[rogertb]

Hi chaps, I hope I'm not hijacking the post but I bought a garlic bulb last year and grew it with great success ... can I use one of these bulbs to split into cloves and plant this year ?

Regards Roger

[gavinjconway]

Yes Roger you can. But make sure its not infected with any sickness and looks good. Keep them whole till planting time then split and plant the bigger outer cloves and eat the inner scrawly ones.. Thats all I do.

[seaside]

Hi chaps, I hope I'm not hijacking the post but I bought a garlic bulb last year and grew it with great success ... can I use one of these bulbs to split into cloves and plant this year ?

Regards Roger

That's the sort of thing I like to hear.
It's a good idea with alliums to keep an eye on all bulbs as they grow, and make a note of those without a problem throughout the growing period and those most likely to succeed as next year's seed. Obviously take note of the roots, when lifted, for problems
If done correctly, it appears to me one can be more confident of the health of your own bulb than buying in these days.,, especially on the white rot front.

[Amilo]

As an aside, I used to by my garlic from a seed supplier but then I tried some garlic from Tesco, or was it Morrison's, any way the result was the supermarket off the shelf variety where just as good as the bought as seed variety.

[rogertb]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement, though when I lifted the garlic there was some yellowing of the leaves ... was that rust and will it be "in" the cloves ? - (they have dried out and stored without any problems),

Amilo - I was advised against trying to grow store bought garlic as it could well be a variety not suited to this mild climate ... you may have been lucky ... who knows.

Roger

[arugula]

Hi chaps, I hope I'm not hijacking the post

It was a different question really so I've split your query out.

[Kristen]

It is often said that Garlic adapts over several generations to suit the local conditions, so well worth keeping your own.

Other things (seeds apart) are best avoided because of the risk of caring disease from one season to the next - spuds in particular ... errmmm ... trying to think of other things that could be replanted, and aren't grown from seed, but my mind has gone a blank! Perhaps Spuds and Garlic are the only such choices?

Need to keep an eye out for disease, as already said, but personally I think it is worth splashing out and buying a couple of good quality bulbs, of a flavour(s)/varieties you like, with a view to then planting from your own harvest in following seasons.

[Kleftiwallah]

Don't forget, plant 'em a bit deeper than onion sets (3 - 4 inch).

Cheers,   Tony.

[Sparkyrog]

You can also keep your own shallots ,but pick the best each year 

[BabbyAnn]

... trying to think of other things that could be replanted, and aren't grown from seed, but my mind has gone a blank! Perhaps Spuds and Garlic are the only such choices?

Jerusalem artichockes, Chinese artichokes, oca and any other weird tubers 

It is often said that Garlic adapts over several generations to suit the local conditions, so well worth keeping your own.

By selecting the biggest and best bulbs from each crop, you are more or less tailor making a strain of garlic suited to your plot 

[Steveharford]

With shallots (true shallots) I understand that you choose the smallest to replant. With garlic choose the biggest.

[Kristen]

... trying to think of other things that could be replanted, and aren't grown from seed, but my mind has gone a blank! Perhaps Spuds and Garlic are the only such choices?

Jerusalem artichockes, Chinese artichokes, oca and any other weird tubers 

Thanks! Now just got to remember what day it is!

With shallots (true shallots) I understand that you choose the smallest to replant. With garlic choose the biggest.

Interesting, not come across that one before.  Seems counter intuitive, maybe the fatter ones are more prone to bolt?

[Steveharford]

I dont think it is because the bigger shallots will bolt; from what I gather, they are inclined to produce lots of small offspring, whereas the smaller ones produce fewer but bigger ones. In fact I have found exactly that this year, where I made an Autumn planting of echalot gris. All lovely big sets when planted but apart from the odd large one, mine produced as many as 25 to each plant. Mostly small ones. At least I now have plenty of sets to plant this Autumn 
I have done a fair bit of trawling and there appears only a little on the internet which references the large set / small shallot thing.
Not sure if it is allowed here, but here is a link to another site where it gets a mention. http://allequal.com/harvesting-and-selecting-shallots/#comment-131
I would be grateful if you could forward me any more links if you find any. Steve

[JayG]

Found a couple more links for you Steve, one from Canada and one from the US - there's no problem posting external links in accordance with this site's policy, although posting links to other gardening forums is considered to be bad etiquette (doesn't seem fair to show them up!  )

Unfortunately when it comes to selecting the best bulb size for planting they seem to contradict each other! 

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/98-037.htm

http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426-411/426-411.html

Having grown mainly Golden Gourmet, but also Mikor and others, for several years from saved sets I don't know the answer either - this year's Golden Gourmet were the best for a few years, which has to be down to the weather conditions.

Sometimes an individual plant will struggle for whatever reason and only produce small shallots, and it makes sense to me to not use them to plant next year, but I do tend to use the smaller ones from plants which otherwise have larger bulbs on - my reasoning is that they must be genetically the same, and I usually find that smaller ones often (but not always) store better (contrary to one of the above articles.)

[Steveharford]

Thanks JayG
It is interesting, that I have also read that the largest and best should be used, which to most of us would be logical, but I have also read that they are Biennial and therefore only come at their best in the second year.
Another consideration for me right now, is that I have just notice my seed stock beginning to shoot. Is it too early to plant them or would they be best moved into the fridge for a while?