onion/garlic advice needed

[seneca]

hello folks,
just joined this forum after finally getting my plot 2 weeks ago. Been clearing it out and digging over part of it. Firstly, I must mention that the allotments of which I have become a member seem pretty inactive at the moment. I've only come across 3 people so far and one of them was the chairman! so advice and opinions are thin on the ground. Anyway, I've been looking at various books and have found that I can actually plant something at this time of the year (bit surprised, but I'm new to this game.) Apparently, I can plant onions and garlic.

here's my questions-
- what's the best way to plant these- in a row at ground level or should i make a raised bed?
- do they need to be covered to stop pests? (one book mentions onion fly, so I assume netting will be needed. If so, do I need to make a cloche with the netting over it?
- onion sets come in packs of 50 - do I need to put all 50 in the ground or can I save some for next year?
- do I plant them in a long single row, or can I plant them in a square?
- anyone have any links or pictures of how they have done it in the past

thanks for your help

[seneca]

[ceres]

Welcome to A4A seneca and congratulations on your plot!  You can certainly do onions and garlic now, also over-wintering broad beans and peas and it's the time of year for planting fruit trees and bushes.

You can plant them straight in the ground or in a raised bed.  Onion fly might not be a problem on your site (it's not on mine) but nets wouldn't keep them out anyway.  You'd need enviromesh.  There many different ways of supporting nets/fleece/enviromesh - canes, blue water pipe, timber, chicken wire.........  On my site birds pull out newly planted sets - they think they're something tasty.  When they find out they're not they just drop the set and I have to re-plant them so I put chicken wire tunnels over them until they root in and then I remove the tunnels.  They won't keep until next year - they go soft and rot.  They're meant to be used up so if you don't need 50 why not see if you can swap some with another plotter for something else - rhubarb or raspberry runners or broad bean seeds?  You can plant them any way you want, just follow the spacing recommended on the pack and you'll be fine.  Remember when you're planning where to plant things that some stuff has to go in a different place next year - onions are one of these because of possible white rot build-up.

Good luck!

[Digeroo]

Congratulations on your new allotment.

Round at my site there are those that plant in rows and those who like squares, it is an individual thing.  I plant my allotment in blocks, and onions in double rows.  But that is only because the ground was so hard I could only dig a spade width and so put in two rows offset and then had a path.  I was told that you should plant them with a trowel rather than pushing them in, because pushing them in compacts the soil below and then when the roots appear the onion gets pushed up.    We also have not had a problem with onion fly this will be a local issue and other plot holders may be able to help.  I just throw over a few twigs to discourage the birds.  I'm next to a hawthorn hedge so there are lots of clippings.

My packet of spinach says to October, not sure it will get very big but may give a few small green bits.

Don't forget a bit of fertilizer.  I like planting parsley I buy a pot from Tesco and split it up, best covered with a cloche at this time of year.  (This being a posh name for a coca cola bottle with the bottom cut off and the top removed).

Lots of luck

[Digeroo]

Forgot to say do make sure you buy onion sets for planting now.  I bought some recently that said February on them.  But they will be dried up or mushy by then.

[GodfreyRob]

If you are going to plant onions/garlic now I would avoid ground that gets wet for days on end. Onions/Garlic are tough as regardsthe cold but not the wet. They don't require especially free-draining soil but if they are standing in wet soil for days/weeks on end they will surely rot away.

Raised beds avoid this problem.

[saddad]

Welcome to A4A Seneca...  :)

[seneca]

thanks all. what a great site. very useful and the advice is much appreciated.

an unexpected windfall - I've just realised the mound in the middle of my plot is actually year old rotted cow manure. Apparently it was left there by the previous person along with part of his crop of potatoes. I keep coming across them as I dig! They look ok. Is it ok to eat potatoes that have been in the ground for a year?

[Flighty]

Seneca hello and a warm welcome to A4A!
If the potatoes look, cook and taste okay I don't see why not!  I would!

[cornykev]

As Flighty says, if the spuds look alright then go for it.
I put my onions in a straight line, string the line so their straight, make a hole with a dibble and pop the Winter onion in and push some earth quite firmly as already said the birds do tend to pull a few up, but no problem just pop them back in with just a little of the tip showing, put them all in as they will not last until next year, I don't cover mine, well thats the way I do it, but we all have different ways.     ;D ;D ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

The spuds will be fine for eating, but don't leave them in the ground, and be ruthless about eliminating any which come up next year. Accidentals are one of the classic sources of blight, and there isn't as much awareness of it as there ought to be.