Results from my bulbil plantings - Page 2

svalli · July 31, 2019

[All of these were planted last fall. Half were in raised bed here in my city garden and half at our field. The bigger ones of Bonavista look like there are small side cloves, so those have to be carefully separated before planting.

Most of the Alexandra rounds produced full size normal heads. Only the smallest rounds planted in the city grew just a bit bigger rounds. That variety gave nice heads in two years when grown from bulbils.

Tallinn also grew some divided heads from second year rounds, but those were much smaller than the ones grown from cloves. I may still use those cloves for planting just to see how long it takes to get them to size up.

Sari

bower · July 31, 2019

It seems like size and even variety type might play as much a role as planting time and environment to determine if it will be a bulb or a round.

Germidour I planted outdoors in fall produced all rounds, same as january greenhouse. But Messidor in the greenhouse produced 7 small bulbs and 7 rounds - from bulbils! Thermidrome are all rounds. Just today I removed scapes from Early Purple and Tallinn outdoors, each group has one plant without a scape, which might be a round, and the rest bulbs. Early Purple in the greenhouse produced a half dozen rounds and eleven small bulbs, so perhaps a higher percentage of rounds compared to outdoors/fall. The do have quite a few cloves (7 or so) which makes the cloves quite small compared to the bigger rounds. I will be interested to compare what comes of planting these cloves vs the rounds.

The bulbs from Alexandra and Messidor have large enough cloves to grow up faster or as fast as the rounds, but we shall see! It will be fun to compare them.

And Kolkja Red Russian produced a couple of bulbs from the bulbils as well as a lot of large rounds, but to be fair the bulbs are smaller.

July 31, 2019	#16
svalli Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Vaasa, Finland, latitude N 63° Posts: 838	[All of these were planted last fall. Half were in raised bed here in my city garden and half at our field. The bigger ones of Bonavista look like there are small side cloves, so those have to be carefully separated before planting. Most of the Alexandra rounds produced full size normal heads. Only the smallest rounds planted in the city grew just a bit bigger rounds. That variety gave nice heads in two years when grown from bulbils. Tallinn also grew some divided heads from second year rounds, but those were much smaller than the ones grown from cloves. I may still use those cloves for planting just to see how long it takes to get them to size up. Sari __________________ "I only want to live in peace, plant potatoes and dream." - Moomin-troll by Tove Jansson

July 31, 2019	#17
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	It seems like size and even variety type might play as much a role as planting time and environment to determine if it will be a bulb or a round. Germidour I planted outdoors in fall produced all rounds, same as january greenhouse. But Messidor in the greenhouse produced 7 small bulbs and 7 rounds - from bulbils! Thermidrome are all rounds. Just today I removed scapes from Early Purple and Tallinn outdoors, each group has one plant without a scape, which might be a round, and the rest bulbs. Early Purple in the greenhouse produced a half dozen rounds and eleven small bulbs, so perhaps a higher percentage of rounds compared to outdoors/fall. The do have quite a few cloves (7 or so) which makes the cloves quite small compared to the bigger rounds. I will be interested to compare what comes of planting these cloves vs the rounds. The bulbs from Alexandra and Messidor have large enough cloves to grow up faster or as fast as the rounds, but we shall see! It will be fun to compare them. And Kolkja Red Russian produced a couple of bulbs from the bulbils as well as a lot of large rounds, but to be fair the bulbs are smaller.