The Latest Selection and Treatment Methods for Garlic Seed Cloves in Garlic Planting

Autumn is the perfect season for planting garlic, and selecting and treating the seed garlic before planting is crucial, as this ensures normal garlic growth and increases garlic yield. So how should seed garlic be selected and treated? Let's take a look together.

1. Seed selection

Before sowing, it is best to dry the garlic heads in the sun for 2-3 days, which loosens the cloves, makes them easier to separate, and also promotes sprouting of the seed garlic. After harvesting and drying, and before storing in the warehouse, farmers should carefully select garlic heads, choosing those that are large, have few and uniform cloves, are white in color, have plump terminal buds, and are free of disease and damage as seed garlic, storing them separately. Select again before sowing, removing rotten, insect-damaged, and root-rotted garlic heads to ensure good quality seed garlic.

2. Separating the cloves

Separating the cloves involves removing the root disc, discarding damaged cloves, and peeling off the garlic skin, because both the skin and the root disc affect water absorption by the garlic to varying degrees, thereby affecting the normal emergence of seedlings. Therefore, removing the skin and root disc before sowing helps the seedlings develop roots and prevents clove displacement during emergence. If cultivating in saline-alkali soil, to prevent alkali damage to the seed garlic, the skin and root disc can be left on.

3. Sowing by grade

The size of the seed garlic has a significant impact on yield. The larger the mother clove, the more robust the resulting plant will grow, the larger the garlic head formed, and the higher the yield. So when planting, farmers should not only choose larger garlic heads but also select large cloves. After separating the cloves, divide them into three grades: large, medium, and small. When planting, select first- and second-grade cloves. Third-grade cloves, due to their weak growth capacity and lower yield, should be sown by grade.

4. Sprouting the seed garlic

When sowing in autumn, if using seed garlic from the current year that has not passed through the dormancy period, the seed garlic needs to be treated. Remove the root disc but not the skin from the seed garlic, place in a suitable container, and while spraying water, stir so that the garlic skin becomes moist. Leave for 3-4 days before sowing. Alternatively, half a month before sowing, after removing the root disc, soak briefly in water, then place in a cellar, spread on damp ground, and turn every 3-4 days so the seed garlic is evenly moistened. Keep the temperature at around 11-16 and the relative air humidity at 83%. After about half a month, when the seeds develop white roots, they can be sown.

  The above is an introduction to the selection and treatment methods for seed garlic in garlic planting. We hope it helps you. For more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.