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Elephant Garlic

Started by Steve., July 13, 2011, 13:09:09

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Steve.

Another plot holder on our site has just harvested her Elephant garlic...HUGE bulbs that had a few tiny bulbs (onion set size) around the base, she grew some of these on last year and also gave me one bulb she had grown from them..its a normal size garlic bulb now. If I grow these on successively over the next year or so...will they eventually become the size of the initial parent..ie Elephant garlic?

Steve...:)
"The Nook"



Photo's copyright ©Steve Randles, however if you want one, please ask.

Steve.

"The Nook"



Photo's copyright ©Steve Randles, however if you want one, please ask.

chriscross1966

Apparently so, they're a cloned offset after all.... I'll be trying it too, does she have any tips?... do they need stratification or anything?

Ian Pearson

The biggest bulbs come from planting 'rounds'. These are bulbs that have not yet split in to cloves. The bulbils usually grow into rounds the first year. Also individual cloves may make rounds if they have a short growing season for any reason.
They seem to do okay in a polyculture. I've grown them this year in a very space-efficient French beans/root crop/garlic polyculture:
http://oca-testbed.blogspot.com/2011/05/minor-root-crops-as-ground-cover-in.html

I think it's a very worthwhile veg crop.

goodlife

do they need stratification or anything?
I plant mine same time in autumn as rest of the cloves..I just leave the little 'rounds' bit nearer the surface than I would plant the normal cloves.
Or...you can do them in modules to over winter them in cold GH and plant them as usual early spring into ground.
Resulting larger 'rounds' are more and less same size with both methods when lifted up later on.
But it takes two 'rounds' of growing before they become proper bulbs that divide into cloves.

Steve.

Thank you all for the info, it'll be worth waiting a couple of years for.

Steve...:)
"The Nook"



Photo's copyright ©Steve Randles, however if you want one, please ask.

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