wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (02/27/85)
A recent episode of the PBS coking show, The Frugal Gourmet, emphasizing garlic, inspired me to look into growing my own. I was especially interested in "elephant garlic", a much larger variety which has a milder garlic flavor, but otherwise seems to be ordinary garlic increased in size. Checked some of the nursery/seed catalogs, and Gurney's had both regular and elephant garlic bulbs; you are supposed to plant individual cloves in the fall and harvest them the next fall. Well, that leaves me waiting for 6 months or so before I can start, via that route. However, I notice that there is no mention of growing from seeds. I recall that most onion and onion-like plants are grown from sets, or bulbs, rather than seeds, but I also recall that onion seed is available for those who wish to take that route. My query is, then: Is it possible to grow garlic from seeds, especially the "elephant garlic" variety? If so, from where can such seeds be obtained? Or are these artificially-propagated plants which will not breed true from seed? If I got garlic seed and planted it, would I end up with some odd parent throwback varieties, like the wild garlic from which the cultivated variety was bred? Thanks for any advice you can give. Will Martin USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA
nemo@rochester.UUCP (Wolfe) (02/27/85)
> My query is, then: Is it possible to grow garlic from seeds, especially > the "elephant garlic" variety? If so, from where can such seeds be obtained? > > Or are these artificially-propagated plants which will not breed true from > seed? If I got garlic seed and planted it, would I end up with some > odd parent throwback varieties, like the wild garlic from which the > cultivated variety was bred? > > Will Martin Burpee also has elephant garlic, but only from bulbs and only for fall planting. Harris and Burpee will only ship bulbs in the continental US, and mention that garlic can be planted in early spring. It is noted that in the south and pacific southwest it is usually planted in the fall. No mention of seeds, but I'll keep looking. Good luck. Nemo
ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) (03/01/85)
> ... > Checked some of the nursery/seed catalogs, and Gurney's had both regular > and elephant garlic bulbs; you are supposed to plant individual cloves > in the fall and harvest them the next fall. Well, that leaves me waiting > for 6 months or so before I can start, via that route. > > However, I notice that there is no mention of growing from seeds. I recall > that most onion and onion-like plants are grown from sets, or bulbs, rather > than seeds, but I also recall that onion seed is available for those who > wish to take that route. > I have grown my own onions from time to time. They can be grown from seed or sets. Garlic is the same. The problem/feature is that the sets will grow to a mature size in one season, while the seeds will grow to the size of a set in one season. The reason for sets is to get more faster. Growing takes time. E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems Computo ergo sum The opinions expressed by me are not representative of those of any other person - natural, unnatural, or fictional - and only marginally reflect my opinions as strained by the language.
mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate) (03/04/85)
Thompson&Morgan sells garlic seeds; I suspect a good nursery would have them. Charley Wingate umcp-cs!mangoe
duhon@ihu1n.UUCP (j. duhon) (03/04/85)
> A recent episode of the PBS coking show, The Frugal Gourmet, emphasizing > garlic, inspired me to look into growing my own. I was especially > interested in "elephant garlic", a much larger variety which has a milder > garlic flavor, but otherwise seems to be ordinary garlic increased in size. > > However, I notice that there is no mention of growing from seeds. I recall > that most onion and onion-like plants are grown from sets, or bulbs, rather > than seeds, but I also recall that onion seed is available for those who > wish to take that route. > onions and "elephant" garlic can be grown from seed. seed grown onions don't get as big as good sets, but are quite adequate. last year i planted seed for the elephant garlic. even though the summer was horribly dry, some plants survived. i won't know till fall how they are, but so far they look good. i don't remember where i got the seed, but i always order lots of seed catalogs, and look thru them all for interesting items.
ajs@hpfcla.UUCP (ajs) (03/15/85)
> My query is, then: Is it possible to grow garlic from seeds, especially > the "elephant garlic" variety? If so, from where can such seeds be obtained? > > Or are these artificially-propagated plants which will not breed true from > seed? Interesting questions; I don't have the answers, but I might in six months. Last year my mature garlic plants flowered and developed neat little seed heads. I shook them off and got about 50 little seeds from each one. The seeds look (and taste) like tiny garlic cloves, about 4mm long. They are great as a seasoning (no peeling, no slicing), and seem to grow just fine too. Alan Silverstein