Allotments 4 All

Hello folks, Im felling a little silly at the moment as everyone on my plot keeps saying 'hmm those necks on your onions are little bit on the thick side,arent they'? I believe I have put my sets in ground that is far too rich and they do look more like overgrown Leeks than onion sets. Eveyone is telling me I will still be able to use them,but they will not be good keepers. Is this right and if so would it be better if I just take them out of the ground as we need them instead of taking them all out at once to dry in the sun later in the year? Thanks for your time.

Well, I grow these onions, and the necks do get thick now, but once they have started to die back, you will see that the necks soon shrivel up! They are excellent keepers, au contraire. A thick neck means a whopper onion! I have grown onions in very rich soil for the last two years (well manured) and I have had my best crops, and I have only just finished last year's batch now! almost in time for the harvest! I can't agree with what your neighbours say.

I only pull up those that bolt and eat them now, that keeps me going till real harvest, in mid-summer.

Cheers for your reply,this gives me much more hope for a decent harvest of Stutgartter.  :)

My next plot neighbour has grown his onions in a manure bed for years so I don't think it can be too rich, my necks are starting to fatten up but thats part of the growing stage, if they bolt then they have thick necks and will not store, I don't think they get the thick necks until the seed flower forms then they bolt, if you know what I mean, I think I've confused myself now.   ??? ;D

The best onion harvest I ever had was from a bed which had had large quantities of goat manure dug into it.

my red onions are huge, and they were put in a bed with loads of good stuff!

The onion fault known as thick neck refers to plants which threw a flower head which has been removed..... they don't store well, if it doesn't throw a flower and it's got a big fat neck now then it's gonna be a biggie.....

As onion bulbs are basically swollen stems they appreciate a good rich bed..  :)

Bull Neck (Thick Neck)

This disorder will prevent you from storing your onions properly. The signs of this disorder are abnormally thick necks on your onions. The causes of this are over-manuring of land and using too much nitrogen. To prevent this from occurring use a liquid feed during the growing season. Choose one which contains more potash than nitrogen. Another cause is sowing your seeds too deeply.