True garlic seeds I tried for two seasons, with cultivars able to set seeds in more southern areas. I had no seeds setting, despite all my effort. Later I spoke to Åke Truedsson in Skåne, Sweden. He also failed and had given up. Other Alliums are very sensitive to day length, and I guess, if I skould try again, I would have to control the day length in some way.
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That would turn true garlic seed production into an even more complicated process. Would you bring the scapes inside a dark room and then control the amount of light they get? I wonder if those garlic could ever be selected to become less day length sensitive. That sounds like a real long-term breeding project if there ever was one. And probably too advanced for my situation at the moment.
In case this helps! To grow outside and still control the light, think like a cannabis farmer?
Here is a photo of the low-tech method of ‘light dep’: pulling black tarps for 12 hour day length cycles to trigger flowering in the middle of the summer.
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Great idea Julia, I would assume that would work. Then comes the next question. Is there any variation in garlic genetics determining more or less day length sensitivity? Eventually, to landrace garlic in Northern regions, I would want to grow them in the climate I’m growing in.
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