Using Bulbils to Establish Garlic (2013) - 3 pages

Garlic is normally started by planting cloves. As a typical head of garlic only contains from 5-10 usable cloves the cost of holding back 10-20% of the crop to use as seed can be substantial. Costs are even higher if the grower opts to buy seed. Another concern with using cloves to establish the garlic crop is the potential for the cloves or the soil adhering to the cloves to introduce diseases such as Fusarium basal rot or garlic cyst nematodes. Hardneck (rocambole) type garlic produces scapes or flower stalks that yield 10-200 small bulbs (bulbils) which can be used as planting material. Using bulbils to establish a garlic crop has several potential advantages;