My take:
The bulbils are virus free, if this is an issue. It takes three years to get mature bulbs.
A Chinese person from the old country told me in China, the scapes are removed when only a few inches long. In fact, they dig the scape out. They claim they are more tender this way, and removing makes no perceptible difference. Often the scapes are tough if allowed to get any appreciable length.
My scapes are almost ready to remove, (100 plants). I will remove half and see if there is any practical difference in the end product. The pods will be removed before going to seed, except for five or so to get seed for maturing bulbils.
I planted 100 seeds in the Fall of 2012 and not one came up. I suspect I left the seeds in the greenhouse and they got too hot and got killed. This year I will be more careful. I know they were viable, since some that fell on the ground produced well, in the wrong location.
The size of the planted clove has little or no bearing on the end size of the bulb. Some years I was short of fat and fit cloves and used what I had, and often the puny clove produced bulbs larger than a large clove.
Harvest in my case will be about the 15 of July this year in Zone 5.
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