Onions

[taylorlej]

Hi,
i will be planting onion sets and garlic cloves soon. is it time to order them - ie can i keep them untill its time to put them in the ground?.
also what is the best time to put them in - pretty soon i guess - is this the same for potatoes - i will be growing these in old compost bags.
thanks

[pigletwillie]

You should be able to pick up onion, shallots and garlic at local garden centres. The garlic and shallots can go in as soon as possible, providing that the soil isnt swamped. The onion sets are probably best planted in March or even April.

You can buy them all now and keep them in a cool dark place until you are ready to plant them out.

[taylorlej]

thanks alot - will get the garlic soon!!!
p.s. what about the spuds

[Two_Sheds]

Best time to plant garlic? 3 months ago! They need a period of cold weather to bulk up. But, go ahead and plant some now, you'll get edible bulbs, they just probably won't separate into cloves.

[taylorlej]

oh well!! missed that cold weather!!! - still waiting

[rustylady]

Onion sets and garlic bulbs can be started off in cell trays in a greenhouse or coldframe, but I've always found they do well planted straight into the garden or allotment. The only thing you need to watch is that the birds don't pull the sets out. It's still worth putting garlic in, and I would think that onion sets can go in now too.l You don't say where in the country you live, but that can affect timing.

Potatoes are traditionally planted on Good Friday. Get your seed potatoes as soon as you can and unpack them. Keep them somewhere cool and light (frost free) until ready to plant. If you keep them warm and dark they will send out long white sprouts (just like the spuds you forgot and left in the back of the cupboard). These are easily knocked off when planting and if this happens it will set them back.

[taylorlej]

great thanks. the potatoes planted on good friday - when would they be ready to harvest. i live in hampshire/surrey so its pretty warm down here!!
the point about the garlic and the cold - would it work if i put them in the fridge for a while before planting? if so how long
thanks again

[rustylady]

Garlic - Don't think the fridge would make much difference, worth a try though maybe? First early potatoes, I would think some time towards the end of June

[Hazel at the Hill]

The label on my Rocket potatoes reckon that you plant mid Feb for a mid May crop. First year at this, so I don;t know how true this will prove to be. Planning to plant a row next weekend!

[pigletwillie]

I will be planting my first earlies mid to late march, possibly into April if the weather looks suspect.

[PAULW]

Planted two rows of spuds today, Lady christl, Cherie, and Foremost mounded the rows up, the shoots will be through in about 4 to 6 weeks end of March and will be eating them mid May. But then again this is in sunny Dorset.