Thinking of growing these over this winter, but I need some advice. I dont have plants or sets of eithe,r only seed. I need to know the best time to sow and where - is it better to sow direct or into cells for such crops. i usualy grow in cells for summer crops (not onions though of course!), but whats the best for such overwintering crops? Also what sort of care over the winter do these crops need?
Any advice/tips would be appreciated. Thanks
Never done onions with seeds only sets. Think you can sow the seeds now. Broad Beans I leave until October. As a protective messure in really bad weather. 2ltr plastic bottles. Cut bottom end of. Place over where seed is planted and take the bottle top off. You can stick a small cane in the bottle whivh will help secure it.
I start broad beans off in pots as I have plenty of critters on the allotment that scoff the seeds. Once they are stocky sturdy plants, I plant them out in a slightly sheltered spot on the plot. I made a wrap round of fleece this past winter by sticking canes in around the broad bean bed, then wrapping the fleece around the outside. This kept the critters away and also stopped them getting wind battered. Once they were growing, I removed it, but only because I needed the fleece elsewhere, otherwise, I would have probably left it. They did great, and after the previous years complete failure, this year I had a smashing harvest of red broadbeans!
Onions I only ever grow from sets - HOWEVER - once again thanks to the Wyvales bargains, I now have a packet of seeds, so plan to start them off in little clusters in cell trays. I will then plant these out once they are strong plants. They will need to be strong thanks to the white rot, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. ;D I think drainage is most important with hunions otherwise they will rot in the cold wet ground.
About time we had some pics of your veggie garden Richard!
Thanks for replies.
EJ - Might go down the 'sow in cells' route them plant out once well grown and established. It has always worked well with brassicas, and had good sucess growing leeks the same way this year too. Will make sure plantings are well protected at least until they get their roots down.
Yes I do keep meaning to share photos of my veg plot (as well as the rest of the garden) with you. The problem has been I have had computer problems through August (resulting in a new main PC) and my photos are a bit disoganised as a result, ie photos on one computer (laptop) and software on the other computer. Once i get organised I shall get some photos together to share. Promise. Perhaps a collection showing the veg plot over spring and summer this year? Would that be interesting?
time to ask a dim Q - am I reading correctly, that BBs can be sown in October and left outside in beds all through the winter, perhaps with a little protection ??? Would I be risking my crop to sow / plant them ALL ? Presumbly the benefits are earlier crops and much needed space in potting shed ...
maybe I should go 50 : 50 ... what do you think ? phone a friend ?
Some varieties of broad beans are better suited to October planting than others. The advantage of 50:50 is that you will spread your harvesting over a longer period, as the autumn planted ones will be about 3-4 weeks ahead of the early spring planted ones. They will overwinter ok but may benefit from a little straw during the coldest period (Jan).
Yes, it really is the wind and wet soggy ground that will do it for the BB's. But then that is the case with most overwintered things - they will soon rot in the wet, cold ground. I provide protection because at that time of year, I don't have much in that needs a little tlc, but as soon as I need it come early spring, the lot comes off. BB's don't do a great deal over winter, but as soon as the weather warms up, the grow fast and as Curry said, you will have beens a few weeks before the main crop.
Richard, yes, it would be interesting to see your veg plot over the season as we see a lot of your garden, but not so much of the veggies. It would be good to see the over all effect.
Presumably Epicure E-J not the easiest to over winter on our heavy clay but my all time fav. BB.. failed miserably last year both OW and spring sown.
:'(
My main idea with the broad beans is for a cover crop or green manure that i can get an edible crop from in the end. I grew a relative of the broad bean, field beans as a green manure last winter, they grew so well i thought, that rather than grow a bean i couldnt eat, it might be a better idea to try broad beans, which would benefit the soil in the same way as field beans (cover the soil and fix nitrogen), but make better use of the ground as i could eat the end result.
I have tried broad beans as a summer crop in the past and found them a bit of a waste of space for the size of crop produced. This way I can make use of otherwise vacant land and it doesnt matter what the size of crop is - it would be a bonus whatever it was!
Another thought: Does it HAVE to be october for planting/sowing? Could I not start earlier and have bigger/tougher plants going into winter (and given a mild wnter and spring an earlier crop next year)? I will soon have the space to put some autumn/overwintering stuff in.
I think if you plant BB too early and we have good growing weather, the plants may be too big and even flower and won't be able to stand cold or frosty weather in the winter :-\ maybe :)/shades x
They sell Japanese onion sets in Wilko now, 90p. ;)
i agree with angle, you cdont want them at the flowering stage over winter.
also, i grow onions from sets - i think i did my onions in novemer or late october last year, and they were established by the time the first frosts came (1 inch top growth)
the BBs i put in in february, because i hadnt gotten round to it earlier - they took almost 3 weeks to make an appearance as the ground was cold, and i had thought they had rotted, but i was told by a friend that 'they appear when they are good and ready', and so they did :)
had a really good harvest of broadies and could then clear the space for summat else (courgette, in this case)
Yes saddad, red epicure and they were fab! I still have half a packet so will be growing them again, and will probably try another where the actual pod is red, not just the beans. They seemed to be okay on the allotment over winter, but they were sheltered, and altho we have lovely London clay running through our plot, I know where, so over winterers don't settle there as it is just to sticky.
I always grow summer onions from seen this time I .m trying winter ones as well
in cells in the greenhouse so I can keep a eye on them
only time I sowed b beans in the autumn all I got was a neat hole and a bean skins watch out there,s mice about :-[
Did you hear the feature on Japanese/overwintering onions on R4's GQT today? Worth a listen again! ;D
Quote from: supersprout on September 03, 2006, 15:24:58
Did you hear the feature on Japanese/overwintering onions on R4's GQT today? Worth a listen again! ;D
You might have said it was the last 2 minutes of the show. :D :D
whoops :-[
It's the last two minutes of the show
8)
What did it say ;)
bought two bags of my usual onion sets today Radar, they stand up to winter weather well/shades x
Would you believe it said, now's the time to plant/sow your japanese onions.
oh... ;D/shades x
lol what are you like mike ;) :-*
They also said the warning about poor storage of Japanese Onions was a gardener's myth; provided they aren't fed and watered they get tough enough, harvested end June, to last until the following March. In other words, ignore the advice on the seed packet ;D
Quote from: supersprout on September 03, 2006, 20:03:06
lol what are you like mike ;) :-*
They also said the warning about poor storage of Japanese Onions was a gardener's myth; provided they aren't over fed and over watered they get tough enough, harvested end June, to last until the following March. In other words, ignore the advice on the seed packet ;D
So they said something else, ;D
??? ::)
Hi! Um, so what about crop rotation? I understand the bit about planting broad beans as a means to improve the soil over winter, but, do you do cover the whole plot?
Sorry, confused.
Quote from: MikeB on September 03, 2006, 21:33:40
Quote from: supersprout on September 03, 2006, 20:03:06
lol what are you like mike ;) :-*
They also said the warning about poor storage of Japanese Onions was a gardener's myth; provided they aren't over fed and over watered they get tough enough, harvested end June, to last until the following March. In other words, ignore the advice on the seed packet ;D
So they said something else, ;D
the guru also said he never grew summer onions no more only overwintering ones and that he always grew from seed then topped up any spaces wiv sets later:-X 8)
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a149/mike_brennan/sprout.jpg)(http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/waffen/violent-smiley-021.gif)
;D ;D ;D ;D
:o :o :o
where DID you find that mike? <mops tears of laughter from keyboard>
ROFLMAO! ;D ;D ;D