Garlic "Seeds": The Flower Head Isn't Seed—Plant Cloves Instead

Roberta's husband sees a baseball-sized flower head on garlic and asks if it's seed. No. Garlic rarely produces true seed.

The "flower" is actually bulbils (tiny clones) in a capsule.
Garlic is propagated only by cloves: divide the bulb in fall, plant individual cloves.
Bulbils can grow but take 2+ years to form a full bulb.

Stick with cloves. It's reliable, fast, and how garlic has been grown for millennia.

Seeding and Propagation: Starting a Nectarine Tree from Seed in North Texas: Worth the Effort?; Garlic Bulbils: The "Seed Ball" on Hardneck Scapes; Transplanting Sprouted Avocado Seeds from Water to Soil; Growing Hippeastrum (Amaryllis) from Seed: A Step-by-Step Guide; Collecting and Planting Garlic or Wild Onion Bulbils; Growing a Peach Tree from a Grocery Store Pit: Stratification & Care; Planting Grass Seed for Erosion Control on a Riverfront Property in North Carolina; Is It Too Late to Plant Watermelon from Seed in Pennsylvania?; Complete Guide to Growing Garlic in Hilly Regions; Hybrid vs. Heirloom Tomato Seeds: What Happens When You Save Them?

Garden Articles

Plants