Topic: stoopid questions re: onions and potatoes

[OliveOil]

1. i have planted onions sets - will i get 1 onion per set or more?

2. when shall i plant out my 1st early pots - living in sth lincs, not too cold here.

[RSJK]

Olive the answer to question ! is yes, but sometimes you get an odd one or two throwing up a double.

Question 2 is not so simple but my advice is to watch what the weather is doing, you could possably set some out in late February, but please be prepaired to cover them, and as they say do not put all your eggs in one basket.

[RSJK]

Oh and by the way in my book there is no stupid questions on here about gardening if, you do not know you, do not know and that is the end of it, at least you asked and you Will find people on here are willing to give you advice.

 P S  there is stupid answers.    ;) ;)

[kt.]

"Re: stoopid questions re: onions and potatoes"

He who asks the question is a fool for the moment, he who does not is a fool forever

[kitten]

He who asks the question is a fool for the moment, he who does not is a fool forever

Wise words kt!  ;D

[carolinej]

Anything we know is because someone told us ;)

cj :)

[caroline7758]

If you've got shallots as well as onions, you probably know that each shallot set produces a bunch of shallots, but don't make the mistake that I made the first year- I got them mixed up and thought that the smaller sets must be shallots because shallots are smaller than onions- wrong!Had to dig them up and re-space!

[cornykev]

Hi Olive, in my humble opinion its to early, it seems mild at the minute but old mother nature is playing tricks with you put them in and  the frosts will come wait until the ground is workable Feb/Mar.   ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[OliveOil]

I was thinking about putting them out end of feb/early march - what would i cover them with? Straw? fleece?

Thanks for the onion answer.. at least i will know later on where i planted the shallots and onions... didnt mark the rows AGAIN!

[Tee Gee]

An onion from one set;



Shallots from one set;

[Tee Gee]

I agree with Richard re-potato planting;

The problem you might get is when the haulm emerges it might get 'frosted' which can put you back as far as someone planting out a month later.

You could put half a dozen tubers in now and when the emerge cover them with cloches, this is easier than protecting your whole crop.

I am not sure if early potatoes are affected by 'day length' so you might end up by just benefitting by a week or so, to me it is not worth the risk/effort.

Plus in my area we usually get the worst of the winter in February/March

[supersprout]

I have the seed (i.e. not sets) for Cuisse de Poule shallot. Am I right in thinking this will produce one shallot from one seed, rather than several? If I save some of the shallots and plant them next Spring, will they produce a cluster?

Exciting times we live in! ;D

[triffid]

I have the seed (i.e. not sets) for Cuisse de Poule shallot. Am I right in thinking this will produce one shallot from one seed, rather than several? If I save some of the shallots and plant them next Spring, will they produce a cluster?
 ;D

Ten out of ten, SS -- that's exactly right  ;)

(I'm trying growing shallot from seed too for the first time this year. )

[cornykev]

I'll stick with the sets but then I like the easy life.    ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[triffid]

Cornykev, I'm growing from sets too. But I thought I'd try seed out. It's supposed to be "easier than onions" ...  I'll let you know in due course if I agree  ::) ;D

[carolinej]

My first time with onion seeds too. Have put Buntons Show Stopper in the propagator. Here's hoping ;D ;D ;D

cj :)

[cornykev]

Tell us how they compare Triffid  size, quality and taste. I found some onion seed don't know where it come from, only grown from sets before.    ;D ;D ;D

[OliveOil]

I put some japanese onion seeds in for winter and they are going great guns - v easy for a first timer like me!

Am just rareing to go now... when does daylight savings start???