Topic: Has this been a bad year for onions?

[chriscross1966]

Been thinking about this overnight. Wondering if the white rot would come form the soil, or if it has come from the sets? I bought sets from Wyevale, I usually get them from Wilkinsons.
Hmm, wondering if I should try growing from seed again! But the last time I tried they got overrun by weeds before they came through. Any tips on growing form seed?

Maincrops start in modules with a little bit of bottom heat in a GH or on a windowsill (won't need heat on a windowsill). Either 1 seed per module in a 60/tray if you want big onions (try a variety like Kelsae, Exhibition or Mammoth). If you want a big crop of medium-sized onions then sow 4 or five seeds per module in a 40/tray. Picklers go in at 10-12 seeds  per module on a 40/tray. Be careful not to overwater and use Cheshunt compound at sowiing and again once after the seeds have germinated. For real monsters sow indoors in early december and expect to pot on into 24/tray modules in early February. At the start of March harden them off and plant out mid march in decently prepared soil, individual mains at 8", cluster mains at 10", monsters at a foot, picklers at 6",  row spacing same as plant spacing and it isn't a bad idea to plant them in a square grid, it makes weeding with a hoe easy . They'll appreciate some chicken manure pellets, bone meal and all the compost you can give them. At the end of April top dress with dried blood or BFB or something with plenty of nitrogen. Monsters will want another topdressing 3 weeks later, once again with something with nitrogen and a seaweed tonic isn't a bad idea either. Onions nd watering if it doesn't rain for a week, appox a gallon per yard of row, use a watering can rather than a hose to be sure of the measure. I tend to water on the fourth or fifth dry day if three days without rain are forecast, this summwer I've watered twice..
This is what Ido, I'm expecting arguments about the spacing, varieties and the cluster technique for mains, ans someone from the northeast will point out that a 4lb onion is a pickler as far as they are concerned cos he grows 10-lb plus things the size of a mans head under glass and lights and starts them in October.......

chrisc
chrisc

[Sinbad7]

Brilliant year for onions here, the shallots have excelled themselves too.

[MrBean]

the cotton wool fungas on your onions is white rot. white rot is a virus ............./

It's a fungus AFAIK, not a virus.

It's possible to reduce the attacks following work by commercial producers where onion waste, infected or not, was composted, then spread on the ground sometime before onions were planted. The fungus spores are triggered to grow, but when they come out, there's nothing to grow on, so they die off. I don't have first hand results to support this, but I shall try this next year.

As with most things, the compost heap will take care of it providing the heap gets hot enough to kill the organisms.

[saddad]

I wouldn't risk it... have some on my top plot so haven't grown any alliums there for nearly a decade... will try again when a dozen years have passed...  :-X

[marcusexeter]

hi there

your onions have white rot - it's really common. i get it it on mine - it's worse when its wet.

this tear has been bad for onions mine have finished a month early !

plant your onions in a diffent place nexy year a look it up on tinternet

marcus

[Robert_Brenchley]

the cotton wool fungas on your onions is white rot. white rot is a virus that lives in the soil, and will infect any onions grown in that soil. the virus travells up and down with the water table. and will get worse in wet years. what ever you do DONT put the infected onions on your compost pile, because the virus will infect the compost and you will spread it to where ever you put the compost. it can be contolled by fumigating and only killed by sterilizing the soil both of which are very expensive.  the only thing you can do with those onion is put them in bin bags and take them to the tip

Not a virus, a fungus. It's almost impossible to get rid of, unfortunately. I have it to some extent, but by rotating the alliums, I'm managing to keep it under control, so I only lose a very few per year.

[siandc]

We had about 1/3 of our white onions suffer from white rot, a similar amount of garlic too. Red onions were a lot better, all the sets came from the Society's supplier and a lot of people on our site seem to have had white rot this year.
We'll be going for seeds next year!!!

[daveyboi]

The onions I put in early have not done so well as those I put in a month later this year.
All in all not such a good year for my onions this year as last year.

[powerspade]

I planted Centurion and Hercules both doing well in fact this year is the best year I have had for Onions for 9 years

[Hosta]

Re: Has this been a bad year for onions?   

YES !!!! 

[1066]

Ditto to that Hosta!

[delboy]

My overwintering onions have rotted since harvesting them.

The Bedfordshire Champons and red Pearl I grew from seed now seem to have the sooty mould problem - happened pretty much overnight.

Can they be stored?

All in all, a disaster year for me.