The Dedicated garlic Bed, year 2.
Elephant Garlic grown from cloves, last year,
Produced a single large bulb if garlic, as a Onion. No cloves. Those “bulbs “ replanted in row 1 . Right side of the photo.
Center row is a repeat of last year, purchased cloves of Elephant garlic planted after the coldest part of the winter here in the mountains of North Carolina.
Note that both were planted within a day or so of each other. The row on the left is a hard neck white garlic that I grew last year.
Overwintered indoors ( dried and hung)
Cloves separated just prior to planting in late winter ( same time as the elephant garlic)
Planting only the largest cloves.
The original garlic was from the Supermarket. (Organic) . Growing in my garden the first year, acclimated to the conditions here.
Soil amendments; Biochar with Calcium Phosphate from charred bones and vinegar,
Alfalfa meal, bone meal, azomite, kelp meal.
Enriched with composted cow manure.
Mulched with fall leaves. The bed was covered with leaves since post harvest last season. The earthworms were plentiful.
No till. Just worked the amendments in with the Hard fork. (Potato digging fork)
Regular garlic is produced directly from the cloves. Elephant garlic is not.
Any corms left in the ground will make a large single bulb(??) 3 came up this year, and they are the largest plants.
I think that the garlic bulbs consisting of segmented cloves, is the growing out of the large bulb… not a clove. It is a multi year program.
The other way that Elephant garlic propagation occurs is with the formation of Corms Or Bulbils, on the roots of the bulbs.
Located At the base of The single bulb… after year one of growing a clove out to a single large bulb.
Scapes on Tones that were replanted from 2023.
Will select healthy plants to make seed.
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May 7, 2024: Scapes are forming on the Corm/bulbils
Plants. From Corms left in the ground from 2023 season.
Harvest time, beginning of July, 2024
Finding lots of Corms. The Corms develop
Just above the roots, on the side of the bulb… not attached to the bulb, but rather attached to a vertical rootlet coming from the roots. They are not on every bulb.
Often only one per bulb, sometimes 2 or more. I have seen 6, on a bulb.
They form on bulbs produced from corms, in a season, also on Tones… grown from cloves, and on Overwintered and replanted Tones, that grow out the massive Elephant garlic bulbs, made up of cloves the size of golf balls! The corms are hard , as a Acorn.
I replanted them as I locate them. They will come up in mid Winter here. They can produce the massive bulbs in one season.
Tones are single bulb Elephant garlic.
Preferred by some chefs. I imagine that they enjoy less peeling of Cloves. I have not tasted yet… to know if they have a different flavor profile.
Still a Quarter of a row to harvest… but the wheelbarrow is heaping!
July 28, 2024: Fully dry “cured” Garlic Bulb with massive Cloves. Obtained by replanted Tone.
