healthy garlic bulbs. 2) Prepare your garden bed Pick a sunny spot . I f possible use a garden bed which has not had any allium species (leek, onion, chives) in it for the past couple of years and ensure that your soil is rich in nutrients, light and well drained. Our guide offers more detail on garden preparation. 3) Pick the best time to plant The old saying 'plant on the shortest day and harvest on the longest' is a very rough guideline. Planting really depends on your climate zone and the type of garlic grown. Check out our planting guide for when to plant. 4) Find big cloves from big bulbs It's so important to only plant big cloves from big bulbs - research shows this provides the best results. Planting small cloves will almost always return poor results. If possible try to obtain bulbs from a higher altitude and southern latitude from your garden. These cloves from such bulbs will have more vigour when taken to a warmer and lower elevation. 5) Follow best planting practices Plant cloves not bulbs. The clove tip should sit to the top, and ideally planted 20x20cm apart and 2-7cm deep (the colder the deeper). For more planting information following our planting guide . 6) Dispose of the rogues Find the rogues! Keep a close eye on your crop for common problems or unusual coloration of leaves. Whether this be yellowing (nutrient or an infection), brooming, or multiple shoots. If it's affecting the occasional plant then dispose of it, if there are many then it might be a nutrient deficiency, a disease or a pest. 7) Fertilise y our soils While it is important to have your soils rich in nutrients prior to planting, it' s more important to put on th e right fert iliser at the right time. Choose organic slow release nitrogen fertiliser at regular intervals in spring (eg. blood and bone) for leaf growth. At maximum leaf number ( in most places 10-12), stop and change to an organic slow release potassium fertiliser (eg. potash) to enhance bulbing. 8) Weed, weed and weed! Garlic hates competition. Some growers use mulch to suppress weeds , while others do the hard mahi by hand. Either way, weed free soil ensures the best chance of larger bulbs. 9) Remove the scapes Most hardneck garlic will produce a scape, especially if you live in a cool to cold winter climate. While some hardneck garlics respond differently to scape removal, but it's best to remove the scape to give you a greater chance of a 10-30% bigger bulb. 10) Know when to harvest Harvest time depends on your climate zone and type of garlic grown. Harvest too early and bulbs have not matured, while harvesting too late results in the bulb skin splitting and will not store as long. Stop watering a month out , and follow our harvesting guide to know when to harvest your big healthy garlic bulbs.

Marbled Purple Stripe garlic type Marbled Purple Stripe Group Late Season| Med ium Storing | 4 -9 cloves The Baker: This easy - peeler is known for its tastiness when roasted Marbled Purple Stripe garlic grows best in cold climates with cold winters. It is known for it s consistently large cloves. This garlic group produces several tan and purple coloured cloves on a purple marbled hue cream bulb wrapper. It grows best in a cool to cold winter climate . The garlic is a strongly-bolting hardneck type meaning it sends up a flower scape with a solid stem which is not braidable. This garlic is considered great for roasting with its sweet, hot flavour. It is more sulphurous than Standard Purple Stripe garlic. Characteristics Clove & Bulb Appearance The bulb of this garlic type normally has a round , squat shape and is generally a cream colour with a purple dappled or marbled wrapper (skin) appearance. The bulbs have a single layer of 4-9 cloves. Generally, all cloves of a standard-sized bulb are of a size suitable for planting. The clove size is normally large and has a wedge like appearance . The clove skin is a dull tan colour with purple blush and is easy peeling. The ir easy-peeling nature makes them ideal in the kitchen and have a hot and sweet taste . They have a medium storage life of around 6-7 months after harvest. Bulbils T his hardneck garlic sends out a scape (flower stalk) particularly in colder climates. They typically produce a moderate amount (20-60) of medium purple to dark purple co loured bulbils . If trying to experiment to grow true garlic seed (not a clone as from cloves or bulbils) then m arbled purple stripe is the garlic most likely to succeed in producing the elusive tiny black seeds. Leaves & Scapes Marbled Purple Stripe garlic has a wide floppy pale green leaf . Scapes normally forms as a 3/4 loop with a wide green-blue umbel with a short purple blush which appears on the base of the immature spathe.

