Planting
Additional Information
Planting occurs late in September or October depending on your particular climate. To prepare for planting the cloves are separated from the bulbs that have been saved for planting the day before planting. You can prepare the cloves several days in advance, but the bulb skin provides a protective covering for the cloves and should not be removed too far in advance of planting.
We plant on a grid about 8 inches by 6 inches and this seems to work well. To plant the clove, we make a 1-2 inch hole in the prepared ground and insert the clove basil end down (point end up). Orientation is not critical except that cloves that are planted sideways may produce bulbs with a crooked top and this may affect marketability to a certain degree. After the cloves are inserted, they are covered and left to grow.
Check out the pages entitled Soil Preparation and Tools and Equipment for further descriptions and pictures of the planting process.