QUESTION: What do I do with an overlooked garlic bulb that is sprouting in the ground?

LeslieinPayson, member

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Photo: Saxon Holt

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Last year I grew garlic- great stuff, BUT I evidently missed harvesting one. This year we have warmed up all of a sudden, and I noticed this clump of foliage coming up. I thought it was green onions, but couldn't figure out why they were all together, so I tried to pull one up. It broke off, but the smell is distinctly garlic. I figure it must be a bulb that I missed, and the cloves are all growing. It's quite a large clump.

So- my question: should I just leave it alone and let it grow, and will it produce anything big enough to use; or should I dig it up and try to plant the cloves separately, even though they are already growing?

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Comments (5)

LeslieinPayson writes: So...I dug up the clump, and since I like to experiment, I did BOTH things Ruth suggested- I cooked with some and planted some. The "cooked with" was a great success- green garlic, who knew? I use green onions all the time, always have some growing. I should have thought of the garlic. I'll have to wait to see if the planted ones flourish.
Posted: 12:34 pm on March 23rd

JadaE writes: I have the exact same thing in my garden! 3 or 4 garlic plants have sprouted that I missed last year! (Or should I say my puppy at the time missed...he dug up and destroyed the rest.)

I will follow the same advice! :)

PS. I was so worried last year, because onion and garlic are bad for dogs...but the evidence my Chewy left behind lead me to believe that he dug them up and tossed them around! LOL No eating or garlic breath that I could detect... :)
Posted: 8:02 pm on March 19th

Ruth writes: You can still take a picture and upload it to your post to replace the one I put there. Or leave both, if you like.
Posted: 7:56 am on March 16th

LeslieinPayson writes: Thanks, Ruth. I'll dig it up and see. The shoots aren't tiny- they're the size of full size green onions, and all clumped together. I should have taken a picture.
Posted: 12:13 pm on March 15th

Ruth writes: I think I'd either use it as green garlic or dig it up, separate the cloves, and plant them separately, especially if the cloves are of a reasonable size. It's possible, if this clump has really tiny shoots, that it resulted from some of your last year's garlic flowering and dropping seeds.

See http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/9296/all-about-garlic for more garlic info.
Posted: 6:42 am on March 15th

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