How to Grow and Care for Ramps

Ramps (Allium tricoccum) are a native plant commonly called wild leaks found growing as an ephemeral in moist woodlands of the Appalachian mountain range in eastern North America. As an early springtime ephemeral, it disappears within a month or two and remains dormant until the following spring. These small, slow-to-mature bulbs spread and colonize over time, featuring pinkish-white flowers. It can take seven years to harvest from seed and three years from bulbs. Plants, bulbs, and seeds typically are started in spring but can be planted in fall.

How to Plant Ramps

Ramps can be planted as bulbs or seeds. The ideal planting times vary based on the method you choose. Bulbs yield vegetables in half the time.

When to Plant

When growing ramps in a home garden, the primary goals are harvesting the aromatic leaves in spring and establishing the colony for future growth. Ramps can be planted as bulbs from September to March (best: February to mid-March) or as seeds from late summer to early fall (August to early October).

In the wild, ramps take advantage of the increased daylight and rising temperatures of early spring, when the deciduous trees above have not yet leafed out. As the season progresses and the tree canopies fill in, the ramps fade under the sparse light that reaches the forest floor. The leaves start to wither in early summer and are followed by the flower stalks, while the bulbs grow underground.

Selecting a Planting Site

A wooded area or naturalized shade garden that remains cool with loamy soil is the best spot for a ramp colony. Water the plants well, and mulch the whole bed with shredded leaves or leaf mold.

Spacing, Depth, and Support

When starting with transplants or bulbs, be very careful not to damage the roots or bulbs. Plant at the same depth they were in the pot (about 3 inches deep), and space the plants about 4to 6 inches apart to allow them to spread. When planting seeds, press them into the soil about 4 inches apart and cover them with an inch of damp leaves.

Ramp Care

Light

Ramps are spring woodland plants, so they need protection from summer's extreme sun and heat. If you can't plant them on the edge of a woodland, where they will be sheltered as the trees leaf out, at least give them a spot in the shade to partial shade.

Soil

To grow ramps in your yard, pick a site as close to their native growing conditions as possible. They are usually found in moist areas under deciduous trees. The soil should have a good amount of organic matter and be well-draining. The soil pH should be close to neutral, ideally between 6.8 and 7.2.

Water

Ramps like regular moisture but do not grow well in wet soils. If other woodland flowers such as bloodroot, trillium, and trout lily will grow in the area, ramps should do fine. They grow actively only briefly in the spring, so there is little room for error.

Temperature and Humidity

The ideal temperature for ramps is 54 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, dropping to 46 degrees Fahrenheit at night. Still, it commonly grows in temperatures ranging from 45 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 42 to 58 degrees Fahrenheit at night. As native plants of northeastern U.S. hardwood forests, ramps grow in humidity levels ranging from about 5 percent in late winter to above 60 percent at the end of May.

Fertilizer

Ramps may need no feeding if the soil is rich in organic matter and has a neutral pH. They prefer soil with relatively high levels of calcium and magnesium; if your soil conditions are poor, consider feeding with these nutrients.

Pollination

Bees and flies pollinate ramp flowers, providing an early source of nectar, and assisting ramps in producing berries that drop in the summer.

Types of Ramps

• Allium tricoccum:Standard ramps; large-leafed and big-bulbed
• Allium burdickii:Narrow-leafed ramps; hard to find; most often grow in Midwest, eastern Canada, and New England
• Allium ursinum:Also called ramsons, wild garlic, wood garlic, bear leaf, or buckrams; native to the British Isles and Europe; closely related to ramps and slightly larger
  

Harvesting

Ramp leaves have an elongated oval shape that tapers to a point. They resemble lily of the valley leaves, although a bit slimmer. Wild leeks have a flower stalk that tends to emerge as the leaves fade. You can harvest ramps at any time, but harvesting before the patch has had a chance to enlarge will very quickly deplete the patch.

Give the patch a few years to spread, then harvest by thinning out the largest plants, digging the whole clump, bulb, and all. Be careful not to damage neighboring plants.

Their flavor is a combination of spring onions and garlic. Ramps are delicious when eaten on their own or can be used to flavor other dishes. The leaves, stems, and bulbs can be blanched, fried, chopped, and mixed into dishes.

These perennials are very slow to reach maturity for harvest. Plants started from seed may not be harvestable for seven years, while those created from bulbs or young plants may be ready to harvest in two to three years.

To store ramps in the refrigerator for up to a week: Wash off the dirt, wrap them loosely in a damp paper towel, and place them in the crisper drawer. To keep them longer: Blanch, freeze, pickle, or dehydrate them. They can also be ground down into a seasoning powder.

How to Grow Ramps in Pots

Ramps can be grown in pots, but shallow raised beds are even more ideal. They only need a depth of about 1 foot. When grown in pots or raised beds in ideal conditions—such as suitable soil, light, water, nutrients, and temperature—ramps will spread and colonize a container.

Plant bulbs and seeds the same way you would in a woodland garden. Space bulbs, seeds, or transplants about 4 inches apart. Ensure pots have ample drainage holes since ramps do not like soggy soil. Give a 1- to 2-inch layer of leaf mulch to mimic their natural growing environment.

Pruning

Remove weeds that would compete with ramps for nutrients and space. Also, to control the size of your colony and prevent too many ramps in one area from competing with each other, deadhead flowers or collect scapes before they can develop into berries and seeds that drop to the ground. If you have a densely packed colony, harvest bulbs—root and all–to allow for more growing space.

Propagating Ramps

Ramps are best propagated by planting bare root bulbs, seeds, and the division of current colonies. Here's how to divide an existing colony and plant bulbs:

1. Dig up a cubic square of soil using a shovel.
2. Replant the entire plot of soil as it is in a new location.
3. Or, you can tease apart each of the bulbs and plant each separately, about 4 inches apart and 3 inches deep.

How to Grow Ramps From Seed

The seed is dispersed close to the mother plant. Growing ramps from seed can take a long time. The seed embryo is not fully developed in fresh seed and may remain dormant. It needs warm and cold stratification for germination, meaning it needs to be warm and moist to break root dormancy, then it must be cold to break shoot dormancy. Since the weather fluctuates yearly, it can take a couple of years for the seed to germinate. The best time to sow ramp seeds is in late summer to early fall. Here's how:

1. Scratch and loosen the top layer of soil and press the seed into it.
2. Cover with about an inch of shredded, damp leaves.
3. It can take two to three years before germination and shoots form. It can take three or four more years before they're ready for harvesting.

Overwintering

Since its temperature and moisture needs are particular, it may take several seasons before ramp seed sprouts. Ramp seeds have a dormant, underdeveloped embryo. Ramps need a winter season to enable germination and shoot dormancy. Ramps do not need any winter protection.

Common Pests and Plant Diseases

As ephemerals with such a short period above ground, ramps are rarely impacted by insects or disease. These pests and diseases rarely affect harvest; however, the septoria leaf spot and a fly, the allium leaf miner (Phytomyza gymnostoma), are two things to watch for. Also, aphids and caterpillars can latch onto foliage.

To prevent leaf spot, avoid watering from above and water at the ground level. To get aphids and caterpillars off your plants, spray them with a cold water hose to dislodge them. Use floating row covers to keep allium leaf miners away from your plants, or consider insecticidal control methods.

From: thespruce