AdewebsPropagating Garlics using bulbils requires some techniques. And in this article we will be looking at those techniques. I still remember the first time I tried growing garlic from bulbils. It felt a bit like cheating nature. Instead of planting the usual fat cloves, I was planting these tiny, hard little seeds that grow up on the scapes. It felt like magic.
And let me tell you, once you get the hang of it, propagating garlic from bulbils becomes one of those satisfying farm hacks that saves money and gives you healthier plants.
If you’re a farmer in the US, UK, or anywhere garlic loves to grow, and you’ve been curious about this method, pull up a chair. I’ll walk you through what I’ve learned—successes, failures, muddy boots and all.
What Are Garlic Bulbils Anyway?
If you’ve grown hardneck garlic before, you’ve seen those curly green scapes. At the tip of each scape sits a small capsule full of little bead-like bits. Those are garlic bulbils. They’re not true seeds, and they’re not cloves either. They’re basically a miniature clone of the parent plant, produced above ground.
Why’s that useful? Because using garlic bulbils instead of cloves means you don’t sacrifice your eating garlic to plant your next crop. And since bulbils don’t grow in the soil, they’re usually free from soil-borne diseases. Handy, right?
Why Propagate Garlic from Bulbils
This method might take an extra season or two, but the payoff is big. You’re building up your seed stock cheaply and cleanly. Instead of buying more seed garlic, you can scale up your planting for almost nothing. Plus, the plants from bulbils tend to be healthier because you’re starting them disease-free.
Think of it like raising your own chicks instead of buying full-grown hens. It takes time, but your flock is yours and strong.
A Relatable Scenario from My Farm
Last spring, a neighbor dropped by while I was bent over a patch of garlic scapes. “Why aren’t you planting cloves like normal folks?” he asked. I handed him a handful of garlic bulbils and told him to try planting them at the edge of his field. This season he came back with a grin—his bulbil-grown garlic was standing strong and disease-free while some of his clove plantings were struggling.
Step-by-Step: Propagating Garlic from Bulbils
Here’s how I do it on my small farm. It’s simple once you’ve seen it once.
1. Harvest the Bulbils
Let your garlic scapes mature until the bulbil capsule turns firm and begins to split. Snip off the scapes with the bulbils attached. Keep them in a paper bag to dry for a couple of weeks.
2. Prepare the Bulbils
Once dry, break open the capsules and separate the garlic bulbils. They’ll be like tiny cloves, some as small as a grain of rice, others as big as a pea depending on the variety.
3. Choose Your Planting Site
Garlic likes loose, well-drained soil with full sun. Add compost if your soil’s heavy. Keep the rows weed-free.
4. Planting Time
Plant garlic bulbils in the fall, just like you would regular garlic cloves. In the US, that’s often October. In the UK, aim for late September or early October depending on your frost dates. Push the bulbils about an inch deep and cover them with soil and mulch.
5. First-Year Growth
The first season, most garlic bulbils won’t form full-sized bulbs. Instead, they’ll produce a round—basically a single clove bulb. That’s normal. You can either harvest these rounds in summer or leave them in the ground for a second season.
6. Second-Year Growth
Plant those rounds back in the fall, just like regular cloves. By the next summer, you’ll have full-sized garlic bulbs ready to harvest.
Tips for Success
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Mulch well: Keeps weeds down and protects bulbils through winter.
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Label your rows: It’s easy to forget which patch is bulbil garlic and which is clove garlic.
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Patience: Growing from bulbils takes an extra season but gives you healthier stock.
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Spacing: Plant bulbils closer together the first year (about 2 inches apart). Space rounds the next year as you would normal cloves (about 4 inches apart).
Common Questions about Propagating Garlic from Bulbils
Do garlic bulbils grow faster than cloves?
No. Cloves give you full bulbs in one season. Bulbils often take two seasons but reward you with clean seed stock.
Can you plant bulbils indoors first?
You can start them in trays if you want a head start. Transplant once the soil warms.
Do I still get scapes from bulbil-grown garlic?
Yes, once your plants mature enough, you’ll get scapes again.
Will my garlic variety stay true when grown from bulbils?
Absolutely. Bulbils are clones of the parent plant, so the variety stays the same.
How many bulbils do you get per scape?
Depends on the variety. Some produce dozens per scape, enough to plant a big bed.
A Few Extra Farmer-to-Farmer Notes
If you’re in a rainy region like the UK’s west coast, keep an eye on drainage. Garlic hates sitting in water. Raise your beds a bit if needed. In parts of the US Midwest, where winters bite hard, mulch thickly to keep bulbils from heaving out of the soil.
If you’re saving on seed costs, this method will feel like striking gold. One summer’s scapes can give you hundreds of garlic bulbils to expand your patch the next year. That’s seed security in your own hands.
And a quick tip from my own “oops” moments: don’t forget where you planted them. In spring, tiny garlic shoots can look like grass. I once weeded half a row before realizing what I’d done.
Quick Planting Cheat Sheet
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Harvest scapes once bulbil capsules firm up
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Dry and store garlic bulbils in paper bags
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Plant in fall about an inch deep
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Expect rounds the first season, full bulbs the second
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Mulch for winter protection and weed control
Farmer’s Troubleshooting Guide for Garlic Bulbils
Even when you’ve done everything right, garlic can still throw you a curveball. Here are the most common hiccups I’ve seen and what I do about them:
Poor Sprouting
Sometimes you plant your garlic bulbils in autumn and come spring there’s hardly a shoot. Usually it’s because they dried out too much before planting, or you buried them too deep. I keep mine slightly moist in paper bags until planting time and make sure I don’t go deeper than an inch. A good mulch also holds the soil just right.
Bulbils Turn Moldy in Storage
If you pull the scapes too green or store them in a plastic bag, they sweat and mold. I learned the hard way. Now I harvest only when the capsule has firmed up and I dry them somewhere airy. Paper bags are your friend.
Weeds Choking Young Garlic
Because bulbil garlic starts off small, it’s easily overtaken. On my farm, I run a light hoe between rows or use a thick straw mulch so weeds never get a head start. Little shoots like breathing room.
Pests Nibbling the Shoots
Garlic is usually pest resistant, but when it’s small, onion maggots or cutworms can do damage. If you’ve had problems in the past, rotate where you plant the bulbils and avoid spots where you grew onions or garlic last year.
Rounds Don’t Size Up
If your first-year rounds are smaller than you hoped, don’t panic. They’re still good planting stock. Give them a second season with richer soil and proper spacing and they’ll bulk up nicely.
Wrapping Up
Propagating garlic from bulbils is one of those patient gardener’s tricks. You give up a little time but gain a lot of independence and healthier plants. It’s also strangely satisfying to watch those tiny bulbil “seeds” turn into big heads of garlic over a couple of seasons.
So if you’ve got a patch of hardneck garlic throwing scapes this year, don’t just snap them off and toss them. Collect the garlic bulbils, plant them, and in a season or two you’ll be patting yourself on the back.
What about you—are you tempted to try growing your next garlic crop from bulbils instead of cloves?
