Garlic Seeds: Latest Prices and a Detailed Guide to Growing Methods

Garlic is also known as suan, garlic bulb, hu suan, and so on; it is the collective name for plants of the garlic group in the genus Allium of the family Amaryllidaceae. By convention, what people usually call “garlic” refers to the garlic bulb, which is oblate or short-conical, with a grayish-white or light brown membranous scale skin on the outside. It was introduced to China from the Western Regions during the Qin and Han dynasties, and is now widely cultivated throughout China. Let us take a look together at garlic seed prices and growing methods!

How much do garlic seeds cost?

The price of garlic seeds is about 6 to 10 yuan per jin, with differences in price depending on the region and variety. There are relatively many cultivated varieties of garlic in China; by color they are divided into red-skinned, white-skinned, purple-skinned, and so on. The main cultivated varieties include the Shandong Cangshan garlic variety group, Jilin Baimaya, Shandong Chengwu garlic, Shandong Jinxiang white garlic, Jiangsu Taicang white garlic, Shaanxi Caijiapo purple-skinned garlic, Heilongjiang Acheng garlic, Sichuan Ershuizao, Yunnan red (white) Qixing, Tianjin Baodi Liubanhong, and so on.

How many jin does one mu of garlic yield?

The yield of new garlic land is about 2500 jin per mu, and land that is often continuously cropped is about 2000 jin per mu. In Jinxiang, the main garlic-producing area, apart from Huayu, Maji, and Gaohe, where yields are slightly higher and some plots reach 2000 jin, the other townships generally average between 1600 and 1700, and many villages in Mamiao and Yushan are around 1500 jin.

Excellent garlic varieties

1. Cangshan Puke garlic: the main planted variety in the Cangshan garlic production area, with a growing period of about 240 days; it is a mid-to-late maturing variety with strong adaptability, relatively good cold tolerance, strong growth vigor, and good quality. It yields about 1500 kg of garlic bulbs per mu and about 400 kg of garlic scapes.

2. Cangshan Cao garlic: Cangshan Cao garlic is one variety among Cangshan garlic; it is an early-maturing variety with a growing period of 230 to 235 days. Its cold resistance is poorer than that of Puke garlic, its growth is vigorous, and the yields of garlic bulbs and garlic scapes are comparable to those of Puke garlic.

3. Cangshan Gaojiao garlic: this variety is also one of the Cangshan garlic varieties; it is a late-maturing variety with a growing period of more than 240 days. It has strong growth vigor, is relatively cold tolerant, and its garlic bulb yield is higher than that of Cangshan Puke garlic and Cangshan Cao garlic.

4. Jiaxiang garlic: a local variety of Jiaxiang County. The plant has strong growth vigor and weak tillering ability, with a growing period of about 260 days. It generally yields about 250 kg of garlic scapes and about 1500 kg of garlic bulbs per mu.

5. Soviet garlic: Soviet garlic was introduced from the former Soviet Union in the 1950s and is now widely cultivated in various places. The plant has strong growth vigor and moderate tillering, with a growing period of about 230 days. It has strong disease resistance and high yield, producing 1500 to 2000 kg of garlic bulbs per mu, but its quality is average, so it is suitable for growing green garlic sprouts.

Garlic growing methods

1. Choosing and preparing the land: for garlic cultivation, fertile, loose, well-drained sandy soil is best, and continuous cropping should be avoided as much as possible. Generally, deep plowing is done to 15 to 20 cm; together with deep plowing, apply 1000 to 1500 kg of barnyard manure per mu, build beds about 2 m wide, and dig drainage ditches well.

2. Sowing time: the sowing time for garlic differs according to its use. For growing garlic bulbs, sowing from early September to early October is suitable, and no later than mid-October at the latest; for growing green garlic, sowing in mid-to-late August is best.

3. Sowing method: garlic is sown by hole planting, with 2 to 3 cloves per hole, spacing of 17×20 cm, and depth kept at 0.02 to 0.3 m. After sowing, cover with a layer of plant ash or pour on a layer of muddy sand slurry. The sowing rate is 120 to 140 kg per mu.

4. Fertilization management

① Base fertilizer: apply 20 to 25 kg of ammonium bicarbonate, 8 to 10 kg of superphosphate, and 4 to 5 kg of potassium chloride per mu, or 15 to 20 kg of compound fertilizer.

② Seedling fertilizer: after full emergence and at the beginning of the three-leaf stage, apply 1500 to 2000 kg of livestock manure and urine per mu, plus 5 kg of urea.

③ Winter fertilizer: winter fertilizer is a supplementary application made from this winter solstice to the following spring; apply 10 kg of ammonium bicarbonate and 1000 to 1200 kg of human and livestock manure per mu.

④ Bolting fertilizer: during the garlic bolting period, apply 15 kg of urea per mu.

⑤ Foliar spraying fertilizer: during the period of rapid garlic bulb expansion, spray a 0.2 to 0.3% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution per mu, preferably around Guyu.

5. Field management: after the garlic seedlings emerge uniformly, use bamboo strips to move and thin the seedlings to establish the stand. After stand establishment, fertilization should be accompanied by timely loosening of the soil and weeding. Loosen the soil once around Dahan, and in late February of the following spring promptly clear the drainage ditches. If drought occurs, carry out furrow irrigation in time for drought resistance.

6. Disease and pest control: the main diseases and pests of garlic include phytophthora blight and the coffee bean weevil. For phytophthora blight, use 100 g of 25% carbendazim per mu diluted in 50 kg of water and spray. For the coffee bean weevil, fumigation with aluminum phosphide at 3 to 5 g per cubic meter can be used for control.