Elephant garlic

[Normans Mum]

Hi. Have just dug up my elephant garlic and on the outside of the main bulb at the bottom near he roots are what appear to be small bulblets.
I thought these appeared in the scape? I'm confused now. Can I plant these or should I throw them away?

[veggiechicken]

Plant them for next year.

[Normans Mum]

Thanks for your help veggiechicken.

[mrbadexample]

Plant them for next year.

Is that a case of just poking them in the ground now, where you want garlic next year?

[veggiechicken]

You need an expert to answer that !!
I'm growing a permanent Elephant garlic bed so I dig some up when I want to use it and leave the little ones to fill the space.

[mrbadexample]

I'm going to have to adapt a bit of old fruit cage to make a frame I can cover with enviromesh to keep the leaf miner moth out first.

[veggiechicken]

An old thread that may help! https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ets_98140.html

[Mr Bones]

For best results poke the bulblets in the ground before they dry out. They'll take a few years before they produce big bulbs but meanwhile chop the greens down a couple of times each year to about an inch above ground level and use the tops as a garlicky leek in risotto, stir-fries etc.

[dammad49]

Here's a quick pic of the Elephant bulbil to biggie life cycle, growing from bulbils is an interesting but long term project!



Also the following instructions/info from an online ad may be of interest:

These are a zygotic form of Elephant Garlic and are found growing around the main bulbs. We spent a considerable time experimenting in order to get a decent germination rate, despite following the advice of several "experts". If planted as is these bulbils may take anything up to 5 or more years to actually grow - if at all. The problem is the casing which is about the hardest non-wooden vegetable matter we have come across, by the time it degrades the little garlic bulb inside has often expired!
**** Our method is to use bulbils as fresh as possible and carefully remove the casing, without damaging the contents. We find nail-clippers are ideal to cut off the pointed end and carefully dissemble to free the small round bulblet, which looks like a very small silverskin onion. Once the bulblet is free plant immediately about 1.5" deep and about 4" apart in well drained, fertile soil. Full sun is preferable. By about March these will begin to produce leaves like a small leek, and when they turn yellow in July/August lift them carefully (damaged ones should be used in the kitchen immediately as they WILL rot) and allow to dry in full sun*- do not wash them. These are first year rounds. You may find some have developed small bulbils which can be replanted using the above method. Replant the rounds Sep/Oct at about 3" deep and 9" spacing to produce larger rounds/small cloved bulbs the following season. The larger rounds will need to be replanted again, but these will then produce cloved bulbs in the 3rd year. At each stage more bulbils will be produced which can be replanted as above.**

PS. Bulbils are brill for pickling but the work involved in shelling them is extremely tedious. Also the danger of a painful RSI known as "plucker's nail" in the strawberry industry.