Allotments 4 All

Hi all, Just a quick question
When can i plant onion sets and how long do they take.

I have had some in since May and are looking really good however others are eating theres already so must of been put in through the winter
Any help please.

the ones that are ready now are overwintering ones. not too sure when you put sets in as I always grow them from seed which I will be sowing in the next few weeks
marg

You want to be putting overwintering sets in september time-ish

I always put in the overwintering ones in September on land that I heavily manure at the begining of August. Find that the red onions are more likely to go to seed and the white ones virtually all go to seed. The overwintering ones haven't got great keeping properties so I plant another lot of sets in late December early January.

The ones they are eating now are winters planted Sept and the others are planted March- April and should be ready by Augustish.  ;D ;D ;D

Quote from: cornykev on July 15, 2010, 18:24:02
The ones they are eating now are winters planted Sept and the others are planted March- April and should be ready by Augustish.  ;D ;D ;D

Ok thanks will the same apply for garlic?

QuoteI always put in the overwintering ones in September on land that I heavily manure at the begining of August.

Bockingbill - I thought someone said recently that the allium family don't like manured soil. Do you find it works for you?

Quotewill the same apply for garlic?

No, garlic usually goes in in late Autumn/mid-winter (eg Nov-Dec) and the cold weather encourages it to divide into more cloves.

Some people plant some garlic in spring too. But I've never tried that.

Then there's the related shallots. They're very easy and a satisfying crop. Very expensive to buy in the shops, but if you grow your own, you just stick in a small shallot bulb in March-ish time, then in July, it's turned into loads of shallots!

Onion magic.

Overwintering onion sets are a waste of time, it seems to me.

On our site the newer peeps like me put them in and they pretty much all go to seed.

Am sticking to onions from seeds, sown in late January from now on.

I never manure my onion beds; in fact I add as much sand as I can get my hands on.

I start sowing onion seed about now [did the first lot 2 weeks ago] and sow a few pinches every few weeks; and if I can get hold of decent [not wilko] sets they go in around Sept/Oct. Shallots and garlics too.

Try growing some from seed under a cloche, they mature much earlier and bolt less - and the addition of sand helps to stop white rot. :D

This year, if it kills me I'm going to get a row of overwintering onions from seed.......More than the two jars of pickles (and most of them volunteers) that I had this year....I'm good with onions, I grow many varieties and types, the big ones knock on the door of three pounds grown in the flat, why can't I get a crop out of overwintering ones?....

chrisc
[/rant]

So what variety do you grow for overwintering CC? 

Quote from: delboy on July 15, 2010, 22:41:10
Overwintering onion sets are a waste of time, it seems to me.

On our site the newer peeps like me put them in and they pretty much all go to seed.

Am sticking to onions from seeds, sown in late January from now on.

Ive just had spectacular results with Japanese overwintering onions. I put 250 white and 250 red in last september. During the heat wave approx 10% of the reds bolted. I lost about 10 not growing or rotting in situ, otherwise ive harvested around 460 onions, mostly about 4 to 5 inches diameter.

I worked some JAB dried farm manure into the soil a week before i planted them, and i watered them twice with seaweed extract, once in the spring after the cold spell broke and  once again about a month ago.

Definitely the way to do it.

Since I manured the onion beds, I have never had such good crops! So I will definitely keep doing that.
I do not overwinter but plant onions early, starting end Feb early March, shallots first and red onions last.
I overwinter  garlic, although last year I planted in January and still got a very good crop. Usually I try and get them in late Nov.
I have never tried overwintering onions, as I find it hard to get out into the garden in the freezing cold!!

I've read somewhere that for shallots, you can 'plant on the shortest day, harvest on the longest day', so I'll be trying that. Be 11 months from now before I know the results though!

Quote from: chriscross1966 on July 15, 2010, 23:07:25
This year, if it kills me I'm going to get a row of overwintering onions from seed.......More than the two jars of pickles (and most of them volunteers) that I had this year....I'm good with onions, I grow many varieties and types, the big ones knock on the door of three pounds grown in the flat, why can't I get a crop out of overwintering ones?....

chrisc
[/rant]

Try growing them cloched, and add sand. In the spring, sprinkle some root veg fertiliser around them, and loosen the soil, and give them a really good water. Don't manure! It really slows them down. Home made compost yes, manure no!

Oh, and sow them now :D