Surveyor. 1 I have never soaked my garlic cloves before planting them. This was a newer crop for me, six years ago. I have planted it ever since, doing both spring and fall crops. When we lived forty minutes south of Atlanta, I planted two patches in raised beds, side by side. One was hard neck the other soft neck. I didn't have to dig them, since the soil was soft, so I could just pull them and shake them off. When I pulled them and laid them on top of the soil, I could see that the soft neck bulbs had more that developed larger heads, but not to any extreme.
If you are using your new beds and your soil is light, you can plant the a few inches closer, since you won't be using a fork to dig them. For those who are new with growing garlic, remember to cut the bloom off the top as soon as it forms. It sucks nutrients out of the bulb. The bloom resembles a Cala lily. Back to soaking, Mother Nature may have put that thin paper film over each clove for a reason. It is possible that the garlic would grow faster at first, but may open an avenue for disease. I still have two cloves left from last year that I missed, and six half pints of canned, maybe more. I would never can them again; too much work, just store them right.
