well i planted my garlic last fall and i'm impressed with how its doing. in the last week the flower stalk has started to grow and i wanted some advice on what to do next. some advice is to leave it and use the bulbits that form, some say to wait until it twists 3 times then remove it. some say to just remove it. I would have thought like most plants that start to form the flower it is best to cut it out as early as possible. As i want all the energy going to the bulbs. so thought i would ask the experts here.
Dan, I really am not an expert, I don't even play one on TV But I have heard the only garlic you really need to remove the scape from iss the elephant garlic. I do pick off the scapes when I see them and if I have time. Otherwise I don't think it will hurt either way you choose.
The flower stalks are called "scapes" and you can harvest and use them. When the round stalk starts to curl, snap them off. You can use the scapes just like garlic because they are loaded with the essential oils found in garlic. In fact, many chefs pay a premium for scapes. Then when the leaves, the flat leaves, of your garlic start to turn yellow and about 1/3 to 1/2 of them fall over, you can pull your garlic and hang it to dry, or put it on a screen out of direct light and where there is good air circulation. Home-grown and air-dried garlic is so much better than grocery garlic. We grow three varieties, and our barn smells heavenly right now with the hanging garlic. And we aren't bothered by vampires!