What garlic bulbils are and what you can do with them GARLIC BULBILS Bulbils are small secondary bulbs taking longer than standard bulbs to mature into bulbs with cloves. Growing bulbils over a few years results greater plant vigour, less disease, are great in cooking and is a more economic way of getting bulbs. What are Bulbil s? Bulbils are small secondary bulbs normally produced in th e flower cluster (umbel) beside the flowers. The eight hardneck varietal groups generally send up a long, strong stalk late in the season known as a scape. The scapes' flower stalk (technically an umbel) produces bulbils - this is an extra survival mechanism for the plant. Bulbils' size can be rice-sized to pea-sized depending on the varietal group. They are in fact clones of the plant just like the bulb and cloves. While people often call bulbs or cloves seed this is not strictly correct, it's just that until recently that was the only way to garlic could be grown. Around the bulbils of the scapes, flowers can form. In botany, a bulbil (also called a bulbel or bulblet) forms on other types of plants and are defined as a secondary bulb located in the angle between a leaf and stem or in place of flowers such as with garlic. Bulbils are called offsets when full-sized, and if left fall to produce new plants. There are many good reasons to grow bulbils despite them taking 1-5 years (depending on the garlic type) as they: are a quick way of obtaining stock are economical than buying bulbs but are slower to develop reduce the risk of soil-borne disease revitalise bulb size and condition are great raw in salads, on pizzas or to spice up a meal The softneck garlic types silverskin and artichoke do not normally produce the scape flower stem nor bulbils. Also, the semi-bolting garlic types turban , creole and asiatic may not produce scapes in mild-winter areas. Thus some garlic will not form bulbils unless they are put under environmental stress. We are lucky here in the cold deep south, as most years we get some bulbils from all our garlic groups. Growing a garlic scape (without removing it) for most garlic groups will result in smaller bulb sizes. We discuss this in the section on scape removal . In brief, not removing the scape to try to grow bulbils will result in the bulb size being 10-30% smaller. Depending on the garlic group, bulbils take between 2-5 years to produce mature-sized bulbs containing cloves not just rounds without cloves. The rate of maturity depends on the climate, soils and bulbil size as each garlic group produces different sized bulbils. The larger the bulbil the quicker the formation of a good-sized bulb. Bulbil Chart Collecting Bulbils The quickest way of getting bulbils is to get them from a fellow garlic gardener or to buy them. Gourmet Garlic are the only NZ supplier of bulbils. They can be found in our online shop . Each year we sacrifice the size of some of our bulbs to produce bulbils for our interested garlic growers. When you are growing to produce garlic bulbils from your own plants, in year one (if your climate permits), grow a strongly bolting garlic such as porcelain , rocambole , standard purple stripe , marbled purple stripe or a glazed purple stripe . These are the most reliable garlic groups to grow bulbils from. Let the scape grow, and at harvest time remove the plant to cure much like a garlic bulb. It is best to cut off the scape at this time and store it separately in an open container, allowing it to to dry out of the sun and weather. This will ensure that any bulbils that come loose do not get trampled, mixed with others or lost as they cure. Store them in a dry cool spot in an aerated paper bag until planting time. Planting Bulbils Surprisingly, bulbils can be planted at the start of spring when daily temperatures reach around 18 °C . This reduces the chance of the bulbils scaping and shortens the time taken to produce large bulbs. However, some growers still recommend a cooling winter is best for bulbil growth, particularly if you want to form cloves for the larger bulbils. If planting in a mild/cool winter area, you may consider pre-cooling them before planting. Plant bulbils closer together than standard cloves, ideally in a separate area of the garden. These small plants will need a bit of care as weeds or other garden plants can shade them out. It is easy to mix them up with your standard crop - you don't want to lose track of these ones! You will need a little more room for the larger bulbil plants from asiatic, rocambole and artichoke garlic types as they are from larger bulbils. In the first year prepare damp soil in a tray, pot, or in your garden bed and gently sprinkle the bulbils onto the soil. Put a light covering (mm not cm) of fine soil on top of them. Studies have reported that bulbils are more productive and winter-hardy than using standard cloves. Ensure that the soil does not dry out and that there is sufficient soil depth for them to grow roots (10cm+). Shoots will appear quickly, and after a few months in summer they will dry out. If scapes appear remove them to give the bulbil the best chance for bulb production. Harvest the small bulbil's bulb when the leaves dry out. Cure and store them just like any garlic bulb. At harvest the bulbil bulb will be a several times larger than the bulbil you planted. If you are growing from a large bulbil such as asiatic, rocambole and artichoke you are likely to end up with a bulb often with cloves. These large bulbil bulbs can be about 30mm wide. Medium sized bulbils normally produce rounds 20mm wide rounds and the smallest bulbils from groups like porcelain , standard purple stripe and glazed purple stripe only form 10mm wide rounds. The following year plant the bulbil bulb just like a normal bulb. Be aware of the climatic zone you live in and use our planting page to know when to plant. Larger bulbils normally take two years to produce normal sized bulbs with cloves, while other groups might take another year or two longer.

What are garlic scapes and what to do with them. GARLIC SCAPES The scapes are the garlic's flower stem and are mostly associated with hard neck garlics. Before harvesting, hardnec k garlic typically sends up a scape which normally curls then straightens before the garlic is harvested (softneck garlic can scape when stressed). Semi-bolting hardneck types ( creole , turban , asiatic ) in milder-winter areas do not necessarily produce a scape. The garlic plant puts energy into forming the scape so many growers remove them to direct the plants resources into developing the bulb. We have found there is a direct correlation of bulb size and scape removal of around 10-30%. On the flip side scapes left during curing result in the bulb drawing more nutrients during the drying process and it is likely they will store longer. Different types of garlic are more affected if the scape is not removed. Creole , porcelain , rocambole , purple stripe types respond well to scape removal, producing larger bulbs while turbans and asiatics less so. In saying that, some growers believe rocambole is minimally impacted by scape removal. As a general rule, garlic types which produce the tallest, thickest and largest scapes will grow larger bulbs if the scape is removed. Some growers have found that by leaving the scape on during drying that the plant's bulbs are harder as well as storing longer. An example of a Turban scape is pictured below. We remove the scape before they begin to curl, before they are longer than 20cm tall. Some growers including ourselves believe the earlier the better. Other growers remove the scape once they curl. There is no scientific evidence to support either approach as to when to remove the scape. If removing the scape, do so on a dry day so the break can heal cleanly without introducing infection and disease. When you see the firm stalk rise up from the middle of the leaves snap (not pull) it off the stalk by hand (if the scape is small) or with secateurs below the umbel before it widens. If the scape is pulled, it may result in the pseudostem becoming weak and will let water down into the bulb. The scape can be sauteéd, be part of a salad or stir fried as mentioned under the eating section .