what are your onions up to?

[sarah]

back in mid october i planted some japanese onion sets. some red some white. and a few weeks later i planted some garlic.  the garlic is doing lovely all tehe bulbs have sprouted and growing nicely but the onions are really not good at all. i think about 10% of the white have sprouted and maybe even less of the red. i am a bit dissappointed about it and wonder wether i should leave them in and hope for the best or plan something else for those beds. i suppose if they come to nought i could use the space for extra spring sets.  ??? is it the weather, is it the sets, or is it me? :-\

[sarah]

[Curryandchips]

I have noticed that sometimes over wintering onions tend to sit dormant, rather than generate top growth. What is important is that there is root growth, so that the onions are established and will race away come the early spring. You could check this by carefully examining a few. If there is no root growth, then it appears that the onions may well rot over the winter, but if you are not going to be using the ground for anything else, you might as well give them the benefit. I had a very poor crop off some reds last year, ended up with almost no crop from about 200 planted.

Like you, my garlic is looking good.

[saddad]

I started some off to make sure they were sprouting before planting out. They have 4-6" of top growth and are now resting... putting out root.
:)

[cornykev]

 :D :D Likewise saddad, my reds were ok last year its my whites that all went to seed. :(  :D :D :D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[kt.]

My white jap onions are 6-7inches tall - though they have been dormant for about 3weks. Not worried though. Everyone of them has come through ok to about the same height.

Leave them in situ if you can spare the room. ;)

[Mrs Ava]

Some of mine have green shoots, some have loads of roots.  I am not worried - this is the same every year and as soon as it starts to warm up in  early spring they grow like the clappers!

[sarah]

thanks all. i will check one or two for root growth and see how they go.   :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Mine (whites) are all several inches high; as long as we don't get a summer like last, i should aviod the amount of bolting I got then, which is the only real problem I have with them.

[supersprout]

all sorts - seed



sets



seed



::)

[sarah]

they look great. you are a right inspiration you are SS. ;D

[Barnowl]

Brilliant  :)  (thinks..must get more mulch, lots more mulch)

[cornykev]

;) ;) Looking good sprout you do love your straw girl I bet your mattress is stuffed with it.  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[supersprout]

lol@kev, the allotment IS my mattress ;) I like to be able to drop down for a quiet snooze anywhere on the plot ;D
thank you sarah and barnowl :) strange how they're all doing their own thing at different rates ???
In the first photo, the south side of the bed is on the left hand side - seems to make a big difference to the onion sprout rate, same story with the garlic 8)

[Robert_Brenchley]

They're a few inches high, and just sitting there quietly. The shallots aren't really showing at all, and neither is the garlic. I've just had some Purple Wight delivered, which should be going in at the weekend.

[OliveOil]

SS is there anything you DO NOT mulch??? Should i mulch my onions etc now??

My onion sets are going great - also planted oct... by seeds are doing much better though!

[cornykev]

;D Just come back from lottie onions are between six and ten inches high flopping over nicely, cut myself a small cabbage nothing else to do.  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[caroline7758]

Anyone else worried that this mild weather will have brought them on TOO far and they'll get too much of a shock when the real cold strikes? (Or is it just me, always fearing the worst? ;D)

[mc55]

mine have only got about an inch and a half of top growth, so I'm hoping they'll be OK through the winter ... I may cave in though and fleece if it gets really bad. 

[Robert_Brenchley]

It's gone more like normal December temperatures over the last few days, and mine are quite unbothered.