How to Harvest Garlic Seed

Save the largest cloves for seed stock.

Harvesting your own seed garlic is an inexpensive way to plant garlic each year without the need of purchasing new seed stock. Garlic comes in two varieties, but neither produce true seeds. Instead, new plants are grown from planted garlic cloves. Hardneck garlic, such as Rocambole, produces small bulbs, called bulbils, on the flower stalk. Softneck varieties, such as Silverskin, only produce cloves. You can save either the bulbils or the cloves to use as seed garlic.

Things You'll Need

• Knife
• Perforated bag
• Mesh sack
• Trowel

Instructions

Harvesting Bulbils

1. Inspect the flower stems for bulbil formation on hardneck garlic once they form in summer. Bulbils resemble small bulbs packed tightly together at the top of the stalk. They are covered in a papery fiber.

2. Cut off the garlic stalk with a sharp knife once it falls over. Remove the entire stalk, cutting it off at the soil level.

3. Peel off the remaining papery covering and separate the bulbils from each other. There is no need to peel the individual bulbils.

4. Store the bulbils in a perforated plastic bag or a mesh sack in a cool, 32 F room until you are ready to plant. Store bulbils for up to six months.

Harvesting Bulbs

1. Dig up the garlic bulbs once the leaves begin to dry and fall over, usually in late July or early August. Dig carefully around each bulb to loosen the soil, then pull up the bulb by the leaves.

2. Separate out the largest, healthiest-looking cloves for use as seed stock. Larger cloves generally produce larger garlic bulbs when planted.

3. Hang the bulb by their leaves in a warm, dry place for two weeks. Brush or shake off any remaining soil once the bulbs are dried.

4. Store the seed garlic in a mesh or perforated plastic bag in a 32 F room until you are ready to replant. Save the cloves for up to six months.

5. Separate the cloves and plant each one individually. Use the larger outer cloves for planting and use the smaller inner cloves for cooking.

Tips & Warnings

• Store the cloves whole until you are ready to plant. This prevents premature sprouting and rot.

• Store garlic in a place with fairly low humidity, otherwise it may sprout or grow mold.

References

• University of Maine Extension: Plant Garlic Now for a Bountiful Harvest Next July
• Ohio State University: Growing Garlicin the Home Garden