Elephant garlic

Plant elephant garlic in autumn, and then the bulb overwinters in the soil and shoots again in spring; on light or wind-exposed soils, lay a protective layer of leaves, straw or brushwood so that the soil does not freeze through completely. If you grow it in a pot, keep it frost-free or insulate the container all round, because the root zone in a container freezes through much faster than in the ground.

You propagate elephant garlic only vegetatively. This works either with the large cloves of the mother bulb or with the small bulbils (corms) that sit on the outside of the mature bulb. It cannot be raised from seed: the flowers are mostly sterile and hardly form viable seeds.

Propagation by cloves: split the harvested bulb into individual cloves and plant these, best in autumn (October/November), tip upwards, about 10 cm deep, in sunny, deep, nutrient-rich soil. Keep about 20 cm between the cloves. Autumn planting is better than spring planting because the cloves still root before frost and go through the necessary cold phase. Only this way does the bulb split reliably in the following year. With spring planting (from March) you are more likely to get smaller, undivided rounds. Harvest when the foliage wilts (mid-June to July).

Bulbils (corms): you also plant the small, hard-shelled bulbils on the outside of the mature bulb in autumn, at the same depth and spacing. In the first year they form a round (a single firm bulb without division into cloves), and only in the second year a full multi-clove bulb. So plan for two growing seasons. Bulbils are a good method to increase your stock inexpensively, without buying planting stock.

Winter protection: in frost without snow cover, cover both variants with straw, leaves or brushwood, especially in harsh spots, so that the soil does not freeze through completely.