OK - I planted elephant garlic last fall. It came up and is doing great. It has giant blooms and I pulled some dirt from around the base to see that it has a very impressive bulb underground. My question is about when to dig it up? Do I wait for the leaves to fall over like I do with onions? Or do I wait until the blooms are finished? Not that big of a deal really - it was kind of an experimental thing anyway, ,but I'm just curious.
Someone talk to me about Elephant garlic( I pulled it) update
- Thread starter jlmann
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lesa
Garden Master
I am interested to know the answer to this question- I planted regular garlic in the fall and it too is doing great- now what!! I was assuming the green part would start to die back...Enjoy your elephant garlic!!
Hattie the Hen
Deeply Rooted
Hi jlmann 
I have never grown The Elephant kind but I intend to put some in this fall so I have been looking up stuff on it. Here are two sites; the second one has the best info.
Hope it helps.
http://www.gardenersnet.com/vegetable/garlic.htm
http://www.bathgardencenter.com/info_sheets/elephant garlic.pdf
:rose Hattie :rose
I have never grown The Elephant kind but I intend to put some in this fall so I have been looking up stuff on it. Here are two sites; the second one has the best info.
Hope it helps. http://www.gardenersnet.com/vegetable/garlic.htm
http://www.bathgardencenter.com/info_sheets/elephant garlic.pdf
:rose Hattie :rose
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Ridgerunner
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Here's a short thread on the topic.
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=25789
I have harvested my garlic. I broke off the flowers as I saw that recommended on here somewhere a little stronger than Pat's comment in the link above. It is supposed to cause the plant to put more energy into the bulb. It certainly did not hurt my garlic to do that. If you get them early, those flowers are great stir fried or eaten fresh or in a salad. They can be a bit strong so maybe you have to like that type of thing. Chives flowers are similar, by the way.
I waited until the plants started dying and dug it. The garlic cloves were still a little watery so I may have been a tad too early. It may hurt long-term storage but they have dried out nicely. I hung them inside a very well ventilated shed but out of the sun by tying a string around the top part of the foilage.
I don't know that I did everything right, but this is how I did mine.
http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=25789
I have harvested my garlic. I broke off the flowers as I saw that recommended on here somewhere a little stronger than Pat's comment in the link above. It is supposed to cause the plant to put more energy into the bulb. It certainly did not hurt my garlic to do that. If you get them early, those flowers are great stir fried or eaten fresh or in a salad. They can be a bit strong so maybe you have to like that type of thing. Chives flowers are similar, by the way.
I waited until the plants started dying and dug it. The garlic cloves were still a little watery so I may have been a tad too early. It may hurt long-term storage but they have dried out nicely. I hung them inside a very well ventilated shed but out of the sun by tying a string around the top part of the foilage.
I don't know that I did everything right, but this is how I did mine.
Reinbeau
Deeply Rooted
Wait until the leaves are about 2/3 brown before you pull it, don't let them go all the way brown, or the bulb will start to break up (like regular garlic).
- Thread starter
- #7
Thanks for your help guys. Now I have to decide when to dig them. I made a mistake by leaving the flowers on for too long ( chalk that one up to a learning experience ). We've had so much rain I'm almost hestitant to dig them until the soil dries out a little , but the leaves are starting to yellow so I may dig them soon. I'll post a picture of my success ( or failure ) when I do.
Reinbeau
Deeply Rooted
I'm going to cut the scapes off my garlic this weekend and make Garlic Scape Pesto. Yum!
- Thread starter
- #9
Sounds good! I love garlic. One of the local supermarkets has a salad bar item with whole cloves of garlic,roasted peppers and sundried tomatoes in olive oil that is really good as a snack/appetizer. Of course if you eat enough of it your breath could stop a train , but I REALLY like it.
HiDelight
Deeply Rooted
garlic only gives you "bad" breath if the rest of the world does not eat it ..and I think that is more their problem then mine
I have never grown or actually eaten elephant garlic
I grow and eat a LOT of garlic but for some reason I never got to this
what do you do with it? I should go buy a head and try it!
I would be inclined to try it raw on bread with butter or in a salad ..actually as I heard it was very mild
did you plant yours this spring or last fall?
I have never grown or actually eaten elephant garlic
I grow and eat a LOT of garlic but for some reason I never got to this
what do you do with it? I should go buy a head and try it!
I would be inclined to try it raw on bread with butter or in a salad ..actually as I heard it was very mild
did you plant yours this spring or last fall?
