Elephant Garlic flowering

[PunkRotten]

Hi,

I planted some garlic October last year. One clove was Elephant Garlic. Yesterday I noticed it is sending up one of those flower pods. Should I cut it off? Also I read that if the scapes of garlic exceed 10 inches you should trim it. Most of my garlic have scapes about a foot tall.

[ruggr10]

I cut them off and use them in cooking. They're especially great on pizza.

[hendi_alex]

I usually cut off the flowering scapes, but am not convinced that the practice helps anything. Also, when you harvest the bulbs, the sides will often have six or more small bulblets or bulbils. You can plant them in the fall and they will make mature bulbs in two years when just left in the ground. In fact some of the small bulblets usually break away and stay in the ground after harvest. Those seem to magically appear as volunteers the next year.

[jal_ut]

I have grown elephant garlic for years. Longer than I have grown real garlic. I just let it bloom and enjoy the flowers. It will still make a bulb.

[img]https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/e_garlic_in_bloom.jpg[/img]

[img]https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/e_garlic_blossom.jpg[/img]

[PunkRotten]

Cool thanks I will leave it. I also have some green onions/scallions that have all flowered. Some of them already have the black seeds. After it makes seeds is the plant done? Or could I cut off the flowers and it will still be good to eat?

[stryper]

Same question but for Chives. I think they are all related.

[jal_ut]

I would save some of those onion seeds to plant next year for green onions.
You can look to see if those plants (onions) that flowered have a bulb of any kind.

I have lots of chives, however not much of it ever gets used in anything. Occasionally cut a few for a potato salad. I cut a big bunch one year and we dried them. That will probably be enough dried chives to last forever. I would say clip them as you need them, or dry some. Other than that just let the bees enjoy the flowers.