Topic: Elephant garlic pips

[lottie lou]

I have been growing garlic pips for a couple of years. However nothing much has come of them. Does anyone know how many years you have to grow them before you get a viable bulb?

[ancellsfarmer]

i think that they would develop into a split clove in year 2 but need a 'winter' temperature shock to cause their 'clock' to register. Where have they spent the last 2 years?

[Beersmith]

A very interesting question - have a like from me.

Today, I dug up a couple of elephant garlic, and as is often the case noticed several small clove like growths around the base of the larger bulbs.  Previously I'd have used these in the kitchen to add a small hint of mild garlic flavour when needed, but the alternative of growing them into bigger bulbs is interesting.

Is this what is meant by garlic pips?  Elephant garlic cloves are very expensive to buy from seed suppliers so anything that increases stocks appeals to me. I have never tried growing these tiny "pips" before.

I have grown on the tiny bulbs that appear around gladioli bulbs. No flowers in the first season but they get bigger and usually flower in the following season.

I'm speculating but saving and growing the pips on a two year cycle might allow me to avoid ever having to buy new elephant garlic cloves.  This is possible some years with conventional cloves, but depending on yields and using too many in the kitchen, I sometimes don't have enough saved.  I will watch responses with interest. 

[galina]

I am not clear what "pips" are, Lottie Lou.  Where are they located on the plant?  The normal way to propagate Elephant Garlic is to use one of the cloves from the mature bulb.   

[lottie lou]

They are usually found at Pthe bottom of the bulb,generally dangling. If you pm me your addy I'll send you some. I get loads every year but can't remember what I do with them. Never thought of using them in kitchen. Wonder if they are grown into bulbs for selling. Last year I used them as green garlic.  The leaves have died off now so will investigate what is in the pot

[lottie lou]

Mmmm. Bulbs not much bigger than last year. Will replant in autumn singly rather than a clump in a larger area.

[Tee Gee]

You can just see some here;



Germination



Ready for potting on



Potted up;



I plant them out around October along with my other garlic varieties.

Usually, I harvest them the following July/August and find that I get some indifferent results in terms of size.

Having said that; I can't say for certain which of the crop is from bulbils or small elephant garlic bulbs as I never bothered to monitor them, in other words, it was a 'freebie' crop so I was never too concerned with them.

Sorry, I can't be of more help!

[galina]

Ah yes, I wondered whether you meant bulblets.  In theory they grow into full sized plants with a divided bulb in two years, but they can take longer.  They have a very hard paper husk, light brown with a sharp point. 

Sometimes people call bulbils 'pips", but Elephant Garlic does not make any, however Babington Leek does and often those two are being confused because they are so similar.  Or the bulbils of hardneck garlics.

Basically, whether bulbils or bulblets, they need an extra year.  I take divided cloves and plant them at a spacing of about one foot apart from the next one in October for big bulbs which are divided into several cloves.  I have used bulblets in the kitchen, but the sharp point on the husk makes it a bit difficult extracting the contents. 

[lottie lou]

Thank you TG and Galina for your replies. Have decided to persevere and replant to see if I will ever get a full size bulb. Always the optimist.

[Vinlander]

I agree with Galina about the extra year (maybe 2).

On a related subject, I have occasionally got Egarlic to produce a single giant un-cloven bulb - somewhere between a single clove and a head - sometimes bigger than the poorest heads.

Since I think its only truly useful place is to be roasted whole, I value these mono-bulbs. Unfortunately I've forgotten how you encourage them - I vaguely remember I planted a clove very late so It didn't have time to split.

Has anyone mastered this?

Cheers.

PS. I can't imagine how anyone would ever have to buy Egarlic starts more than once in their life! For me they are more bulletproof than any other allium.

You just need a bit of restraint in the first year to keep a few out of the pot or oven! Easiest to leave them in the soil to minimise the temptation and split them in spring.

I'm not known for restraint... Maybe I'm just a bit lukewarm about the flavour - perfection from the oven but too bland in stews, too strong for slicing into sandwiches (winter bulbs from overlooked leeks are brilliant for this - effectively a silverskin onion that doesn't fall apart when you slice it).

PPS. Don't even think about eating the stems. Ugh - the flavour is neither leek nor garlic - or just enough of each to utterly spoil the result.