How to Save Garlic Seed? These Practical Tips You Must Master

Because garlic reproduces asexually, the garlic clove is a modified lateral bud and a component part of the garlic mother plant. Long-term asexual reproduction inevitably leads to the accumulation of viruses within the plant as well as the buildup of other undesirable traits, causing degeneration of the garlic's seed quality. So how should garlic be saved for seed to overcome this problem? What tips are there?

1. How to save garlic seed? What tips are there?

1. Establish off-site garlic seed fields

Establishing garlic seed fields with a certain degree of regional difference and cultivation difference can avoid garlic degeneration, improve the seed quality of garlic, and provide a certain off-site growth advantage. For example, exchange between mountainous areas and plains, between dryland areas and rice areas, between vegetable-growing areas and grain areas, and off-site exchange in different directions within a certain range, such as between the south and the north, or the east and the west. All of these can improve the seed quality and yield of garlic to varying degrees.

2. Select garlic bulbs that have the characteristics of the variety and are free of disease and pests as seed garlic

During the garlic harvest period, go to the seed field to save garlic seed. The selection criteria are plants with the morphological characteristics of the variety, leaves without disease spots, plump bulbs, uniform color, a moderate number of cloves, no insect sources, and seed garlic that is disease-free and virus-free. After selection, tie them into small bundles and harvest and store them separately. Note that the garlic bulbs must be thoroughly dried and stored under cool and ventilated conditions. High temperature and moisture will reduce the vitality of the garlic clove buds and may even cause the seed to rot.

3. Use aerial bulbils as seed

To improve the seed quality of garlic and the vigor of the seed garlic, garlic aerial bulbils can be used for propagation. The method is: after the garlic bolts in the later stage of growth, do not harvest the garlic scapes, and delay the garlic bulb harvest period by 15-20 days. Wait until the scapes turn yellow and the aerial bulbils are mature, then harvest, screen out those with a diameter greater than 0.4 cm, and store them through the summer. In early to mid-September, open furrows on flat beds for drilling or broadcast sowing, with 120,000-150,000 seedlings per 667 sq m, then cover with about 2 cm of soil, press down, and water.

Afterward, manage them the same as garlic sown with cloves. When aerial bulbils are sown, under normal circumstances the first year they grow into single-clove garlic. Store the single-clove garlic well, plant it in autumn, and it will grow into normal garlic bulbs. The bulbs are noticeably larger, of good quality, and have strong growth vigor. Using this method to propagate garlic seed is the main method for improving garlic seed quality and preventing garlic degeneration. This method is not suitable for some varieties; for example, garlic without scapes, or with thin and small scapes that do not form bulbils, cannot be propagated by this method.

4. Select and breed virus-free seedlings, and introduce virus-free garlic seed

In recent years, scientific research departments have adopted virus-free measures for saving garlic seed, and virus-free seed garlic has a clear yield-increasing effect. However, it must be original seed or improved seed; beyond 3 generations, the yield-increasing effect is not obvious. Virus-free garlic must not be harvested too late, otherwise it easily causes clove scattering and affects the commercial value of the garlic.

5. Garlic that has undergone secondary growth cannot be saved for seed

Fields where garlic secondary growth, namely “horsetail garlic,” has occurred due to cultivation, climate, and other conditions cannot be selected for seed saving. The secondary growth of garlic is itself a kind of degeneration and affects the yield and quality of garlic. If it is again selected and saved for seed for one season, it will cause even more secondary growth and severe yield reduction.

2. How is garlic sown?

1. Land preparation

The plowing depth is generally about 20 cm. It should be finely plowed, raked level, and raked firm, with no obvious clods, achieving “neat, loose, broken, and clean.” Determine the length of the beds according to the water source. Beds can be 80-100 m long and 4.2-4.4 m wide; beds can also be 40-50 m long and 4.2-4.4 m wide.

2. Seed selection

Peel by hand and break apart the cloves, remove the garlic base plate and stem plate, and grade them by large, medium, small, and central cloves. Small cloves are handled according to the specific situation. The seed selection requirements are pure white with no red streaks, no wounds, no sugaring, and no glossy skin. In principle, each clove should weigh about 5 g. Seed size is the key to obtaining high yield.

3. Sow at the right time

Garlic should be sown at the right time. The planting time is from the end of White Dew to the beginning of Autumn Equinox (late September to early October), when the temperature is about 17°C. Before sowing, sun-dry the garlic cloves for 1-2 days.

4. Reasonable close planting

Generally, the row spacing is 20 cm, the plant spacing is 16-17 cm, and there are about 20,000 plants per 667 sq m. The depth is about 5 cm, and after planting, cover the garlic with about 1 cm of soil.