Should I give up

[Manouche]

Well I've tried one more time and again nothing, what is it with me and Spring Onions!

I've tried different varieties do everything it says on the packets but not a" springer " in sight.

So do I give up or try again.

Are there any champion Spring Onion growers out there who can give me some advice...please x

[Manouche]

[Chrispy]

First thing I learnt..... don't follow the instructions on the packet.

Have a look at this earlier thread
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,59290.0.html

[Manouche]

Thanks Chrispy have just read through the thread and will give it another go.
Didn't see that thread before but thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Have a great weekend.

[belairebel]

Ha! This could be me!

The first year I had my allotment I sowed spring onions among the lettuce and got a bumper crop. Ha, thought  - easy peasy.....four years later and I've lost count of the packets of seeds and tears I've shed but not one single spring onion has sprung again....until....this year.

I can't grow carrots on my allotment because the earth is too claggy so this year, I've sown them in my window boxes at home. Shortly after I put them in, I thought about spring onions and decided to put a few in with them and Voila!  I have spring onions!!!!

[chriscross1966]

Never got anywhere sowing them in the ground. This year I sowed (successionally and there'll be more going in in a week or two) 6-seeds per module into 40-drop modules and have more springers than I know what to do with....  Got nowhere with that technique last year with White Lisbon though my brother has had an outdoor autumn sowing of ML come through great guns for him this year.

chrisc

[kt.]

I had my first success last year by growing them in 8" pots.  This idea though seems even much more succesful:
http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/2007/08/keep-those-crops-coming.html

[powerspade]

I have sown spring onions for the past few years and never had anything from them. So this year I tried sowing in modules and guess what ???? Still nothing so I`m have now given up spring onions as a lost cause.

[cleo]

Nothing from modules?-yep time to give up then.

I used to grow great spring onions when on clay but here they were rubbish sown directly.

It was Tim some years back now who suggested trying in modules-plant a bunch at a time and it`s one of the best pieces of advice I have ever had

[antipodes]

Ok, this is going to drive you mad, but this year I had some success with...both.
I sowed some directly and watered them A LOT! very  regularly. They are now growing quite well, some are 15 - 20 cm high and are starting to plump up. I will be able to start picking soon.
Then I did some in the coldframe, in bunches, and I transplanted them. They are not as successful but many have grown anyway.
I used seed from Alan Romans, they are a red coloured onion from Holland "Red something...."

[Number 1]

Hi.Know your problem well.I'm a new grower and started in late March/April.I have 3 books all giving advice but found John's to be the more infomative.I started my spring onions in a shed/come greenhouse and planted the seeds in in small compost trays.When they grew to about 8 ins.I put them in the soil and their STILL not ready for picking.From what i can gather from the books they take about 5 months.Am i right?everyone.It's frustrating but as John says we all have failures ,even after 30 years experience.Don't give up.Kind Regards Number 1 from Portland.

[davyw1]

I am at a loss as to why you have no success with spring onion, i do no more than make a drill put my seed in and give them a light covering with compost, keep them moist till they germinate.
There is an alternative get some perennial bunching onion, once you have them established its just a mater of digging a bunch out, take of what you want and plant back what you don't want to grow on. At the end of the season split them and replant.

[Tulipa]

Manouche don't give up!  I know just how you feel, I have never had a good crop of spring onions and I am sure you could find my posts from years ago somewhere on here!  A couple of weeks ago I sowed 'pinches' in loo roll inners and just this morning they have come through  :) I am so pleased, so have a go, I kept watering them in the hope they would germinate, mind you things could still go wrong, but at least I have germination.  I put the tubes in a seed tray with a plastic lid which I have now removed, I hope they carry on now they have started  ;)

[jokey]

Don;'t give up

i always think mine are not germinating, they seem to take an age.  then eventually they pop up

sorry can't be more help

jo

[Isleworth]

As the last post said... Never give up! Try and try again ;)

One of our fellow plot holders on the same site (who's also a member here) also seems to have trouble growing spring onions but I sowed two lots this year in different beds and both have come up fine.

[aj]

Fresh seed makes a heck of a difference, esp with Alliums.

The difference between my fresh leek seed and the shop bought stuff was nothing short of miraculous.

[davyw1]

Don,t give in, look at what may be the cause of not getting your spring onions to grow.
If you set them away in modules in the GH then the major factor of them not germinating is to much moisture causing the seed to rot before they can germinate.
The next would be after germination again would be damping off so bottom water also onions are quite hardy and do not like to much heat so keep them in a cool place.

Onions like soil that is fertile and well drained, they don't like soils that crusts easily. Clay, alluvial, sandy loam and muck are the soil types that are best suited for growing onions. A ph of 6.0 to 7.0 is best. Onions are not tolerant to salinity and do not like to compete with weeds for moisture.
To get the best results you should apply fertilizer Growmore or Fish Blood and BONE..

If you have problem with drainage then grow them on ridges. about two weeks before sowing or planting out rake up soil into a ridge run the back of the rake along the top to level it a bit sprinkle your fertilizer along the top of the ridge, you are now ready to sow or transplant

[Plot22]

I do not normally have a problem with Spring Onions but this year I had a fair bit of seed left so I thought I would try and chit them on damp kitchen towel in a plastic box which was put in a cupboard in my study. Within a week they had started to grow. I gave them a few more days then planted them in a spare plot I had at home where the soil is far from good. Couple of weeks later they are growing quite well

[jennym]

I thought same as you a few years back, seemed so hard to get spring onions to come. What I do now, is to mark out a small square on a good bit of soil, in a place thats not too hot, sow in the square, and water every day. I think the watering is the key to it really. Have had a go with modules/pots too, and again think that maybe they succeed when they are kept nicely moist, and maybe it's easier for folk to remember to water containers.

[cornykev]

I normally have to sow three times to get a whole row, but this year they've all come up first time. :o
I just fork over removing large stones, then make a small lined trench and fill with compost, next I press down on a piece of wood at an angle leaving a V impression, sow the seed, not sparingly and cover with compost, pat down with the wood and water.
Don't let the line dry out, keep it moist until the seedlings come through, well that's my way anyway.       ;D ;D ;D