Garlic from seed?

[peter]

Last year one of my Garlic bulbs flowered and I let it set "seed". On harvesting the garlic I found that the flowerhead was full of little bulbils, so I planted a load in an 18"x6"x6" trough.
I now have a dozen or so nice green garlic plants poking out of the compost.

How should I treat them

What can I expect from them

[yummyveggies]

Interesting ... I never thought of doing that when one of mine flowered and set little bulbs .... I ate the results ... crushing them and cooking them skins and all ..... it was in soup so it was 'whizzed'up in a blender .... v tasty.. maybe I should have waited and planted them out.

[Beccy]

We had this happen and did the same as you. We got a lot of single clove bulbs the first year and decided not to continue with them. It had occurred to us that we were propagating a strain that had put a lot of energy into producing the 'flower bulbils' which we couldn't eat and didn't really want.

We do save cloves from the best bulbs we produce for next years crop most years and get perfectly good crops. When we have renewed our stock it has been because of catastrophic growing. We had one year when all our alliums did badly, I can't remeber what we decided was the cause, but because it was all of them I don't think the garlic suffered from us saving cloves for planting.

[Garlic_Guy]

Last year one of my Garlic bulbs flowered and I let it set "seed". On harvesting the garlic I found that the flowerhead was full of little bulbils

How should I treat them

Hard to say, other than wait and see!

One point to bear in mind though is that all the usual advice says don't let your garlic produce a flower head. Pinch it off once it starts developing, as some of the plant's energy will get diverted into this, instead of producing nice fat garlic cloves below.

[Johnboy]

Hi Peter,
I think you have got the perfect chance to have your very own strain of Garlic. Grow them on as normal
but probably seperating out and into a nursery row.
See what they are like and grow them out again next year and you should have something meaningful to use. Then if you like then simply select the best to replant and consume the rest. A really lucky break is what I would call it.
Best of luck with them.

[peter]

Johnboy, any advice on the handling thereof?
That's waht I was really after.

[p.r.]

Johnboy. I dont think the resulting plants from bulbils will be a new strain. Surely the only chance of this happening would be if the seed that was set was then grown on.
The bulbil method of propagation is the way I propagate my Exhibition strain of leeks. It is this method that ensures exact replicas of the parent plant (clones or vegative cuttings if you like) The parent being originally bred as a reselected seedling.
The garlic experiment will be interesting but success is not guaranteed as propagating onions in this way results in plants that run to seed....rds..paul.

[p.r.]

Peter leek bulbils are rooted just by placing the bulbils the correct way up in some compost(as you would use for seed sowing)and water in. i'm sure the garlic bulbils will need the same once you have a reasonable size plant either pot on or plant out as you would any other young plant...rgds..paul.

[p.r.]

Peter taken to its logical conclusion the plants from your bulbils will have the same tendancy that the parent bulb had, namely to run to seed. I think in all honesty apart from proving a point i wouldnt bother with them. the whole point of propagating by this method is to produce plants with known good characteristics ..rgds ..paul.

[Johnboy]

Hi Paul,
I didn't mean to imply that they would be a new strain at all simply Peters own strain having grown them from bulbils.
There is a outside chance that the bulbils will go to seed, as the parent has, but the only way to find that out is to grow them on to maturity.
With Garlic if it is going to seed it is usual to cut out the growing inflorescence at the earliest opportunity as low down as possible and the Garlic will grow on and produce normally.
However if Peter had more than one variety that went to seed or another on the same Allotment then a hybrid is possible. Pomescuity is rife, such a shame the plant is oblivious to it all!
Having never had the opportunity to grow Garlic from a 'pip' I can only follow the same as you would do with your Leeks. Somehow I think they may grow like some Lily bulbs that take certainly more than one year to produce a clove type bearing bulb. That of course is my thoughts and nothing else.

[peter]

Johnboy (& others) thanks for that.

I'll give it a go and transplant in a week or two, they are sheltered near the house & fence at the mo & the allotment is more exposed.