Depending on the variety and type of garlic plant, bulbils can take two to three years to grow into a garlic bulb. If a bulbil is planted in the fall, it will become a single garlic clove by the summer. It then takes an additional year to evolve into a small garlic bulb with its own individual garlic cloves. The size of the garlic bulb depends on the quality and maintenance of the soil, fertility, pH balance, climate, growing conditions, and of course the type of garlic plant.