[Abunndance]

I'm going to try to grow Elephant Garlic for the first time.  Does anyone have any advice for me?  I'm planning on planting it by next week in a west facing bed.   

[Kleftiwallah]

Good morning Abunndance,
my advice is don't bother.  Elephant garlic is just a modified leek and to my mind very little garlic flavour.  Why not grow 'hard neck garlick' which has fewer larger cloves - hence easier to peel.

Just my opinion you understand!    Cheers,  Tony.

[Lardman]

I'm with Kleftiwallah on this - if you're growing it for larger garlic cloves you'll be disappointed with even the best elephant garlic.  If you specifically want to grow it though, prepare the bed well and to at least a spades depth now and dont forget to cover in the spring to avoid the allium leaf miner.

edit : Stupid keyboard !

[mumofstig]

It's not really like garlic, I agree, but does make nice soup, plus gives you considerable bragging rights when other people see it 

For those of you with the space and inclination to grow your own, Elephant Garlic makes an attractive addition to any garden, with gorgeous flower spikes up to 1.5 m tall. It likes full sun and moist conditions, and should be planted during September-October, to harvest the following June. Prepare the site by first clearing it of weeds and old plants, dig it over and work in some fertiliser. Plant each seed clove 20 cm from its neighbour, to give these mammoth cloves space to swell up into a monobulb. This typically splits into several, individual cloves, and produces stunning flower spikes in late Spring. It's best to remove these (and eat the delicious scapes!), so that all the plant's energy is used to feed the bulb, rather than the flower. By late June, you should have your own, ripe Elephant Garlic, ready to be harvested and eaten.

https://www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk/growing/blog/all-about-elephant-garlic