Elephant garlic

Elephant garlic: plant 20 cm (8 in) apart in the row and 45 cm (18 in) between rows, 4 per square. No known bad neighbours.

Key facts

Spacing in the row	20 cm (8 in)
Between rows	45 cm (18 in)
In a 30 cm (1 ft) square	4 per square
Sun	Full sun, 6–8 hours a day
Root depth	25 cm (10 in)
Height when grown	80 cm (31 in)
Crop rotation group	Roots and onions
Support	None needed

Sowing and germination

How it is started	From bulbs or sets
Bulbs or cloves per planting hole	1
Per metre of row	5
Planting depth	8 cm (3.1 in)
Soil temperature	from 7 °C, best 18–24 °C
Before sowing	nothing needed
When to plant	Indoors 8 weeks before the last frost; outdoors before the last frost; soil at least 7 °C

From seedling to plant

Takes transplanting	Easily
Hardening off	5–7 days
Life cycle	Annual
Cold tolerance	Takes a light frost → hardy, takes hard frost
Soil	Ordinary garden soil, free draining, pH 6–7
In a pot	8 L, 25 cm (9.8 in)
Watering	Water when the soil is dry two fingers down; while bulbs form
Feeding	Moderate; at planting, while growing
Support and training	None needed

Harvest and planning

Days to first harvest	240–280 days, from planting
Ready when	The lower leaves turn yellow
Harvest window	All at once, 2–3 weeks
Typical yield	2–4 kg per m²
Botanical family	Amaryllidaceae
Watch out for	Onion fly, downy mildew

Plan Elephant garlic in your garden

Open the free planner, drop Elephant garlic onto a bed and see how many plants fit.

Start Planning Your Garden

Sowing and harvest

Plant out	Oct–Nov
Harvest	Jul

My dates for this crop

My country Last spring frost where I live

Give the date once and this page, the sowing calendar and the planner all follow it.

Months for a temperate climate: about a month later in the north and a month earlier in the south. Give your own last frost date for exact dates.

What to plant next to Elephant garlic →

From the same family

Plants of the Amaryllidaceae family share diseases and pests, so they follow each other in the rotation only after a break.

What to plant after Elephant garlic

Crops that still have time to grow on the same spot once it is lifted, from another rotation group.

Sources

The values on this page marked as checked come from these sources: spacing, sowing depth, germination, soil, timing and safety notes, each against the source named here.

Alliums in Your Garden (2007) — University of California Cooperative Extension, Stanislaus County for: between rows, spacing in the row; checked 2026-10-30
People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets — ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center for: safety; checked 2026-10-28

More in Onion family

← All plants