Elephant garlic: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
How do you plant elephant garlic?
Plant elephant garlic in autumn in a temperate climate, while the ground is still workable. This gives the cloves time to establish before spring growth. Adjust the date to your local conditions and the supplier’s advice. Avoid planting into frozen ground or soil that stays waterlogged through winter.
Choose a sunny position with fertile, well-drained soil. Remove perennial weeds and loosen compacted ground without turning the whole bed unnecessarily. Add mature compost if the soil needs organic matter. On heavy ground, a raised bed can help drainage. Leave enough room to weed between the rows as the plants grow.
Separate a healthy bulb into individual cloves shortly before planting. Keep their papery skins intact and discard any soft or damaged pieces. Plant each clove with its pointed end upwards and its root base downwards. Follow the planting depth recommended for your stock and soil; about 5 cm is a useful starting point. Allow roughly 20 to 30 cm between plants.
Firm the soil gently and water if it is dry, without soaking an already wet bed. Mark the rows and keep emerging shoots free of weeds. The small bulblets sometimes found around the bulb are different from its large cloves: keep them separate rather than treating all planting material as identical.
How to care for this plant
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Weed
Remove weeds around young bulbs, especially if they shade them. Close to the plants, weed by hand to protect the roots and avoid damaging the bulbs.
How do you harvest elephant garlic?
