Planting elephant garlic

Elephant garlic

Today I planted my elephant garlic in two of my Earthboxes. Last year was my first year to grow elephant garlic and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to grow. I basically popped them into the Earthbox, kept them watered and let nature take care of the rest. I also fertilized once or twice but that’s it. In my zone we overwinter garlic, frost and freezing temperatures are not a problem and I did not do anything to protect them when the temperature dropped. I harvested them in early spring and every plant produced a nice size bulb. The taste is milder than traditional garlic. Elephant garlic is actually a leek and not a true garlic. In the south, many types of traditional garlic are very difficult for us to grow.

I noticed that when I cooked with elephant garlic the flavor was not as strong but it still tasted great. If I wanted a stronger flavor I used used a little bit more.

Below I have included some facts and growing tips about elephant garlic. If you have had difficulty in the past growing traditional garlic, maybe this will inspire you to give elephant garlic a try.

As a side note, I recommend purchasing your bulbs from Hoss Tools. I am not an affiliate, just a happy customer, and I do not receive anything for this recommendation. I have been very impressed by the quality of their products and everything ships quickly.

Facts

Elephant garlic is believed to be native to China and brought to the US by immigrants. It was introduced to the commercial market in 1941. It is very large and can sometimes grow to be softball size. It averages 5 large cloves per bulb. Elephant garlic is very heat resistant and cold hardy.

It is classified as a Allium Ampeloprasun and is not a true garlic— it is actually a leek. It gets it’s name because it looks like a giant version of garlic. This garlic is an excellent source of vitamins E,C,A, B9, calcium and dietary fiber.

Growing Tips

Elephant garlic requires soil that is light, fertile and moist. I added 10-10-10 fertilizer before planting. I am in zone 8 so we plant elephant garlic in the fall and overwinter. It takes about 90 to 150 days to mature. When the stem emerges, cut off the scrape so that the energy of the plant goes toward growing a large bulb. Harvest when leaves are bent over and dying back.

Elephant garlic has very few predators and is resistant to most pest and diseases. It is deer resistant—which is important to me!

Be sure to mulch well. Elephant garlic have shallow root systems and will not do well if they have to compete for resources with a lot of weeds.

They prefer full sun and can be grown in many temperate regions all the way to tropical zones, In cooler climates you can plant in fall or spring. In warmer regions it can be planted in spring, fall, or winter.

I encourage you to give this unique garlic a try. It’s easy to grow and you will be rewarded with many tasty cloves to use in your cooking. I promise, it will taste better that what you will find in the grocery store!