Planting Garlic and onions - Soaking and a few more questions

Suttons was giving garlic and onions for free when ordering seeds, so I got some weeks ago.
I was wondering, do they need to be left soaking in water before planting?

Also, can garlic and/or onion plants be grown in shady patches of the garden?
I have one patch which gets very little sun at the bottom of the garden and I was wondering if that could be an option.

My last doubt is about pests. Are squirrels, rats or foxes likely to dig the bulbs out? Squirrels love to dig in my pots, tipically looking for some kind of bulb, I noticed.

Thanks for any advice!

 

Onions are definitely filled with natural antifreeze. Keep them moist. No drowning. Garlic I do not know.

Jealous of your good fortune

Oh, and my sqirrels have never gone for spicy stuff or my onions. Maybe they're stupid

 

Garlic cloves plant 2-3 times the height of the bulb down, onion sets plant with their their tips showing. Don't just push the onions into the soil as this compacts the soil immediately below them and can damage the base of the onion.
Neither should need soaking, just plant them. I've never tried in shade so don't know I have feeling neither would be particularly happy. Onions are shallow rooting so be careful when hoeing round them.
My onions have been in about 4 weeks and have sprouted, never had problems with squirrels, however blackbirds and magpies can mistake the tips for worms and pull them out; I check every couple of days and put them back in the ground as necessary.
Garlic I grow autumn planting varieties and went in in November and had emerged before Christmas. Both of them benefit from fertiliser and water in dry periods. Onions need to be kept growing steadily once started as a check to growth makes them more likely to flower.

 

I've twice grown garlic in partial shade and both both times it was affected by rust.

 

Not sure if you mean garlic cloves or seeds. Definitely do not soak garlic if its cloves as this can cause it to rot. Just have the bottom of the clove soak in some water for about a week before planting.

 

Garlic don't produce seeds, they gave up sex a long time ago.

 

I also plant garlic in autumn.
Onion sets can go straight into the ground.
I don't think either are going to like shade, my garlic gets rust every year.

 

Or when reduced to 10p a net, plant closely in pots for really cheap 'spring onions'.

But don't think that's going to happen this year

 

I wouldn't plant them in shade and as the others have said don't need to soak them they could rot.

 

Thanks everybody!
I will try and find a sunny spot instead.

 

Thanks Nigel, that's quite a lot of info, appreciated!

 

I've started mine in some cotton wool and left them near a sunny window. Root systems starting to take place after just a couple of days and I think I will transplant around day 7-10.

 

Thats a very good idea thanks, I'll give it a go!

 

The cotton wool approach strikes me that it will cause some root damage at planting out.

Either put them in the ground (without delay now ... they are short season crops influenced by when the day-length changes, so "late" won't catch up) or if ground is not ready in modules or pots (3" / 9cm) / . If so leave them long enough for the roots to develop so that the rootball doesn't fall to bits when you plant them.