Topic: result from my attempts at Onions & Shallots

[1066]

Hi
A while back I asked the question - why do you grow onions, see this thread - 
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,48923.0.html .

Anyhoo I planted red onions & 2 varieties of shallots. The red ones have been a total failure, the shallots have been quite good. So I don't think I'll bother growing onions again, I might have a few shallots. As Mr 1066 said to me "you plant an onion and you get an onion" whereas at least with shallots you plant 1 and get several  ;D

So thanks for the previous encouragement, you just keep on living and learning eh  :D

1066

[delboy]

As it happens I agree with you regarding the onion sets available - as mine didn't make it either.

Growing from seeds is fiddly but more likely to succeed where I am(Surrey), but the fiddlyness is the pain in the butt aspect.

The shallots I bought from Unwins went massively to seed. The others from Seeds of Italy have been magnifico.

Ho hum

[thifasmom]

this year i tried growing from seed both white and red. i now have a small bunch of onions to harvest when they begin to bend their leaves.

we aren't big onion eaters but i like to use my own stuff when i'm making chutenys, etc, so the small amout i have will do just fine.

thinking about growing some shallots next year though.

[1066]

thanks for the replies, I know what you mean about using your own grown stuff, but we do eats lots of onions, and I'd have to give a big part of my plot over to them alone.
I will have to shop around for shallot sets properly next year, as I just bought some locally to try.
I had thought about trying them from seed, maybe in a few years time.......

1066

[Tee Gee]

So I don't think I'll bother growing onions again,

Oh don't do that!! red onions are notoriously unreliable particularly from setts. Some years the are quite brilliant and others the are rubbish.

I have grown my reds from seed this year along with a couple of varieties of seed onions and a couple of varieties of setts.

I think mine seem to be going quite well this year.

This is them on the 12th & 26th of this month;





This was my shallots at the beginning of the month and now;







The caulies & Calabrese are doing well also!

My Calabrese on on its second time round (used the heads earlier in the month!

The caulis have timed it well for following on!

[TommyTomato]

Wow TeeGee everything looks beautiful..and the caulis have a lovely colour

[nilly71]

My reds come out beautiful and taste excellent, they were grown from sets and bought from a poundland.
I only grew about 15 out of about 100 because most people said reds were a pain to grow or bolt to quickly, so i gave most away. None of mine bolted ;D wish i had grown more now :(.

I grew them in the same bed as the carrots, a mixture of sand a compost and quite deep (about 2"). I was supprised when i pulled the first one as no onion could be seen, only the stalk(or is it called a leaf) and it come out like this.

Next to plum to show the size




I will definatly be buying from there again.

Neil

[thifasmom]

last year i grew both white and red from sets didn't know that reds could be unreliable and experienced no bolting at all. this year because i got seeds from swaps i tried both again from seed, bulbs aren't as big but then they went in late as i spilled the seed tray destroying all my early sown seedlings. but I'm very pleased with the crop and think I'll stick with seed grown ones for now.

[1066]

TeeGee and Nilly - I am now very jealous!  :D

TeeGee, thanks for the encouragement. maybe I need to avoid the setts then? Just maybe, and at the moment it truly is a maybe, I'll try some from seed. Thinking about it, I can get the ordinary white onions, red onions and spanish onions in the shops. Now I have seen those very white salad type (mild) onions being grown but I don't see them in the shops. So just maybe........

But what I still don't really get is based around Mr 1066's assertion that you plant an onion and get an onion!

BTW how is the garlic decision going TeeGee?

1066

[caroline7758]

Dug up my Turbo onions this morning. Really pleased with the size of them,although about 20% had started to rot-OH is making soup with them as I write.
Red ones were disappointing, bolted quickly, although the ones I grew from seed, despite being chewed by pigeons (I guess) just after going in the ground, are still growing.
Haven't bothered with shallots this year.

[chriscross1966]

Dug up my Turbo onions this morning. Really pleased with the size of them,although about 20% had started to rot-OH is making soup with them as I write.
Red ones were disappointing, bolted quickly, although the ones I grew from seed, despite being chewed by pigeons (I guess) just after going in the ground, are still growing.
Haven't bothered with shallots this year.

It's probably rabbits chewing the tips off... they had a go at some of mine too..... pulled a couple of the runts out of the bed of Kelsaes today.... they're still bigger than most shopbought onions... also remembered that there's a lot of them under the ground..... fingers crossed one of the biggies is a new PB.....

chrisc