[Sparkyrog]

You ought to be OK .

[Ema]

I've grown some lovely hardneck garlic this year however I can remember the name of the variety. My plants got rust as did everyone's at my site so I'm guessing I can't use the rust infected bulbs?

[Annen]

I've grown some lovely hardneck garlic this year however I can remember the name of the variety. My plants got rust as did everyone's at my site so I'm guessing I can't use the rust infected bulbs?

My garlic had bad rust last year and I used the biggest cloves this year without any rust at all.  So I think the rust is in the leaves rather than the roots.

[jonewer]

I didnt notice any problems with mine, disease wise, this year.

When is the best time to plant them?

[sunshineband]

As far as I remember, my uncle told me the logic of planting the smaller shallots is that they split into more new ones than large sets do, and then they grow away as a clump, each with their own leaves to help them grow.

Garlic however, has just the one lot of leaves for the whole head, and so need extra energy from the original clove for splitting with.

He was a bit avante garde for even growing garlic... I put it down to him being in the merchant navy  he brought the cloves with him from 'somewhere abroad' originally.

Sounds daft but the principle certainly works OK