monkeychad
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Elephant GarlicHello good people of Downsizer. I've been following with interest what goes on here for a couple of weeks, and thought it about time I jioned your group.
I've just got back from a really exciting trip to the allotment, where I pulled up my first elephant garlic. It's the size of my fist, which is what I was hoping for, but hanging from the roots are what I can only descride as 'winnits' ! 
They're about the size, shape and colour of a hazelnut. Does anyone know if this is normal, and if so, what they are?
Thanks
Chad
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tahir
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Hi Chad, welcome on board, never grown Elephant Garlic but I'm sure someone else must have. I'm just going to move this to the Grow Your Own section.
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Alchemist
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Have never grown elephant garlic, though I have grown more regular varieties. Glad to hear you're getting a good crop. It seems to have been a good year for them - our garlic looks to be enormous too. 
Could your winnets be some sort of wasp gall or similar?
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judith
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I reckon your "winnets" are bulb offsets. You get them sometimes on leeks too. If you pot them up, I bet they will grow, and will give you a "set" that you can plant next year.
My elephant garlic (grown for the first time this year) is not quite ready for harvesting, so I can't confirm any of this!
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Treacodactyl
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We've grown it a few years back and I thought the little things were small cloves forming. We didn't get round to planting them to find out and not grown it recently.
What do you plan to do with the bulbs?
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monkeychad
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Thanks for all the tips. Wasp gall scarred me senseless - I can't find any reference to it and it sounds terrifying. I hope they're little bulblets. They seem to be hatching out of the skin and growing on from new roots. I'll get the planted and keep you informed of what happens..
Thanks again
Chad
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Nanny
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elephant garlici am growing it for the first time this year .......
do i harvest when the foliage dies down?
i can't remember when i planted it other than i know it was very late maybe march time
so do i leave it until later in the year till august?
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Alchemist
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Hi Nanny.
If memory serves you wait until the leaves turn yellow and then lift. I'm sure we picked ours quite late last year. I'd love to give you a more precise estimate, but I had lost enthusiasm for my gardening diary by then. 
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monkeychad
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Hi Nanny,
I read that you harvest just before it flowers. That's what I did, and have some nice big bulbs, and plenty of winnets, which have been put back in to see if they make sets.
Still don't know what it tastes like yet though...
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Nanny
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elephant garlicthanks to both of you
as i don't ever do a gardening diary and i have had 2 good answers, i reckon i will wait a while and see what happens
who knows........
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Treacodactyl
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We had a successful crop of elephant garlic this year with some very good sized bulbs and several bulbils that I'll grow on for next year. Our plants produced some decent sized flowers and I wonder if you're meant to cut them off at all? They didn't seem to affect the size of bulbs though.
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James
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Hi Monkeychad & welcome.
I've found this with elephant garlic also.
I'll bet you any money that for every winnit you've pulled up with your elephant garlic bulb, there'll be another that's remained in the ground.
They're bulbils, or 'pups' (but I like the term 'winnit')
Like Judith says, re-plant them. They're propagating themselves, which is good news.
As for the ones that are (possibly..) still in the ground, I just leave 'em. This means that in our garden we've now got elephant garlic growing next to roses....but thats part of the fun!
Were abouts in York are you? I'm in Holgate & just taken over an allotment at the Holgate allotments (off Poppleton rd)
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