Elephant garlic

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...

 

Hi Steve,

Have a look http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/edible-gardening/35103-large-elephant-garlic-nobules.html

 

Thank you Zig and John for the info, it'll be worth waiting a couple of years for a crop.

Steve...

 

And Scrunge

I've got 2 blubs which i'm splitting up for next years crop rather than eating them.

going to eat the blulbils instead.

 

Taken a few years ago and showing bulbils, rounds (following year) and bulbs/cloves (2nd year):



That variety has since been lost to white rot, but I now have a much larger variety (might need a tennis ball in the box) that will be ready to harvest in a few weeks or so.

 

Thanks Scrungee, I've been given eight of the smaller ones top left of your pic and one of the two (rounds) bottom left in your pic.

So I take it that the rounds will produce a full size bulb next year, the smaller one if grown on will produce full size the year after next.

Steve...

 

Yes, although a few don't seem to do it quite like that, I put it down to re-using the same bed for garlic each year and a few bulbils, rounds and cloves getting left behind and muddled up with following plantings.

Unless re-planting immediately, I very carefully split the hard casing on bulbils to help them sprout.

 

Curiosity got the better of me and I pulled one of my elephant garlic which had the top die down prematurely. It should have been bigger with some rain, but there's only so many things you can keep watering with a can day after day, although I still need a tennis ball to illustrate the size (and a 10p piece for the bulbils):



How does that compare?

It was grown from Taylors elephant garlic cloves - £2.49 for 2 - like these (I went through the entire display in a Dobbies to get the best packs!)

 

Just dug one up weighing 300g (after deducting for stalk) and 50% bigger than the last one (on the left, as in post #9 above) which only weighed 200g. Pictured on the lid of a 10Kg fertilizer bucket:

 

Not much in it if I recal correctly. The Lady plot holder is a member here now I believe (I dont know what registration name she has used) so maybe she will see this and comment herself.

Steve...