I set around 200 garlic each year. I grow 24 -30 elephant and then 4 varieties of softneck Early Purple White, Provence White, Iberian and Vallelado . I save the biggest bulbs from my own crop to set and I have not bought any for at least 4/5 years. I always set the last week of October under netting as on our site we suffer from Allium Leaf Miner. Water well in dry conditions and then stop watering a month before harvesting.