Allotments 4 All

We tried the white rot resistant variety Santero this year and we are very pleased with the harvest.

I always grow from sets but this year I also sowed Santero from seed.  Sowing 4-5 seeds per cell, transplanting the entire cell so they grew in a cluster similar to shallots.  The onions are much larger than the set grown onions.  As pleased as i am with the results, it is a chew on with onion seeds.

I tried some "silver skin" serts and they have done really well... very white onion and good tasting. 

I always try different varieties as well as my old trusted Sturon and Stuttgarter... Love to see the differences... Mine are all grown on my flat roof in long troughs... I use the same soil / compost mix each year and just add a bit more to it. Have good crops normall except for last year with all the rain at the wrong time when they were bulbing.. lost a lot to rot..

Quote from: gavinjconway on August 12, 2011, 18:32:25
I always try different varieties as well as my old trusted Sturon and Stuttgarter... Love to see the differences... Mine are all grown on my flat roof in long troughs... I use the same soil / compost mix each year and just add a bit more to it. Have good crops normall except for last year with all the rain at the wrong time when they were bulbing.. lost a lot to rot..

That's interesting.  Any reason for doing it that way, and any chance of photos.  I bought some onion sets about 4 years ago from Countrywide which all had white rot, so now it is a problem for me with onions

All the best
Sue

I just dont want to buy new soil / compost every year so i re-use it and add a few handfulls af fertiliser, chicken manure and some horse manure. Sometimes I add a bit of home made compost as well. 

I thought Santero was downly mildeew resistant, not white rot..... I had a few in but it's been a dreadful year for onions for me, only things that seem to have worked well are some Borretana that sayed rot free, some Long Red FLorence (ditto) and some Prisma Shallots that seem resistant, certainly all around them onions were going down, but they seem to have thrived....

chrisc

You are right chriscross it is downy mildew resistant. Perhaps thats what I had. Whatever it was I haven't got it anymore.

I grew Santero last year from sets, good results  :)

Golden Bear is reported to be "Highly tolerant to downy mildew and resistant to white rot"

http://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/item_1774_onion_f1_hybrid_golden_bear_seeds

I bought some seeds earlier this year to try. Although I was too late for general sowing, I have sown some in modules which I hope to try as sets next spring?