Allotments 4 All

Hi

My first post and my first allotment.

I have just been given an allotment which I have almost cleared.
A friend gave me some onion sets at the weekend but my plot is not ready for planting.
Can I pot the onions for a short while and transfer them to the plot once it is ready?

I know onion sets should already be in the ground but will plant them late be a problem

thanks

It seems perhaps not worth the effort. Onions are daylight sensitive, which means they only produce topgrowth up until the summer solstice, after which they put energy into the bulb. If you plant them out now, you may get some small onions, but not large ones. Just fork over  the ground, rake and plant.

 :-\

As usual the advice above is spot on!! Don't lose heart though, there are lots of things you can do now...Joy Larkcoms book " Grow Your Own Vegetables" says that you can start sowing most everything this month! Welcome to the site Paul..., try the "Wiki" button at the top of the screen, all sorts of useful stuff in there!

Could you get a big pot, or a builder's bag, and fill with soil/compost to plant the onions in?  Think of it as "no dig" gardening ;)

Otherwise just dig a bed and stick them in - it's way easier to dig a little and plant a little, rather than trying to get the whole plot ready before you start growing!

I got my lottie in August and still managed to grow things, so you should be okay to get some crops this year :)   Good luck!

Although I agree with Tim, you have nothing to lose by doing as you say, beats just throwing them away.

Not having a crystal ball who knows what can happen with the weather.

I know the season is about three weeks behind up here (you don't say where you are) who knows? autumn  might be equally late.

Give it a bash, OK you might finish up with oversized spring onions which is better than nothing.

Quote from: Curry on May 22, 2006, 13:32:40
It seems perhaps not worth the effort. Onions are daylight sensitive, which means they only produce topgrowth up until the summer solstice, after which they put energy into the bulb. If you plant them out now, you may get some small onions, but not large ones. Just fork over  the ground, rake and plant.

You learn something new everyday or in the case of this forum everytime I log on.I never knew that about onions.

Well I only knew courtesy of some kind members, and google ...

I am gonna complicate this a bit more ..there are 3 types of onions ..
Long day onions, intermediate day onions and short day onions .. :)
I think we get the intemediate type in sets ..
So set them out as soon as you can and you should get some good onions this year ...
Cheers Jim..