I agree with the above. Your best bet is to start early and just handle a few at a time. Look each over thoroughly (under the leaves, along the stem - especially nooks and crannies where the petioles meet the stems, scuff up the surface of the soil a little & check it out), then give each a rinse with a garden hose or sprayer, upper and lower sides of leaves. If you feel better about using something just in case some critters escape your attention, you could use an insecticidal soap. I don't know what brands are available where you live ("Safers" is popular in the US), but if you ask for insecticidal soap in your local garden center, they'll be able to point you in the right direction. Neem oil is another insect deterrent that's not toxic to most other life forms (including beneficial insects like bees). It's also a fair fungicide. Again, that's a product name (neem oil), not a brand name, so you could ask for it locally. Water with regular soap, not detergent or antibacterial, sprayed all over the plant helps prevent or get rid of mites and some other pests, too. Rinsing the next day helps keep soap residue from attracting dust. If you've left pots sitting on or near the ground, they might have critters that have crawled up the pots' drainage holes. Most of the large soil critters, and some of the small ones (like springtails) won't cause much if any harm to your plants, but you don't want millipede explorers, or earthworms crawling out and drying up on your floor, so best to leave them outside :) Setting the whole pot in a bucket of water for an hour will help chase out some soil critters. (water level just barely below pot rim level -- check for critters on the surface & get rid of them) It might encourage fungus gnats later, but no system is perfect. *sigh* Also, be careful with cacti, as you don't want the pots overwatered, especially when the temps are cool! Only soak them if their mix has perfect drainage and if it's warm where they'll be until they dry out. If you see pests like scale or mealy bugs, regular isopropyl alcohol spritzed from a hand-held sprayer can help get rid of them. It takes regular applications over 2-3 weeks to make sure you get them all. I've used 70% alcohol straight as is from the bottle on a very wide variety of plants with no ill effects (to the plants!) but I'll follow the trend of caution in what I recommend to others -- you might want to just spray a leaf or two leave it a day or so and make sure the plant isn't damaged from it. ...and of course, be sure not to breathe the mist in when you're spraying. I go the non-toxic (or low-toxicity) route first, but rather than risk my whole collection, I will resort to using a systemic when I feel it's needed. Using a granular form is safer, IMO, as I don't have to worry about what surfaces are being hit with overspray, or whether I'm breathing it or getting it on my skin. I just dig a little hole in the potting mix, put in a small amount of the granules, and cover it back over. (Follow directions carefully, and go easy on the water the first few times you water afterward.) The most popular chemical of the moment is Imidicloprid, because it has fairly low toxicity to mammals. Once again, that's the name of the chemical, so you could ask for it locally & knowledgeable folks could let you know under what brand/s it's sold in your area. We'd have no reason to lose patience; you ask good questions and give lots of background info to explain your questions! Questions and answers are a big part of the purpose of the forum :) Best of luck!

Hey g, I hear ya on no outside. It's darn raw here today. Was supposed to be warm, but you can't tell it by me. I've had a number of experiences over the years, but I'll tell ya'll about the first one I remember. When I was five my grandfather died. I had wanted to go visit him just before then but my parents wouldn't let me...long story. So, when he died I wanted to go to the funeral bad. They wouldn't let me, said I was too young. I was very adamant and really threw a fit about it. I didnt' get to go. Shortly thereafter, one night I was in bed. A storm was coming, something woke me up and I saw a figure of a man at the window putting the window down. I knew it was him. Right after that my mother came in to shut the window and was surprised it was already shut since I was too small to do it. I told her Grandpop had did it. That summer several times he came and shut the window before a storm. After that my mother wasn't surprised when she came in and it was already done. About ten years ago my father died. I live in the house where I grew up. Had moved back here to help him a few years before he died. Sometime in the first year after he died, I was at the computer in the living room with my back to the hallway. All of a sudden I heard his loud.. Hey.. It was how he always greeted us. My mother died before him and that was about the same time I kept feeling her around when I'd talk about her. Smiles. Guess he wanted to make himself known too. My mother and I learned when I first moved away from home that we could do the mental messages to each other. If one wanted the other to call, we'd just think of it and they would get the message. Then I started doing it with my aunt and later my best friend and I would do it. Still do it with my aunt and best friend. Friend lives across country and we don't talk often, unless one of us sends 'the message'. To this day I always can tell when my mother is around because we smell the cigarette smoke. No one has smoked in this house in twenty years at least.

I notice most people are saying "ordered in the fall." Not the best idea. The time to order is now, for fall delivery, so as to assure that 1. they have the variety you want, and 2. you are in line for the best bulbs. If you wait to the fall you may be disappointed. JAMc, taste is really subjective when it comes to garlic. There are all sorts of variables, and the same variety might not taste the same even to you, one year to the next. So the best idea is to read up on descriptions and order a minimum quantity of those that sound appealing. Then make up your own mind as to which you like best. In some cases, flavor differences are subtle. But more often there is a dramatic difference in overall taste; in the amount of heat; where & when the heat hits in the mouth; and how garlicy the variety tastes.

My father, who is 93, still lives in the house where I grew up in California. He has ivory Formica with gold glitter in his kitchen that was last remodeled in 1960. He also has a Dish Master faucet, the one where the soap is loaded into the container under the brush. When I visit him, it is like I have stepped back into my childhood.