I hope someone else will answer, but I don't think it would be good to plant the garlic cloves now - they will grow too much and could be damaged in the winter. I would spread them out on some newspaper in a dry (good ventilation), cool, and dark place. Get them away from the plastic bags.

The wild garlic seeds that you mention in the other post could be treated the same. I collected some here in OR and decided against planting it after reading up on it being hard to get rid of (the small seed bulbils can remain dormant in the soil for years), taking a long time to grow into a small head, and possibly having an unpleasant aftertaste. The other garlics grow so well (very uniform and predictable) and don't have the downside.

Best of luck!

Thanks for replying, cheapheap! At least I now know someone has at least read my post!! LOL!! I too hope someone will answer my question soon.

I had thought about doing just what you mention because of the reason you gave. But, I was afraid that if the sprout were to dry out, the clove might lose its viability.

I have gotten them away from the plastic bags. They are laid out on some newspaper on a dark shelf in my computer room.

I too read about the wild garlic having the propensity to become an invasive weed. But, I'm not real worried about that. I dearly love the taste of wild garlic that is harvested and used like green onions are. And, I have no intentions of planting very much of it. I'm even considering planting it in the edge of the woods rather than planting any in my garlic bed.

As for winter damage, I have access to plenty of wheat straw. And, our winters are usually not that severe here in West Tennessee. So, as long as cold damage in the winter time is the biggest concern, I can protect the rather well with straw. But, I don't know if that is the only concern or not.

Again, thank you for taking the time to reply!!

I read your post but didn't have anything positive to say about wild garlic. I transplanted a couple of bunches from the woods behind the house and put them in the herb garden. The leaves are inferior to chives, and the bulbs are little and the bulbs are small and don't taste great. They become weeds easily. I would go ahead and plant the sprouting wild garlic bulbs. They will survive.

The hardnecks are another matter because you don't just want survival you want maxumal growth. I could be wrong, but I would put the sprouted ones (right side up) in the coldest part of the refrigerator and wait until close to the regular planting time. the cold will activate the unsprouted ones so I wouldn't put them in the fridge. You don't have to worry about cold damage in Tennesee. The big problem with freezing soil is from frost heave tearing up roots. Sub zero temps can dry out the frozen exposed leaves and damage them that way, but temps in the 20s are no problem.

Thank you for your input, spiced_ham!

I have read that wild garlic can be an invasive weed. But, about 20 years ago, I had a friend who had a patch of wild garlic that grew in a field by his house. He once gave me some of it when it was about the size of green onions... the kind that you'd eat with some greens or cabbage in the spring. It was delicious!!!

I don't know if this is the same garlic or not. It came from the opposite end of TN from where the wild garlic came from that my friend gave me. But, I'd sure like to find out. And, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it is! I'll plant some in a pot to see. And, if it's not the garlic that I remember from 20 years ago, I will destroy the balance of it!!!

I've separated all of the cloves of the hardneck garlic and tossed anything that was rotten or looked bad. It left me 23 cloves... I think!

It's funny that you said that about putting them in the refrigerator. After not getting any replies and not knowing what else to do, I put the sprouted cloves in the refrigerator in the hopes that it might stop or at least slow down their growth. Since they are individual cloves, I don't know how I would store them "upright" though.

I hate to loose this garlic. But, if I do, I'm not going to spend much time mourning it!! I already have intentions of ordering a few softneck varieties to try my hand at growing!

Thank you again for your imput!!