Garlic preperation and planting

[Plot70]

I normally plant garlic that is store bought and do find it needs more than just shoving it into the ground.
The first thing to do is find some that has a decent flavour and clove size then buy more for planting.
The growers who supply supermarkets treat the bulbs to prevent them from sprouting to increase shelf life.
I have found that keeping the bulbs in an unheated dry location for several frost cycles resets the biological clock.
The bulbs do not try to sprout as expected until they are put into the ground. Once they are in the ground they sprout impressively.
Does anyone else use supermarket bulbs for planting?

[Jungle Jane]

No,I’ve bought organic garlic bulbs & they’ve started growing in the kitchen tho. I was thinking of planting some of the garlic I grew this year but that’s a risk of failure so I’ve got some bulbs from garden centre like usual. If they’re not organic garlic bulbs,what are you planting? I don’t know?

[Mr Bones]

We've recently planted 5th generation self-saved cloves - originally from supermarket garlic. Don't know if it's true but have read that garlic is supposed to acclimatise to local conditions, ours certainly out-performs garden centre stock.
Below is this years harvest, top shelf is from self-saved.

[Mr Bones]

Found it.. thought I had another photo somewhere - this years (self-saved) cloves just waiting to be pushed in

[quanglewangle]

My self-saved garlic seem to get smaller generation by generation. We go about three or four generations saving then buy new - not supermarket but seed supplier ones.

[quanglewangle]

Respect Mr Bones - your garden is just so neat.

[Iris_Germany]

I normally plant garlic that is store bought and do find it needs more than just shoving it into the ground.
The first thing to do is find some that has a decent flavour and clove size then buy more for planting.
The growers who supply supermarkets treat the bulbs to prevent them from sprouting to increase shelf life.
I have found that keeping the bulbs in an unheated dry location for several frost cycles resets the biological clock.
The bulbs do not try to sprout as expected until they are put into the ground. Once they are in the ground they sprout impressively.
Does anyone else use supermarket bulbs for planting?

No, not me. They sprout alright but do not survive frost and rain.
Neighbors tried it with supermarket garlic and never they survived or build bulbs.

I take the pink french garlic Germidour and another variety Casablanca. Put also Messidrome in the soil this automn but it's the first time, so I do not know how I will like this one once it is ripe.

[Plot70]

Supermarket garlic is treated to stop it sprouting.
The trick is to give it several dry frost cycles to reset its biological clock before planting otherwise it just rots in the ground.
Last year Aldi ones never sprouted during the frost cycling process but once in the ground they were up within a week.
I am frosting some from Asda as we speak.
The Aldi ones produced stipes with tiny bulbs on them. I am frost cycling those and will try them too.
I have had two packets of seeds that have come up like domestic saved seed. The plants have been obviously related to the picture on the pack but no more. Cauliflowers have been least like the packet photo.

[ameno]

Supermarket garlic is treated to stop it sprouting.

Is that really true? I've just done some fair extensive searching, and have not found any articles with any actual sources which name any chemical treatments used to inhibit sprouting. Just a lot of articles claiming it goes on without any actual details. It's just rumour with nothing to back it up
Compare that to potatoes or sweet potatoes, on the other hand, and you can find plenty of detail on what methods and chemicals are used to inhibit sprouting. If the same happened to garlic, there would surely be similar articles about the practice, but instead we just have a bunch of hearsay.

The closest I could find was information about a chemical called maleic hydrazide, which used to be used to inhibit sproutin in garlic and onions but was banned by the EU in 2017.
It seems nowadays all they use to inhibit sprouting is a combination of cold storage and ethylene gas.
Ethylene gas will inhibit sprouting in alliums, however it needs a constant atmospheric presence in order to be effective (i.e. they need to keep pumping it in or keep the garlic in a sealed room with the gas inside). Once the gas dissipates, the effect wears off almost immediately. This means that once the garlic (or onions) are in the shop, any sprout inhibiting effects have already worn off, and the clock has started again. They will then simply sprout as and when their natural internal dormancy wears off. When exactly that is does depend on the variety, age, and storage conditions, of course.

