The Allium Thread

[Snadger]

Just brought home a leek seedhead that I've had the stem standing in water for a while and its started to rot. It has grass leeks on it and loads of seed capsules but the seeds arent ripe yet.
Hope to dry it out and harvest the seed in a couple of weeks and the leek grass should give me some pips to set as well!

[zazen999]

Onion Trial alert.

Photo of onions sown last May and transplanted around Sept time. One into manure mixed with compost and one into compost on it's own. Photo taken today. Grown outside next to each other all winter, until about a month ago, then they were both taken into the greenhouse. No additional nutrients added whatsoever.

These are the same ones as under the long cloche all winter.

Quite amazed at the difference the manure made. It has held them back somewhat!!!

[LHS = manure with compost, RHS = compost on it's own].

[LolaLou]

Please help!! Have onion seedlings that I planted from seed in an outside unheated plastic greenhouse that are doing great (so far) and are about 5 inches tall (some still have the seeds on top of them - should I pick them off?) and have just read that you should cut them down to about 2inches and let them grow up again??? Also - and this is my main question as they really need thinning out - how do I pot on the onion seedlings - was going to put them in a biodegradable pot but don't know how deep to plant them, or if I should keep them at the same soil height as they are now in the seed tray (i.e. do not plant them deeper when potting on). I'm really confused!!!

[Lazgaot]

Please help!! Have onion seedlings that I planted from seed in an outside unheated plastic greenhouse that are doing great (so far) and are about 5 inches tall (some still have the seeds on top of them - should I pick them off?) and have just read that you should cut them down to about 2inches and let them grow up again??? Also - and this is my main question as they really need thinning out - how do I pot on the onion seedlings - was going to put them in a biodegradable pot but don't know how deep to plant them, or if I should keep them at the same soil height as they are now in the seed tray (i.e. do not plant them deeper when potting on). I'm really confused!!!

Personally I've never heard or read about cutting onions back so wouldn't advise doing it. Are you confusing them with leeks perhaps? I'd wait till they were about the thickness of an earbud and have a second leaf coming through, then take them out of the pot and split them up into individual plants and plant them out in their growing positions at about the same depth, there should be a transition from green to white indicating the portion that was under the soil. They can get quite crowded before they need thinning out.

[northepaul]

Strangely my garlic I planted last September is really thriving, but the onion sets I planted out in the veg patch in October to overwinter, are not so strong in comparison.

The onion seeds I sowed at the end of December seem ok but not brillient - I popped them straight out in the unheated conservatory after the seedlings started coming through - they seem quite spindeley to me...
I am putting in two new raised beds next month - one for strawbs and one for general veg growing (its a biggy) and was hoping to put the onion plants in there...

[LolaLou]

Great, thanks for the advice, I been scanning the internet for hours trying to find something of value and you've answered all my questions in one hit! They seem quite happy there, all crowded up so I'll leave them to grow a bit more as you say before moving them on.

Northepaul - my garlic is coming through nicely too but the onion sets look poorly as well - going to drop some grow more onto the ground, see if it gives them a bit of a boost. My maincrop onions from sets failed miserably last year so i'm trying to cover all angles this season and have some overwintering sets and grow the maincrop from seed! If it all fails again....I'll be off to Tesco, again!

[Lazgaot]

We've had one of the coldest winters in years so I figure thats the reason the overwintering aliums are a little behind (set back) where we'd normaly expect them to be in March. The've been under snow for a few weeks at least!
From what I've seen of my garlic, they've been busy putting down a massive root system all winter and I expect this'll help them catch up as the weather warms. I'd hazzard a guess that the onions have probably done the same.

[Rocketron]

We left some of our leeks to go to seed and it turns out one of them is garlic. Has anyone grown garlic from seed? Will it grow like cloves do?

[Jan]

Hi, I really would appreciate some advice.. I started growing onions about 5 yrs ago from sets and have never managed to produce anything remotely acceptable. They start off OK and look really healthy but once they're the size of golf ball they flop over and nothing I do encourages them to stand up again and carry on growing (I've even tried 'splinting' them, don't laugh!) Any ideas what's causing this and would onion seeds be any better - I'm not looking for show stoppers, just something worth cooking would be good....

[Shadylane]

They flop over when they're done growing so splinting them won't make a difference. What type are you growing and when do you start them? I grew some from seed this year and they were of mixed sizes but some were pretty decent. I think with seed you have to keep them well watered which is probably where I went wrong.

[zazen999]

Hi, I really would appreciate some advice.. I started growing onions about 5 yrs ago from sets and have never managed to produce anything remotely acceptable. They start off OK and look really healthy but once they're the size of golf ball they flop over and nothing I do encourages them to stand up again and carry on growing (I've even tried 'splinting' them, don't laugh!) Any ideas what's causing this and would onion seeds be any better - I'm not looking for show stoppers, just something worth cooking would be good....

You need to tell us where you are, and what you are growing and when you are growing it; before we can help.

What happens if you just leave them flopped over? When you pull them, do they have white fuzz on the bottom near the roots?

[Jan]

Hi, thanks, I've always bought the heat treated type as it says in the bumph that they don't bolt, but they do! I have tried red baron, Fen globe, and Struron (I think that's the spelling) with much the same results. They usually arrive in April, which is later than I would like, but this year they didn't arrive until really late, end May i think? I have tried all methods from planting out immediately to this year setting in small modules of compost until the roots were well developed and then planting out. As you mention the white rot, I buily raised beds and completely changed the soil/compost this year but no difference. I've got a feeling though that the soil might be too soft as somewhere in the back of my mind I think I remember them needing firm soil?
Anyway, they start off great, put on good healthy looking top growth but then in a matter of a week or so they all fall over and that's it then. I wondered if the top growth is too lush and they can't withstand the weight? about 4 good size leaves, I water them well to get them started and then don't overwater them, but as soon as the bulb starts to swell over they go, it's quite heartbreaking b ecause I cant hink what I'm doing wrong as no-one else seems to have the same problem. When i pull them up, they don't seem to have put on any further root, and this year I just left them in the ground to see if they would carry on growing anyway so by the time I pulled them some were going mouldy. Even those that reach golf ball size don't keep at all and seem to be slimy under the first 2 layers but not to the core. I planted shallots at the same time and they grew fairly well but again had to be used as soon as I could as they wouldn't keep more than a week. Any clues would be good as I have looked at every gardening book I can find so far.... oh, by the way, I'm in essex..... thanks again in anticipation

[Shadylane]

It could be that your soil is too free draining maybe? If it's soft and raised beds than they may just be drying out. As for storing are you letting them dry properly in the sun/under cover before you store them. Sorry not an expert so can't really think of anything else. It does seem a little odd

[Nordmead]

im a bit confused can i start of my onions (red baron) and put them in the ground by october or november?

[Shadylane]

Red Baron aren't an overwintering type so probably won't survive unless you cloche them, though if you ask Two_sheds she'll tell you different They're generally planted early spring (from sets). I'm going to try overwintering normal ones under cover which I started from seed in August. I'll put them in the ground soon. I sowed some proper autumn planting ones a few weeks ago and haven't had amazing germination.