Stem cloves occasionally form on soft neck garlic, but their appearance in large numbers seems to be stress related. Due to heavy rains, my garlic last year spent much of May & June in muddy soil, and all the artichoke garlic had more stem cloves than normal. For some varieties, every plant had stem cloves, and sometimes in more than one location. The bulbs themselves were much smaller than normal. Last Fall, I moved the garlic bed to a location with better drainage, and have virtually no stem cloves this year. I planted many of the stem cloves from last year, to see if they will grow into stronger stock.
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