I'm going to plant out pots and onion sets tomorrow, but need to know what the best spacing for onionsis? I've got Sturon.....
cheers
I would suggest 4-6" apart and similar between the rows for the Sturon sets.
thanks quizzical1 :)
I just planted ....
stuttgarter giant
turbo
red baron
205 onion sets in all
4 to 6 inches BUT (some of the best advice I have ever had) far enough apart to get your hoe (smallest) between the rows with ease.
Good point Wasp. I shall be planting my sets soon from their present position in 2" pots in a coldframe, (to give them a start, and hopefully stop the birds uprooting them)so I must remember that.
I reckon 9 inches between each onion set as they start off 9 inches apart but end up 5 or 6 inches apart which is the least you want for hoeing.
I find I get around 80 sets per net and I buy two.
These I plant out at 8 No across a five foot wide bed and get 21 rows into a 30ft bed.
So that must make mine about 6-8" apart and about 15" between rows.
ps I never physically measure I use my rake head as a spacing tool which means plenty of room to hoe without damaging the shallow roots then I can rake out the weeds if I want to.
I planted my winter onions about twelve inches apart, and got told off by one of the old boys for spacing them out too much, so I planted my sets 6/7 inches apart I suppose he will be back to say there too close ;D he did take me a cutting off his fig tree and planted it for me and dug some of my plot that was getting out of control with his zapper, so I can't take offence to his comments. ;D ;D ;D
Same as you Tee Gee, I never physically measure them out, I usually use my rake. Think my spacing are about the same as yours by the sounds of it, which worked fine for me last year.
Sadly my partner has developed an obsession for absolutely straight rows, and tells me off i they are a little wonky. Also takes bloody ages to mark out the rows! GRRR!!! lol.
I reckon mine go in about 6" apart. I don't measure either, just use a bit of stick broken to the "right" length. Hoe is about 4" across - it seems to work for me. If you keep on top of the hoeing then by the time they're fattening up I find that weeds are no longer a problem.
we do 'supermarket onions, 6" apart, small but good keepers, we have a v shaped onion hoe ,small enough to fit between but we do weed by hand sometimes ;D
Talking of 'weeding'!! After seeing a progamme on TV a couple of years ago I only weed my onions up until they begin to swell then the weeds are left to do what they are good at.....spreading!!
Apparently onions do not like/need nitrogen after they begin to swell, by letting the weeds grow they take all the surplus nitrogen out of the soil and leave the onions to get on with fattening up.
My last two years crops have been the best I have ever had since using this method, plus it saves me a job...........well kind of ::).....I now have to search among the weeds to find my onions; :'( ;D
Quote from: knbsallotment on March 28, 2007, 17:27:45
Sadly my partner has developed an obsession for absolutely straight rows, and tells me off i they are a little wonky. Also takes bloody ages to mark out the rows! GRRR!!! lol.
I'm obsessed with straight rows too. I line everything up between two sticks. Its worth doing as it looks more professional all summer and only takes a minute.
Yours
A Nally Retentive.
ps.
you'll regret those close onions unless you have a really narrow hoe.
Mark me words me hearties, ooh aar!
We've done ours about eight inches apart both ways (between rows & within rows). Too late now if it's wrong :o ;D
Thanks don't have to bother weeding round them now thats one less job to do.
QuoteThanks don't have to bother weeding round them now thats one less job to do.
Not quite rosyred!!
They still want to be kept weed free up to the point where they start swelling.
Quote from: knbsallotment on March 28, 2007, 17:27:45
Sadly my partner has developed an obsession for absolutely straight rows, and tells me off i they are a little wonky. Also takes bloody ages to mark out the rows! GRRR!!! lol.
Mine are about 6" apart. All my veg spacing is a 'guesstimate'. As for straight lines - make a plum line with 2 sticks & string the width of your largest bed.
6" apart & 12" between rows.
All in regimental straight lines, measured with a line...just as my as my dad - in - law likes.
Aaaaatttenshunnnnn!
Mine start off with good intentions in straight rows 5-6" apart ;D, but then I tend to think, well i can fit a few more in there...
April's Gardeners World magazine says "dig a shallow trench and plant your sets 10 to 15cm apart, leaving just the tip showing, and firm the soil around them", and "leave enough room between the rows to get your hoe in".
I plant in rows with th onions further apart and an increasing width between the rows on the theory that one of the gaps should be right ;D
Lol barnowl. I love your theory, sounds a bit like mine!
I always use the span from the tip of my thumb to tip of my second finger. So mine go 9inches apart .. I leave More room between rows so I can get between them to hoe them ..
Bury them to the neck to stop em popping out...
Interesting theory Tee Gee .. A few year ago I took one of my plots on in November where the onions had been left in site ..Found them as I was clearing weed off it...These were totally dried off when I lifted them and kept till the following May ..Wonder if it would work leaving them after a while and nipping flowering heads off the weeds... cheers Jim
Quote from: cornykev on March 27, 2007, 20:18:39
he did take me a cutting off his fig tree
Kev, was it green wood cutting done now? I inherited some lovely fig trees off the mad old bloke who had plot before me and have friends on the scrounge for cuttings. ::)
He planted the cutting about 6/7 weeks ago its about two foot high. ;D ;D ;D
lol.............straight lines..............yeah right!
left it to the wife..................plant those i said..........bit of string between two sticks........she did..............
one stick was 6 inch away from the edge..........other was nine inch..............i now have diagonal rows!
"it wont matter"...........she said...............and i suppose shes right.........but it dont stop all and sundry asking me if i planted them after a session down the pub!
just had a thought.
if i could come up with a formula to show that onions grow better on the slant due to the movement of the sun and wind resistance.............would that wipe the smug smiles off their faces do ya think?
The raised beds I built are so wonky, it's difficult to tell if my rows are straight or not.
Of course, that's the way I planned it ;)
cj :)
Quote from: carolinej on April 01, 2007, 08:11:10
The raised beds I built are so wonky, it's difficult to tell if my rows are straight or not.
Of course, that's the way I planned it ;)
cj :)
not wonky, distinctive ;D
"I like the varying size rows approach - it provides me with the maximum variety of size, meaning that I always have the perfect onion for the meal at hand."
It might just work.