I've grown and harvested Elephant garlic this year and have about a dozen bulbils that have formed on the bottom. Are they best planted straight away (thinking a large pot?) and grown either indoors or outdoors?
Any advice appreciated.
I leave Mother and Babies to dry - not deliberately but because I dig them up, put them aside and forget them.
Then I replant them all - big and small. The babies stay small and I don't know what size they'll be as I never dig any up until after they've flowered. Love to see those flowerheads, it would be a crime to cut them off.
I've got some growing elephant garlic and babbington leek bulbils about 2" high in pots, given by Veggie in the seed swap, thanks V. What do I do with them now? Do they need a nursery bed to mature for a couple of years? Will they produce this year, what conditions do they like, although that question is a bit arbitrary as they'll get what they're given. Help me out here.
You should know my answer by now! Just bung 'em in! Remember that they are perennial plants so give them a place that you don't have to disturb regularly. The Babingtons take longer to establish themselves and will need a year or two to bulk up enough to pick. The Garlic is much quicker to perform and should produce cloves at the end of the year.
Both plants have impressive flower heads, 3-4' tall so you don't have to hide them away . Think of them as ornamental alliums, rather than just vegetables.
Do you treat elephants just like ordinary garlic, digging up the cloves each year, splitting and replanting?
Yes - something like that! I only dig up a few of them and leave the rest to grow from the new Cloves - so that they form a clump.
I take the young flower heads and a bit of stalk off my elephant garlic and eat them as scapes. I dig up the plants while thy are still green as if you leave them any longer the cloves split up.
I must admit I am not keen on eating the cloves as they have a nasty bitter taste to me.In essence I only grow them for the novelty and hvae loads to re - plant and give to my famiy each year.
Because I still have loads left I may plant them in my garden at home and use them as ornamentlal onions?
I have never had any sucess growing on the small mini corms that always grow on them!
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attachment=8084] Elephant garlic - left to grow wild. They spread from the cloves at the base of the stem.
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attachment=8085] Elephant garlic - has been harvested and replanted. Your cloves, JJB/SC were dug up here.
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attachment=8086] Babington Leeks left to grow wild. They "self seed" by dropping the bulbils that form in the flower head. The Bulbils I shared came from these plants.
. Photos taken today. Both sorts (EG & BL) look very similar - but the flower heads are different.
I never have much luck with getting my garlic to split. I’m hoping my elephant garlic will play nicely. As it’s something I’ve always wanted grow. The cloves you sent me are growing. So I’m very excited.
Another citizen science project
