Spring sown v overwintered onions

[moggssue]

Hi all, and sorry if this has been asked before (I did search but couldnt find it anywhere) - is it really worth sowing overwintering onions as opposed to waiting until spring? If so, when is best to plant them, how late should I wait? Sorry, probably a 'how long is a piece of string' question but all advice gratefully taken!!

[lozza_9]

Hiya

I planted overwintering onions and they done really well and they taste lovely. This is my first year of growing so I am not the real expert on this but I would recommend it if you have room. I plabted them about october and bought them off ebay. I am sure someone else who has more experience will help more.

It also helped my empty allotment site look like i was trying to grow something.

Good Luck

Lozza

[Peter]

Due to various family setbacks I did not grow overwintering onions this season, but I normally do.

I use sets of sturon or radar and find that:

• Some die over the winter.
• If they do not die they WILL grow, unlike some spring sown sets that do nothing, then grow in the autumn out of the empty bed.
• I get a slightly higher bolt rate compared to spring planted sets.
• The sets put up a sad little six inch set of leaves in the autumn.
• As soon as a little warmth starts in spring they romp away while spring sown are thinking about pushing out a leaf or two.
• They do not keep as well as spring sown sets.

They are worth doing, but not exclusively, do about 50-50 split.

[PAULW]

If you want any amount of decent onions on our lottie you have to plant over wintering sets as we get hit with mildew early summer and anything planted in the spring gets a hammering

[moggssue]

Thanks folks - I think I'll give them a go along with some spring sown next year. My spring sown this year are abysmal though that may be because i don't have a clue what I'm doing! Another question - can I keep half of the sets I buy for overwintering to sow in the spring, or do I need to buy fresh / different variety?

[Mrs Dobby]

Hi mogsue,

We planted 2 varieties of overwintering onions last September and October, from sets, which have just been harvested, and a further 2 batches of spring sown sets and some onions from seed! The overwintering are great, dead easy, just keep them weeded and feed with some potash!

As for saving some sets for a spring planting, ours bought from the GC were beginning to sprout in October, so they needed to be planted asap! Not sure if they'd have been any good if kept for the spring, but you may find some spring sets cheap (like we did in the local GC!) for planting later!

[Snadger]

They compliment each other and the Autumn sown sets fill a hungry gap until the spring sown sets are ready!

Autumn sown sets are a handy crop for utilising the land through the winter months which could be planted after summer brassicas for instance!

Better to have something growing in the soil as have it lying fallow all winter!

[moggssue]

Thanks Mrs D, I wont risk saving any then but will buy fresh in the spring. Snadger - I pulled half a dozen caulis last night so have some ground spare there, onions sound perfect to put in!

[rustylady]

As with everything else, different years produce different results, and different people prefer different ways. I now only use onion sets (small bulbs available by mail order or from most garden centres, Woolies, etc). Probably because I've never had much success from seed. I've grown spring planted sets for years and had good results, but last year tried autumn planted ones and they were pathetic. Back to spring planting for me. You can always start them off in cell trays and once the roots and shoots have formed plant them out onto the lottie!!