Growing Elephant Garlic in Your Landscape

Garlic is an easy cold-climate crop to cultivate in many parts of California. It thrives best in deep, well-draining soils amended with compost or aged manure for best results.

Hardneck varieties such as Rocambole or Purple Stripe produce flower stalks (scapes) which can be used to replace chives or scallions in culinary applications without setting seeds.

How to Grow

Garlic and allium crops require multiple applications of fertilizer throughout their growing cycles, depending on soil type, location and fertility management practices employed by their grower. A good starting point would be incorporating 1,000 pounds per acre of an analytical 5-10-15 fertilizer containing at least 5% sulfur before planting the crop and sidedressing at least twice during production with 100 pounds/acre calcium nitrate (CaNO3) sidedress applications during this production period.

Sulfur applications to the soil will help to regulate its pH levels, particularly acidic ones. An ideal soil pH level should exceed 6.5 to ensure adequate access to essential nutrients.

Typically speaking, higher soil nutrient levels lead to better performance from garlic crops. Furthermore, its roots cannot withstand an excess of sand content; hence soils that have been heavily amended with organic material will yield superior bulbs.

Garlic is an easy crop to cultivate with minimal insect pests. Its scent can deter deer, rabbits and voles – providing animal control. Garlic is often grown alongside other vegetables in raised beds to further control insect pests; however, it can also be grown as an individual crop.

Planting Time

Fall planted garlic and leeks should be ready to harvest within eight months; spring planted varieties typically take seven months.

To achieve maximum yields, cloves should be spaced 1 foot apart evenly across raised beds or at 1 foot between rows in open fields – this ensures less dense planting than when planting on regular garden rows.

According to field trials and experience gained by many commercial growers, approximately 2,000 pounds of elephant garlic cloves will produce 4-7 times their original weight in weight at harvest. While this figure may seem accurate, its accuracy depends on variety, planting time, climate conditions and other variables.

Soil Conditions

Elephant garlic truly lives up to its name in terms of size, producing bulbs three or four times larger than regular garlic. A member of the Allium (onion, garlic and shallot) family, it boasts mild onion-garlic-shallot-esque flavor without the bite associated with regular garlic varieties. Elephant garlic’s hardiness ensures it can return year after year when planted correctly – you won’t miss it next winter!

Soil conditions are key to growing garlic successfully. Leeks and elephant garlic require light feeding but require loose, fertile soil in order to produce large bulbs. Get your soil tested prior to beginning so you can make necessary adjustments for pH balance and nutrition, especially given our cold climate climate.

Managing weeds is another significant challenge to these plants, as weeds are poor competitors that need to be controlled actively. If possible, begin your weed management in the fall when temperatures are cooler; hand weeding and herbicide sprays may both work; contact your local extension office for the most effective weed control strategies for your location.

When planting garlic, leeks or elephant garlic bulbs, it’s best to create beds of 1 to 2 inches deep. For heavy clay soils, amend with organic material in order to break up and improve drainage; light soils require only small amounts of organic matter or green manure be applied as part of their amendment plan. A cover crop of rye or clover is an effective way of improving soil fertility.

Elephant garlic and leeks differ from other alliums in that their growth season can be accomplished quickly after spring or autumn planting; autumn-planted garlic typically matures within eight months while spring-sown leeks take about six to seven months to mature.

To stimulate root development and create healthy bulbs, fertilize your bed according to the results of your soil test with compost or organic manure as recommended by it. Avoid chemical fertilizers which kill soil bacteria and repel earthworms.

Planting Time

Garlic and related alliums (like leeks) are biennial plants that produce leaves the first year, flower the following year and eventually form large bulbs in their second season. It grows from cloves planted in autumn; then harvested the following summer after their flowers have faded away. Cloves may also be grown during spring planting but will likely fail to produce large bulbs at that point due to not yet reaching maturity; for asexual propagation purposes mature bulbs should be separated out into individual cloves before propagation begins again asexually propagation often works better compared with bulbils/corms which produce underground bulblets rather than cloves which provide easier growth rates of garlic plants than do tiny underground bulblets or bulbils/corms (tiny underground bulbslets).

Elephant garlic thrives best in cool environments to produce large bulbs with delicate flavors, and tolerating frost while being more sensitive to cold than frost. In areas with severe cold, its bulbs should be protected with 8 inches of mulch, or covered by a plastic tunnel or cold frame to ensure they form bulbs in warm temperatures if growing outside a greenhouse environment. In warmer regions planting season extends well into winter for harvest in spring.

This crop requires well-drained, fertile soils. A soil test should be completed prior to planting to assess what nutrient amendments will best support its growth, such as adding organic matter or green manures such as clover. Chemical fertilizers should be avoided as these can kill beneficial soil bacteria and repel earthworms from returning.

Planting density is essential to producing large bulbs with higher yields. A clover or rye grass cover crop should be planted between rows of elephant garlic to maintain adequate soil moisture throughout its long growing season, while using a harrow to break up heavy clay soil will further increase planting density.

Fall planting should take place from September to November for optimal results in both spring and fall planting, giving crops time to flourish before being compromised by summer heat and winter storm damage. You can plant closer together for larger bulbs in raised beds while wide spacing increases production in open fields.

Care

Elephant garlic differs from true garlic in that it grows as a monocot (it forms bulbs rather than leaves and flowers each year), so no harvest or division needs to be performed annually; rather it forms large clumps that deter pests. When harvest time arrives however, plants should be thinned out when their cloves start separating from one another and drying out in direct sunlight – an indicator that your harvesting efforts are ready.

Maintain a proper moisture level for optimal plant growth during spring. Aim for 1 inch of water weekly during this period; when plants begin to wilt it is an indicator that harvest time has arrived.

As garlic plants are self-incompatible and don’t produce viable seeds, propagation must occur asexually. Cloves from mature 2-year old bulbs are separated and planted asexually during Autumn in order to produce giant garlic bulbs the following summer. Spring planting also works but typically produces smaller bulbs that lack cloves than those planted during Autumn planting; although bulbils or corms may also be planted but will take three years before producing giant garlic bulbs in one season.

As with other alliums, elephant garlic prefers well-draining soil that’s high in organic matter. When planting or sowing seed in heavy clay soils, adding compost or another organic source prior to sowing. Fertilizers containing both phosphorus and potassium are particularly important when working with these kinds of soils.

Elephant garlic is closely related to leeks and shares their mild flavor. Commonly consumed as a vegetable, elephant garlic can be prepared much like other alliums such as scallions (green onions) or chives; additionally it’s often added into soups or stews, used as garnish or even made into pickles! As with other alliums it can also be stored in the refrigerator or dried out in the basement over several months for easy preservation.