[Michael D]

Hi all    Just got a bag of broken  cloves  from our corner shop, was  planing of planting them in plugs now then plant them out in Oct,   is this to early, if so  whats the best way to store the garlic.  Any advice pls  Mike

[mumofstig]

Think carefully before using shop cloves as they may have White Rot spores on them. Once you have this on your plot you can't grow onions/garlic for at least 6 years

Seed garlic is certified disease free so we would advise these, and they are not that expensive at places like Wilkinsons, although I realise that seed catalogue prices are horrendous!

[TerryB]

I am give to understand that you souldn't break the bulb up into clovers untill just before planting. Not sure what difference it makes.

I wouldn't plant them yet, but if you do, do not use multi purpose compost because it stays to damp and the clover will rot. This happened to mine last year when I put them into pots because the bed was not ready.

[Trillium]

You can always give it a try but I wouldn't count on too big a crop. At this tume of year just store them at room temp as chilling will force them to sprout too early for yo daylight hours. In Oct you can plant out the individual cloves about 8" apart in well prepared soil. Nothing is gained by starting them early as they need cool weather to grow properly.