Do I need to cover with fleece or netting or nothing?

[kaparobi]

Hi

We are just about to plant out our first things on our allotment, it seems like we have been doing weeks of weeding and digging on it and now get to do some planting.

I have sets of onions and garlic and some overwintering cabbages that i have started off in my garden and are almost ready to transfer.

So do i need to cover them with anything.

I have read another post that says to put a net over the onion sets to stop the birds getting them but is it really necessary and is fleece required?

With the cabbages to they need fleece to keep them warm given that I have seeded them outside anyway.

THanks for your advice
Kate

[kaparobi]

[shirlton]

The birds like nothing better than to pull onions out of the ground so I would cover. If you live in an area that is troubled by the Alium moth then to cover is the rule if you want anything top harvest. For the moth prevention you will need to use something with a fine mesh that the little flies cannot get through

[manicscousers]

we haven't covered our onions,luckily the birds have ignored them, so far..covering cabbages is a must here, we use debris netting(some pics on our gallery) as we have flocks of pigeons  :)
sorry,kate, I forgot to welcome you to the site  ;D

[staris]

i had to cover my onions and also leeks, i had a blackbird that pulled most of them out the day after i planted them, used debris netting as well to cover them.

[grawrc]

I'm covering both cabbages and onions/garlic with enviromesh: I can cope with the birds tweaking the onions but we have a huge rabbit problem and if they can't find anything else onions will do. The cabbages I need to protect from both rabbits and pigeons. I've never needed to use fleece for onions or cabbage but, not having grown overwintered peas or broad beans before, I'm thinking of putting fleece over them pretty soon.