[greenishfing]

I usually buy garlic from the garden centre every 3 or four years and replant my own in between. However last year, for the first time ever, and thanks I think to the very wet Winter/Spring my crop just rotted and died in the ground. I've bought some new from the garden centre this Autumn and I'm hoping the weather is more "normal" this year. I have never ever grown any that I haven't enjoyed eating though.

[Iris_Germany]

Respect Mr Bones - your garden is just so neat.

Looks more like art than garden.
Very impressive!

[rary]

Is that really true? I've just done some fair extensive searching, and have not found any articles with any actual sources which name any chemical treatments used to inhibit sprouting. Just a lot of articles claiming it goes on without any actual details. It's just rumour with nothing to back it up
Compare that to potatoes or sweet potatoes, on the other hand, and you can find plenty of detail on what methods and chemicals are used to inhibit sprouting. If the same happened to garlic, there would surely be similar articles about the practice, but instead we just have a bunch of hearsay.

The closest I could find was information about a chemical called maleic hydrazide, which used to be used to inhibit sproutin in garlic and onions but was banned by the EU in 2017.
It seems nowadays all they use to inhibit sprouting is a combination of cold storage and ethylene gas.
Ethylene gas will inhibit sprouting in alliums, however it needs a constant atmospheric presence in order to be effective (i.e. they need to keep pumping it in or keep the garlic in a sealed room with the gas inside). Once the gas dissipates, the effect wears off almost immediately. This means that once the garlic (or onions) are in the shop, any sprout inhibiting effects have already worn off, and the clock has started again. They will then simply sprout as and when their natural internal dormancy wears off. When exactly that is does depend on the variety, age, and storage conditions, of course.

I think there is some truth in what Plot 70 says, after having a garlic bulb sitting in a drawer since April last year it is now starting to show signs of germination, and not every clove, garlic from the garden starts within a year, so inclined to think that the shop bought bulb has been treated with growth inhibitors

[quanglewangle]

I am not saying whether supermarket garlic is or isn't treated to inhibit sprouting but such treatments are manifestly an active area of research.

Here is a small selection from dozens of articles thrown up from a quick search. From a quick unscientific count there are more articles about radiation methods than chemical methods.

My coloring, for ease of spotting the title.

Radiation methods
Sharma P, Sharma SR, Dhall RK, Mittal TC, Bhatia S. Physio-chemical behavior of γ-irradiated garlic bulbs under ambient storage conditions. Journal of Stored Products Research. 2020 May 1;87:101629.

Fouzia S, Hussain PR, Abeeda M, Faheema M, Monica R. Potential of low dose irradiation to maintain storage quality and ensure safety of garlic sprouts. Radiation Physics and Chemistry. 2021 Dec 1;189:109725.

Chemical methods
(Mainly protocatechuic acid, abscisic acid, to replace maleic hydrazide)

Ram M, Kumar S, Chopra S, Kumar M, Gupta RK. Effect of exogenous application of phytohormones and fungicides on yield, quality storability and economics of garlic (Allium sativum L.). Vegetable Science. 2018;45(2):249-53.

Ratanamarno, S. and Supa, C. (2015). PRE-HARVEST TREATMENT FOR SPROUTING INHIBITION AND STORAGE TEMPERATURE FOR GARLIC (ALLIUM SATIVUM L.). Acta Hortic. 1088, 449-452
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1088.79
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1088.79

[Jungle Jane]

I have found that keeping the bulbs in an unheated dry location for several frost cycles resets the biological clock.

Does this simply mean you keep them in the fridge? I don’t know what frost cycles are,haven’t heard of that. Putting the bulbs in the fridge would delay sprouting.

[Plot70]

I am pretty sure that they do not use any chemicals.
They put it in an air con warehouse and run it as a mid summer temperature cycle for some time before shipping. This sets the biological clock to wait at least 6 months before sprouting. That way the supermarkets get a product with the longest possible shelf life.
Obviously for growing you need to set the biological clock to sprout when you want it to namely the right time of year before you introduce moisture otherwise it will rot before it sprouts.
The temperature cycle is frost and daytime thaw for a couple of weeks. In an unheated tool shed against a north facing wall does it for me.
A modern fridge might not work as the thermostat is likely to keep the temperature too constant. Old fridges with "clankey" thermostats used to make garlic sprout every time.