would it be ok to plant my onion sets and garlic out tom? weather is forecast a bit warmer but obviously we will be getting more frost and cold days etc,,, advice appreciated,thanks all
I'd not plant the onions out until you have a few days without frost forecast. Keep them cool and ventilated until then. THe garlic actually needs the cold so I'd try and get that in ASAP if you can.
[/my 2p]
chrisc
i thought that too re garlic,but on the pack it says plant feb march,also have gw planner and it says the same??? ???
I've just planted half my shallots, going to leave the rest plus the onions a bit longer :)
oops you just reminded me manics,i've got some shallots to plant too!!! never grown them before!
Quote from: stocko75 on February 12, 2010, 19:11:18
i thought that too re garlic,but on the pack it says plant feb march,also have gw planner and it says the same??? ???
Some variates of garlic do not need the cold spell, the first I grew was such a variety which I planted out in March.
Mine will go in when the ground is workable, last year they went in the back end of Feb. ;D ;D ;D
Onion sets don't like being planted in cold, wet ground so wait as they can be planted anytime up to late April! I usually plant mine around mid March.
I only just bought my onions and it has been so cold here still, there is no hope of digging anyway! I usually plant mine from end-Feb till mid-March. I start with shallots and finish with red onions. Last year that worked pretty well. Garlic however went in in Jan but no shoots yet! it's been that cold though, I just hope they will appear one of these days!
I plant my onion sets in cells and then plant out at the end of March :)
My ground is very wet so I covered some ready for the shallots and will probably start some off in pots, but my onions will have to wait a while. ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: saddad on February 15, 2010, 17:19:04
I plant my onion sets in cells and then plant out at the end of March :)
I was going to ask about this as I read about it in GW mag. Would you recommend this for shallots? And what are the advantages / disadvantages? They didn't bother to explain that bit in GW!!
Thanks
Shallots are as tough as old boots and don't need it. Onions just get a longer season if you start them off... :)
If you don't get them root bound they can give bigger bulbs.
Aaahhhhh
Thanks for the info Saddad :)
My allotment is soaking wet and anything i plant now would just rot!...so i have just made up 122 newspaper pots and planted my shallots in them and they are sitting in my open mini greenhouse. I have also just planted loads of broad beans in toilet rolls and they are outside until my lottie drys out (my overwintering broad beans have badly been affected by the cold weather and i'm going to pull them out)
I heard from someone on my allotment that onions were not affected by the frost?,wot with them being a bulb etc., i planted mine last weekend, the part of the allotment they are is the drier end, so hope they are ok, ive put fleece on top of them!
I've never had spring-planted onions rot. The problem I have is with the autumn-planted version. My plot is liable to waterlogging and they rot in a wet winter. Neither version seems to mind normal cold, though there are a lot of gaps in my autumn-planted onions, and they could well be down to cold rather than wet this year.
Broad beans: they can look miserable at this time after a hard winter, but I am leaving mine in for a bit longer in case their big root systems throw up fresh shoots and get away well. They have always done this so far, but admittedly this is said to have been the coldest winter for 30 years.
That's another thing that I find suffers more from wet than cold. The mice had mine this year.
Quote from: kippers garden on February 26, 2010, 11:48:54
My allotment is soaking wet and anything i plant now would just rot!...so i have just made up 122 newspaper pots and planted my shallots in them and they are sitting in my open mini greenhouse. I have also just planted loads of broad beans in toilet rolls and they are outside until my lottie drys out (my overwintering broad beans have badly been affected by the cold weather and i'm going to pull them out)
I have used toilet roll inners many times for sweet peas and runner beans, but have never tried making newspaper tubes, do thery actually hold up until planting out time?Can they be made without buying a special 'former' that many garden sundries people seem to sell now?
There seems to be two discussions going on about onion sets but just to say frost will not hurt them mine were covered in deep snow for many days and have have lots of frost since but are still going strong.
Hi
I use a rolling pin for making paper tubes :D
Alan
Quote from: ALAN HOWELL on February 27, 2010, 12:23:57
Hi
I use a rolling pin for making paper tubes :D
Alan
OK Alan, 45 year old wooden rolling pin and a huge stack of newspapers at the ready, where do I go from here?
Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on February 26, 2010, 16:31:55
I've never had spring-planted onions rot. The problem I have is with the autumn-planted version. My plot is liable to waterlogging and they rot in a wet winter. Neither version seems to mind normal cold, though there are a lot of gaps in my autumn-planted onions, and they could well be down to cold rather than wet this year.
Me-too, I've got gaps everywhere so I've filled them in with sets planted a week ago (I won't use the bed later in the year so not a problem). The over winter garlic is looking good though, every one is up and looking healthy. Has been a b**ger of of a winter though.
Hi Anismary,
ok,I use the smaller newspapers,like the "Sun" etc.I use two sheets together for the thickness to make the pots last longer.Roll the newspaper on to the rolling pin from the narrowest edge of the paper(turn the paper thru 45deg form the reading position),when it is all rolled on to the pin,glue the edge with some craft glue.Do not roll your paper too tight though cos it will be difficult to get off the roller ;)
You should be able to get 3 pots from one rolling.
It is open to improvisation of course.Good luck,
Alan
Thanks Alan, will have a go next time I'm confined to barracks! I bet you're the sort that knows how to make a kite out of Valerie Singletons knickers!! ;) ;D
I have made a kite out of Valerie Singletons knickers.
;D LOL
Best wishes
Alan
I hope that she wasn't still wearing them. :o
I make my newspaper pots using a baked bean tin or a soy sauce bottle depending on what i'm planting. Toilet rolls make great root trainers for broad beans.