I have been away in Scotland for 2 weeks, ill for 2 weeks, about to visit my daughter in Germany for 10 days, back into another daughter's children's half term crisis, so a whole month or more will have happened of allotment neglect. Also I have to do some digging to clear the ground.
I have a heap of overwintering onions to plant, also shallots and garlic and broad beans. I can't start until early November (grandchildren going home to London for Hallowe'en, thankfully).
Please tell me that is not too late to put the onions in?........
Hope not cos I haven't even bought my onion setts yet as I am not sure whether my lottie neighbour has bought them for me. Haven't seen her for ages.
It's a bit late for onions, unfortunately. They need to get well established before winter.
Is that right Robert? I though mid October was fine - I still haven't put my own in. Should I have been thinking mid-September?
We have put some in pots inside to plant out next march and lots already in the ground, just to see if there's a difference. If we get a mild november, or you can cover them, will they be ok ?
It is quite mild at the moment.......but a gentle outing this afternoon has made me rather wobbly. I am worried about winter onions and salads, but I suppose there is always next year.....my German daughter next week has no hope of over-wintering anyting.......
Quote from: artichoke on October 13, 2013, 19:18:27
I have been away in Scotland for 2 weeks, ill for 2 weeks, about to visit my daughter in Germany for 10 days, back into another daughter's children's half term crisis, so a whole month or more will have happened of allotment neglect. Also I have to do some digging to clear the ground.
I have a heap of overwintering onions to plant, also shallots and garlic and broad beans. I can't start until early November (grandchildren going home to London for Hallowe'en, thankfully).
Please tell me that is not too late to put the onions in?........
If you already have the sets then the options are to let them go to waste or plant them - the latter option is the more sensible one i think!
Apart from the length of day plants don't slavishly follow calendars like us (they can't read!)
You can sometimes find late October or early November to be milder than the end of September/ early October. If we're blessed with a mild period your onion sets may be quite happy to get their feet in the soil - albeit the lateness of putting them in. The worst that can happen is that you get a reduced crop. My advice is go ahead.
Optimism is a secret weapon in the gardeners arsenal! You could be pleasantly surprised - sometimes the tortoises fare better than the hares when it comes to planting.
You may be OK putting the onions in now; I was a bit pessimistic, but I've had bad experiences when cold weather stopped them establishing themselves. September is safer, but try it and see.
Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on October 16, 2013, 16:28:50
. . . . but I've had bad experiences when cold weather stopped them establishing themselves. . . .
SNAP! Same here Robert. Late autumn planting can sometimes be a
real heartache. That's why I'm not a big fan of planting anything in autumn. I find early planting in spring (weather permitting) usually out-strips the advantages gained by sowing/ planting in autumn, especially if we have a particularly wet & cold winter. It's depressing to see your plants struggling in those conditions, or even disappearing due to rot.
However, given a mild and relatively dry winter, some autumn planting fans can come up trumps. I hope Artichoke gets the results hoped for! Fingers crossed!
Thanks all.
I am a big fan of autumn sowing/planting but I must admit that few onions or broad beans came through the last winter. Garlic and elephants were good, though. And my onions from the winter before that were almost the best ever.
Onions will be fine putting them in now, I haven't bought mine yet but will have them in by next weekend. :wave:
After planting would a good duvet of straw be of any advantage or would I just be wasting my time. Thinking about it, I have always put my onions in at same time as garlic but that could be the reason I generally have a cr*p crop.