I have not tried to start garlic indoors under lights so I can't comment on that by personal experience, but garlic requires a vernalization period for it to form a segregated bulb so I think you would get better results if you put the bulbs in the frig for several weeks and then plant out as soon as the soil can be worked.

I agree with Jack. I have had no problems getting the cloves to root under lights, but they never seem to adjust to transplanting out side. I have had very good luck with vernalized cloves planted directly outside, even quite late into the spring. Do not put the bulbs in the frig with fruit that gives off ethylene such as apples, etc. Garlic should not be exposed to that. I have one of those compact refrigerators for under $100 dedicated to just vernalization, with the stored garlics and multiplier onions I wish to plant back going in sometime next week, I hope. That should have them ready to go in the ground as soon in April as possible. I have a very good set already planted last fall; but I am doing this in case I should ever need to do a back up planting again. I will put out a few next spring even if not needed, just to keep my hand in a backup technique.

I am in the north and sometimes I don't get my garlic planted in the fall so I have started them in peat pots because our ground is frozen well into spring. They worked just fine, slower at starting but they catch up. Just make sure that when you plant them out the peat pot is very wet.

Plantsmans corner on youtube did a test on growing garlic in pots it is worth watching. He found that as long as you bought good seed garlic it worked just fine. A great idea for those with balcony gardens.

Well, so much for a plan!

Several days after my order arrived from Burpee I realized that it did not contain garlic. When I called to inquire, I was told that they would ship the garlic "at the appropriate planting time for my region". Just now, I checked the Burpee website and see that for Zone 6, they won't ship until the last week in March. Holy Cow! So disappointed. I'm not sure this first year of trying to grow garlic will be a good indicator of what it could be like.

Call a garlic vendor, like Filaree farm or Hood River. I'm sure you can have your hands on some premium garlic seed in a week. Other option is the grocery store. I'm actually seeing both silverskins and hardnecks at the grocery store these days. I'd grab a couple hardnecks and plant away.

Call Burpees back and explain that you are asking for a special early shipment for an experimental indoor planting, if necessary ask to speak to a supervisor. Quite likely if it is possible, this kind of early shipment needs to be approved by some one with special authority. Be patient, you may get passed around to a few other individuals, but also be aware that Burpees may not be stocking the bulbs until later. They may not even have them available to ship now.

You can also pick from a pretty nice selection of bulbils from Sand Hill Preservation (http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/catalog/allium.html), and they actually mention starting them early inside under lights. They operate a bit differently, no online orders and no credit cards; be sure to read their terms first.

I ordered my sweet potatoes from them this spring. I will be putting the plants down on black landscape fabric which I will put out quite a bit earlier following their recommendation and may even tunnel the plants. Sweets like it hot.

A week or so ago I was at WalMart and saw that they had garlic (and other things) available. I bought a pack of garlic...variety unknown. One of the heads was starting to sprout. I broke up the cloves and stuck some in some reconstituted peat pellets. Within just a few days they were 4-5 inches tall. I moved them out to the garden last week. When the Burpee garlic finally arrives in a few weeks, I will stick it out in the garden. I guess I'll have a bit of a comparison as to if the "start inside" thing helps at all.

A good experiment itmce, just remember that the size of the eventual garlic bulb is influenced by the size of the clove planted. Larger cloves mean larger bulbs. At least that is what the experts say so if the Walmart cloves are smaller than the Burpee ones, you should expect the same for the harvested bulbs.