How to Grow Garlic Scapes: Garlic Scape Cultivation Techniques and Precautions

The garlic scape is a crop that grows in farmland. It has the spicy flavor of garlic, and its tender garlic leaves and leaf sheaths are used for food. When planting garlic sprouts, a lot of preparation is needed: first, choosing a good planting site; second, fertilizing and disinfecting; third, field management; fourth, harvesting. Next, the editor will explain in detail the method of planting garlic sprouts, hoping it can be of some help to everyone.

How to Grow Garlic Scapes

1. Site selection. For cultivating garlic scapes, choose sandy soil that drains and irrigates easily and is loose and fertile. Plow the soil and let it dry white in the sun, apply 1400-1500 kg of farmyard manure, 50-60 kg of plant ash, and 35-40 kg of superphosphate per mu, spread them evenly on the ground, harrow flat and fine as base fertilizer, and at the same time spray disinfectant plus New High-Fat Film to disinfect the soil; and promptly form beds, with a bed width of 1.50-1.70 m and a ditch surface width of 30 cm. On the bed surface, open planting furrows every 17-20 cm, spread 1000 kg of biogas residue fertilizer into the furrows as base fertilizer, and then sow.

2. Seed disinfection. For cultivating garlic scapes, choose excellent varieties with a short growth period and good yield. Before sowing, first soak the seeds in clean water for 24 hours, then soak the seeds in a 500-fold solution of zineb or thiophanate-methyl plus an 800-fold solution of New High-Fat Film for 40 minutes to treat the seeds, which can repel underground pests and diseases, isolate viral infection, not affect the imbibition and swelling function, strengthen respiration intensity, and increase the seed germination rate.

3. Sowing. Winter garlic is generally sown between September and October. As the saying goes, “deep scallions, shallow garlic.” The planting depth of garlic is 3-4 cm, and the plant spacing is 5-6 cm. They should be arranged one by one and planted by hand, and the seeds should not be close to the fertilizer. After sowing, cover the garlic cloves with fine soil, and spray New High-Fat Film to keep warm and prevent freezing. Prevent the soil from crusting, and at the same time irrigate 3500-4000 kg of manure water per mu to promote emergence and increase the emergence rate.

4. Management. If the weather is dry after sowing, water once every other day in the morning and evening to keep the soil moist. The garlic seedling stage is the key period for management. Deep intertillage and weeding should be carried out in time, fertilizer should be applied reasonably, and at the same time spray an 800-fold solution of New High-Fat Film to improve the utilization rate of effective ingredients in the fertilizer; and timely spray Zhuangjingling to make the plant stems thick and strong, the leaves thick, the leaf color fresh and tender, and the plant luxuriant, with a rich natural taste, improving the commercial value of garlic scapes; and during the scape-bearing stage, spray Diguo Zhuangdiling to thicken the nutrient transport ducts of the underground fruits, improve the expansion vitality of the underground fruits, enhance the disease resistance of the plants, and increase garlic yield.

5. Harvesting. When the node bud of the garlic scape extends 10-13 cm out of the leaf sheath, the withered tip of the garlic scape begins to bend, which is the sign of the suitable harvesting period for scapes. Garlic scapes should be harvested on a sunny afternoon. In the afternoon, the turgor pressure in the plant body decreases, the false stem becomes soft, and the garlic scape has good toughness and is easy to pull out. About 20 days after the garlic scapes are harvested, 1/2 of the leaves turn from green to yellow, the scale bulbs under the roots are fully enlarged, and the false stem roots become soft and begin to wither, which is the suitable harvesting period for garlic bulbs.

Garlic Scape Cultivation Techniques and Precautions

I. Cultivation Techniques

1. Seedling raising. Four-season garlic scapes are raised from seeds. Sowing can begin when the spring temperature reaches 15°C. Before sowing, first apply sufficient base fertilizer to the seedling plot, then plow and harrow it fine, level the ground, prepare the beds well, water enough bottom moisture, mix the seeds with fine soil or ash fertilizer and scatter them into the seedling bed, using about 4000 seeds per square meter (for a small amount of seed, they can be placed at a density of 15×18 mm). After scattering, cover with sand or fine dry manure to a thickness of 5-10 mm, preferably covering with soil sifted through a sieve.

2. Transplanting. The seedling stage takes about 3 months. When the seedlings are 20 cm high, they can be transplanted (avoid continuous cropping with scallions and garlic). First apply 4000-5000 kg of farmyard manure per mu, or apply 40 kg of compound fertilizer or 25 kg of biological compound fertilizer per mu. Then plow deeply and harrow finely.

3. Management. After transplanting and survival, if drought occurs, water frequently. At the same time, combine intertillage and weeding to keep the soil loose, and apply biological special fertilizer once a month by flushing, preferably 20 jin per mu each time.

4. Harvesting. About 1 month after transplanting, depending on the growth condition, they can be harvested like cutting chives. After harvesting, biological fertilizer can be applied by flushing at the same time as watering. After harvesting, each plant can divide into several plants at the root like chives, so they can be harvested once a month. Each harvest is 1000 kg-4000 kg per mu.

II. Precautions

1. Four-season garlic scapes like fertilizer, and are especially suitable for mainly using farmyard manure together with chemical fertilizer. When fertilizer and water are sufficient, the yield is even more considerable.

2. Four-season garlic scapes have strong disease resistance, and generally have no pests or diseases. If diseases or pests appear, you can refer to the methods for preventing and controlling pests and diseases in garlic.

3. In places where winter is too cold, spring and summer sowing is preferable. After winter begins, protective measures can be taken according to the situation.

Methods for Preventing and Controlling Garlic Scape Pests

During the garlic growth period, diseases such as leaf blight, dry rot, gray mold, and viral disease are likely to occur. According to plant protection requirements, targeted agents should be sprayed in time (such as 20% Virus Nemesis, 40% Shijiale suspension concentrate, 50% Duofu wettable powder), and targeted agents should be used for killing, while also spraying an 800-fold solution of New High-Fat Film to enhance the efficacy.

Field Management of Garlic Scapes

1. Pour a diluted solution of New High-Fat Film at a temperature not lower than 15°C to irrigate the garlic sprouts. After cultivation to the early growth stage, water heavily; at the middle stage when the seedlings are about 15 cm high, water moderately; and in the late growth stage 3-4 days before harvesting, water lightly.

2. The number of waterings should depend on the dry and wet condition of the soil on the rack bed. It also combines the nutrition of conventional fertilizers, so that the garlic sprouts grow and develop better.

The young seedlings that develop from garlic seedlings to a certain period are garlic scapes. They are the flower stalks that grow from the middle of the plant after the garlic matures. Garlic scapes are also hailed as “a naturally green food.” They are high in nutritional value among vegetables and are very good functional health vegetables, with multiple nutritional benefits.