Growing Garlic from Seed. Is it Possible?

Suburban Homestead S2EP17. In a previous episode I shared how I planted garlic in the fall amongst my ornamental flower bed. This time I am sharing how it produced in less than ideal circumstances. Growing garlic from bulbils or seed is also explored.

Created by: Siloé Oliveira

[BrandXsps]

I work with a guy that has grown garlic every year on his family's property since the 50s. He just scatters the seeds from some of the plants he doesn't harvest and it starts the next year's crop. In November he always brings in a few hundred starts to work to let people take home. I planted some this last year and just harvested in June. The variety is something that his grandmother brought back from Italy and they've been doing it for almost 70 years now so it is possible.

[ulysseesy]

I once lived in a house in the woods where half of the garden had been neglected for years. The brush and trees had taken over and had reached a height of about ten feet. I hacked everything down during the Fall. In the Spring there was a lush green lawn growing there. I decided to mow it down before turning the soil for vegetables. When I did the smell of garlic filled the air. I stopped mowing. I wasn't mowing grass. I was mowing tightly packed garlic. When I pulled some up they looked like chives with a very tiny clove at the bottom. I wanted to experiment at that point. The garlic was so tightly packed that I suspected it couldn't produce bulbs. But they might if they were given room. I was correct.
I took a shovel full of plants and dirt then separated out a handful of the plants. I planted them in rows with about three inches between plants. Two months later I pulled out a few bulbs from the rows. The bulbs were massive. I was absolutely blown away when I tried some raw. It was fantastic. It was the sweetest yet most flavorful garlic I had ever eaten. It was so sweet and mild that the cloves could be eaten raw without water or anything else to drink. I had eaten raw garlic daily for years but this was on a whole other level. The house burned down around the time of my planting. After a convoluted dispute about taxes the town took over the property and sold it to a developer. I hiked up to the place about a year later to see if I could get a few plants to transplant. I wanted to continue the line of that landrace. It would have been my tiny contribution to mankind. When I got to the property I saw that all of the property had been bulldozed. There was nothing left living on the land. Previously the landscape had been idyllic. Why a developer would have leveled it was beyond me. After seventeen years I still crave the taste of that garlic.

[tatianka]

I love home-grown garlic! I braid mine two weeks after harvest (when the stalks are still a bit pliable) into basically a french braid and hang them up like that - so pretty!

[ceciliadepoy]

I planted garlic in fall 2016 from bulbils . The yields are smaller than the ones you plant from bulbs for sure. I let the bulbils stay in refrigerater for about a month before planting, and they germinated well for me.

[jocklowry]

There is something special about your videos. Perhaps it's the synergy of planter beds strewn with wild flowers, the perfectly punctuated voice over, the endless sunshine, and the effort of trial and error which has determined this is the best you-tube video I have ever viewed - the to[pic is close to my heart, so very well done - Jock Lowry

[effff]

I have planted two pots of garlic. One in my house and the second outside. The one inside with less sun and room temp of 70-75 degrees has grown faster than the ones outside in 80-90 degree weather with full sun. In just 4 days the one inside is 7in long and the outside measures 5.

[jeanettewaverly]

Interesting! That's quite a lovely jungle you have there.

[puronectar]

my bees love onion flowers, I didnt expected that.

I will try garlic now.

[jolenemiller]

I have experienced that bulbils from large, well-developed garlic bulbs are significantly larger than the ones you show; and if planted in ideal conditions, will often develop into full bulbs the first year, though not as large as those plants from cloves. If the largest bulbils are selected (commonly nearly 1/2 inch in size), I've had a nearly 90% success rate in getting bulbs from bulbils in one season. (zone 5b).

[heathermj]

THANK YOU!!! You answered all my questions about garlic!!!🎉

[rosagapi]

your garden has surely popped out of a fairy tale

[relentlessfreedom]

Have you tried experimenting with rain water instead of tap water on hose whilst gardening?... that's an awesome experiment - depending on the pollution content on your area of course... me and my husband are off gridders and have been for 18 years now ( in north wales UK ). We live in a woodland and even our drink water is rain water.. the difference we found in muscle building without drinking tap water was amazing! everyone knows tap water is full of chemicals... so taking that out of the plants diet is fantastic to experiment with... we are governed by light conditions in a woodland BUT the radishes we grow are AMAZING along with giant juicy tomatoes and runner beans ect... Garlic has been a fantastic successful experiment which led me to your video about the seeds as we also let some grow untampered... It was a good watch and you have a calm voice 😊

[thegirl]

I love your channel ~ simply art 🙏❤🌸Thank you for taking the time to share your beauty and knowledge with the rest of us ❤God Bless you ❤

[SN-szkw]

Love your channel. Nothing else like it. Thank you.

[porkcheeks]

Glad to see you did let some go. My dad spent 40 yrs learning to grow garlic well. I’m just starting out with it. I find growing large bulbs is a challenge

[RoadtotheFarm]

That's so interesting! Thank you for sharing! I love how you are always questioning the norm. And as usual, your videos are beautiful and so artistic! Love it all!!!

[mccardieclan]

excellent observation and presentation ! ty

[wholecirclehomestead]

Awesome experiments thank you for sharing. Amazing cinematography as always.

[elysejoseph]

Yes it takes patience to grow from bulbils, I'm going on the 3rd year growing them, they have started to produce cloves last year, just 2 at the most! But good size, we'll see what becomes of them this year ;-)

[douglochart]

It is amazing that the more you learn the less you seem to know. Thanks for sharing another fascinating video and topic with us. I have not grown garlic from seed but have grown shallots from seed that I had purchased. The first year it grew into single bulbs and then the next year each bulb split into 5. However we LOVE shallots so no matter how many I produce we never have any leftover for the following year :-)

I have not done much research on this so forgive me if I am incorrect but I have gladiola bulbs that I wanted to plant in my garden however I read that Gladiolas should not be planted in the proximity of certain vegetables like peas. I noticed your beautiful flowers right off the bat and then realized that you usually mingle veggies with your flowers and became concerned. If you have not heard of this you might want to look into that. It seems that bulb flowers seem to affect some types of veggies.

take care