Garlic Scape Cultivation Techniques and Key Field Management Points Explained

Garlic scape is the flower stalk produced by the garlic plant, also known as garlic bolt. It is crisp and tender in texture with a pungent aroma, and is a common seasonal vegetable. Growing garlic scapes is in fact just growing garlic; as long as the garlic grows vigorously and bolts smoothly, you can harvest garlic scapes of fairly good quality.

Before planting, select garlic bulbs with plump cloves, no diseased spots and no damage as seed, then separate the cloves and sow them graded by size. The plot should be a loose, fertile sandy loam with convenient drainage and irrigation, and continuous cropping with onion and garlic crops should be avoided. When preparing the land, apply plenty of decomposed organic fertilizer as base fertilizer. Sowing is mostly done in autumn after the temperature turns cooler; after sowing, cover with soil two to three cm and water thoroughly, which helps ensure uniform emergence.

Before overwintering, keep the soil alternately dry and moist, and watering well for overwintering helps the seedlings survive the winter safely. After greening up, the plants enter a period of vigorous growth, and nitrogen fertilizer can be applied along with watering to promote the growth of the garlic seedlings. During the bolting stage, the demand for water and fertilizer is relatively high, so the soil should be kept moist and phosphorus and potassium fertilizer appropriately supplemented, so that the flower stalks are thick and the texture crisp and tender.

The garlic scapes can be harvested when the spathe turns white and the scape bends into a hook shape. It is best to harvest on a sunny afternoon, when the plants contain less water and the scapes are less likely to break. Take care to protect the leaves when harvesting; applying fertilizer and watering promptly after harvesting the scapes can also promote continued bulb expansion, achieving a double harvest of both scapes and bulbs.