perennial garlic?

[heidihi]

my friend sent me this link and I still can not figure out how to do this ...he is talking about elephant garlic but I know that is kind of a leek or derived from or whatever

anyway he is advocating for perennial garlic..now I read the question on perennial leeks but did not think that was quite what I need to know

so if you have done this please share if not would you mind reading this and helping me "get" what he is saying ..I am not dumb but this is a little confusing

www.mulandscaping.com/ArticleGarlicYouOnlyPlantOnce.htm

I used to rotate garlic beds but then a friend convinced me to just keep building the bed I have int was a perfect location and you do not have to rotate garlic ..so far so good on that! I have two nice raised beds that I grow in and have been "fortifying" it and now grow really lovely healthy garlic and have been for many years...but "running water stays fresh" so I want to try something new and I like the idea and his method does match mine as far as adding mulch and fertilizing just once in a while wiht manure and only the top layer ..I also add goodies to the soil three months before I plant ..but if I do not have to plant ..

if you read this he says avoid water in the summer (here I can see that since we have so much rain and alrealy cover my garlic in June/July and harvest late July if it is dry early August otherwise

I pinch but only after I have scapes because I am all about that bonus crop! I adore garlic scapes

my not"getting it" is the point where he says just pick the big ones and leave the smaller ones ..then he talks about clam holes and I have seen what he is saying

he never mentions splitting or moving them around??? and eventually if you do not split ormove them around do they not mature into a little handful of baby garlic?

I mean I have when I pulled garlic missed a bunch ..had them grow back and they grew a plant out of each clove left ..I would take it out and split it then replant the budding garlic

I have never had a garlic I missed turn into a head the next year because they form cloves and sprout ..so I am not getting how he does not have to split these the following year

I want what he has but can not figure out what he is talking about

am I that dense??? I have read this three times and am getting used to bifocals so it is hard to see if I missed something but he is making it sound like the ones I leave in the ground will form heads the nest year... but they already have head!!!

and I notice he mentions the elephant garlic and I grow a little of that ..it is fun but I really like real garlic enough to grow 2 beds of it ..I have gotten to the point I do not have to purchase it ..unless I find a new strain ..but I do pull and dry ..then replant or I will split the heads I miss

can this actually be done like he says? if so I am going to do it this year....

this year I did my fall and also did a spring planting so my harvest is going to be staggered ...but I would love to have this be a perennial thing now

thanks for any advice

[steev]

I'm thinking he really clears out the large plants, which are the most-headed ones, thereby leaving plenty of gaps such that the little plants aren't all that crowded. I think having the soil developed to the point of super friability would be the key to this, so that even when a several-clove head starts to grow, the different forming heads can push apart as they grow, enough that they aren't stunted. I'll coin the name for this system "4F": Friability, Fertility, Facility, and Fortune!

[heidihi]

thanks I will relax then and just see if it all happens! ..my soil is really good for garlic in these beds I just did not think about them pushing themselves around under the soil but that sounds good

I always went by the rule of "the bigger the cloves the bigger the garlic" and if I am harvesting the biggest how will I get larger heads?

I just have to trust it will happen I think

it is always fun trying something new but it can be hard to break with old patterns ..especially since I have been so successful so far with garlic ..I get lovely huge heads and have done well with tender flavorful scapes

what if I let some of the seed heads just drop as well I wonder it that would be an advantage?

[bertiefox]

Of course, garlic is perennial anyway as if you leave the bulbs in the ground, they just get bigger, though produce lots of little cloves.
As for 'elephant garlic', I'd advise you not to bother. I've been growing it for years and all it produces is a few large cloves which are pretty tasteless. It is a type of leek, but the flavour is so mild that you can't really substitute it for garlic in most dishes. If you want large cloves, then it's better to concentrate on growing a good variety of ordinary garlic and giving it plenty of time to make roots and bulb up as the days lengthen. Here, we plant the cloves in October or November.
Other people may have different views on 'elephant garlic' but to my mind it's a novelty not worth bothering with.

[robertb]

I like it grated or blended and used in soup, or chopped in a stirfry. I don't treat it as garlic though, rather as a separate vegetable.

[steev]

I've never gotten an idea of what to use elephant garlic for, but I bet it could go in tempura.

[paquebot]

He doesn't have to plant any back since elephant garlic multiplies by corms. They form at the base of the roots. They are a downright nuisance to me since they may wait a year or two to sprout. Since they break off easily, it's impossible to get all of them. I know one gardener who maintains 3 rows for her elephant garlic. First is for small green garlic and that row is the one which was harvested for mature bulbs the year before. Enough are left at proper spacing to develop full bulbs. Second is the second year plants which produce only rounds but are left. Third year is mature row and are harvested. Enough corms always manage to survive to start over again.

For what to use elephant garlic for, I use it a lot of my tomato sauces. Instead of small regular cloves, I'll puree the big elephant garlic cloves. Right now, they are the only ones left on hand as they store a lot longer than most regular garlic. In fact, had some shredded in gravy for supper tonight.

Martin

[heidihi]

That makes sense I could not believe the number of little side cars that elephant garlic had on it!!! I planted three cloves last year in one bed ..harvested three HUGE heads of perfectly beautiful elephant garlic . ..and all the little corms that came off ..well there were at least 10 or more on or around each head..so I left them in that bed and have planted other stuff on top hoping they would come back

I did not find the elephant garlic to be at all like a garlic or a leek as mentioned above it was another vegetable entirely ..I liked it ..but mostly for the drama! I mean when I pulled that head out I was blown away by just how big it grew!!!

I will just leave the little guys in the ground and see what happens ..as far as my "real" garlic beds I am going to give it a whirl I guess and leave the smaller heads in the ground and then see if they push each other apart ..I am going to plant a crop any way in the fall ..because I can not risk the possiblity of not having garlic! Especially since he is really talking about elephant garlic in this post not garlic garlic so this may not translate ..but worth a try anyway I think since I have space to do it

but it will be very very hard not to want to pull those cloves apart by hand and line them up into rows!

thanks so much for the comments

[paquebot]

I mentioned that those damned corms may not come up the next year. Figured that I had all of the elephant garlic cleared out of one bed after weeding them out last year. Planted 12 varieties of regular garlic last fall. Today it looks like twice as many have come up and probably half are elephant. It's almost as if you have them forever once they are established.

Martin

[heidihi]

LOL thanks Martin I am so glad I only planted them in one small raised bed I am sure there were corms I had missed because they just sprinkled everywhere when I pulled the garlic out!

[mnjrutherford]

Sounds like the wild garlic I have here. There was just a little bit here and there when we first arrived. Now it's becoming a real problem.

[steev]

Wild garlic running rampant? Sounds like a job for a feral pig or bear.

[mnjrutherford]

YIKES! We have neighborhood bears but I'm not really hyped on the idea of having a visit!!! I'm thinking of giving them a shot on the Q at your suggestion in a different thread though.

[1066]

I grow Elephant garlic, mainly cos my OH loves it! Anyway we tend to roast it with the skins on alongside potatoes or parsnips, I find the flavour deepens if you roast it.
I usually leave 1 or 2 to go to seed, just for the sheer drama of it - I love alium flowers, and any that get that big are a treat In fact I decided to grow it in a border in the garden this year instead of the allotment, that way I get to see more of the flowers ;D

As to your Q about rotating a garlic bed, I guess the only real reason is to avoid pests and diseases, like white rot, but if you don't have any problems, then stick with what works for you