Onions

[chadspad]

Can onions go out now?

Why do I plant loads of onions only to have them grow by only the tiniest amount? My ground isnt that bad anymore but onions always seem to be a failure. I have heard chicken poo is good for onions - does anyone use that? Would I put it on fresh or does it need to be composted for a while?

[L 11OBS]

Chicken poo is quite potent stuff, best to put it on the compost heap first, this will help everything rot down quicker.

Can't advise on the onions I'm afraid, put my first sets in at the beginning of October and they are doing fine, standing about 5 inches proud at the moment

[Bluemoon]

I'd wait until spring to plant them as it's too late for Autumn planting now. If you're using sets the quality of the sets purchased does seem to have an impact upon the size of the bulbs and cheap ones from a dubious source are never as good as those from somewhere more reliable (in my experience). And the money saved by buying cheap sets is minimal compared to a good crop over a poor one. If you are planning on sowing seeds then you can begin after Christmas and continue until spring. Have you thought about trying a different variety than the ones you've previously used. I've found that Stuttgart Giant and Centurion make good onions from sets and Ailsa Craig are an excellent seed sown variety.

You could try the pelleted chicken poo, but it's expensive and comes either in plastic bags or tubs, which is obviously not ideal. Try looking at the Robinson's seeds web-site, they sell seeds which make huge exhibition onions and their catalogue gives instructions about making an onion bed. I know you probably don't want to grow massive bulbs, but their advice about ground preparation might help you grow your normal onions to a more acceptable size.

[chadspad]

Thanks Bluemoon, thats very helpful. Will look at their site

[Big Al]

Thanks Bluemoon, thats very helpful. Will look at their site

Also on the chicken poo I use the brand rooster and buy it direct from the makers in 25kg sacks. Yes it's plastic but the sacks are well used over the season but for the raw stuff, like pigeon poo it has to be composted for a minimum of 1 year. The reason is that chickens only have one hole to get rid of all their waste so urine and feciea gets mixed up together and all the amonia in the unirne will kill off any plant before it has time to say thank you for the fertiliser.

http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg ... _onion.asp This site has some tips on growing onions and how long they take. I've not read it all but it looks ok.

I am a believer in deep beds and crop rotation so give that some thought.
HTH
Alan

[Millymollymandy]

Have you had failure with spring sown onion sets as well? I've only sown the Japanese onions once (don't know if you can get them in France) and they grew really well but I loathe the French varieties of spring sown onions - Stuttgarter Reisen and Jaune Pale des Virtues as they have really flat bottoms which make cutting them a nightmare. I loved the Japanese onions (nice and round) but I was lucky that someone brought them over from England. (edit: the Jap onions were Radar Yellow)

[chadspad]

To be honest M3 I dont check what varieties they are I just plant them - silly I know. I just tend to buy the packs of seed onions from the supermarket or garden centre. Ive tried yelow and red but they dont grow very much and most of them end up more like spring onions with long hard stalks. Will try again this year - I have been stashing my chicken poo to see if that makes a difference.

[Millymollymandy]

Why don't you try sets then? I've always grown those onion seeds as spring onions - I had never realised they were supposed to stay in for about a year to turn into large white onions! Mind you I can't get the seeds to germinate any more.

[Sally Jane]

Try looking at the Robinson's seeds web-site, they sell seeds which make huge exhibition onions and their catalogue gives instructions about making an onion bed. I know you probably don't want to grow massive bulbs, but their advice about ground preparation might help you grow your normal onions to a more acceptable size.

My next door neighbour grows onions from sets from the Robinson's catalogue, and I assumed that they were for competition purposes as they were so enormous, roughly the size of a large grapefruit.

However, he passed a few over the fence and we've used them, not having any of our own, our garden being in its ver early infancy. They are superb, really good flavour and firm, and have kept very well hung up in the pantry as they are too big to go in my onion bag!

I may well try them myself when the garden is in a fit state to produce anything!

[Peggy Sue]

Sets are loads easier however I'm trying seed this year so wish me luck!

I read the strength of the onion flavour depends on the Nitrate/Phos ratio. So is you want strong hot onions use manure, if not don't!