Planting onions

[rary]

Going with the advice it looks like I would be better to get them planted into the ground, so have been out clearing the bed I will be planting up with the sets, I now have it cleared of the previous crops and have given the soil a light scattering of coffee grounds, rock dust, wood ash and shredded seaweed I have hoed it all in and now waiting for a couple of days for the rain to wash it all in, though with some of the showers we get here a couple of hours should do it. is there anything else that you think I should add or something i have added that you think I would have been better to leave out

[veggiechicken]

I have some autumn planting onions, but am unable to plant them just now, will they be ok to store till the spring?

Going with the advice it looks like I would be better to get them planted into the ground, so have been out clearing the bed I will be planting up with the sets,

So yesterday you were making excuses................

[rary]

^^^^^ No, decided to remove the previous crop earlier than intended, I will now try to store some beetroot and carrots along with some cabbages, I just think they would have kept better in the ground, where they would have stayed if I could have left the onions till spring

[rary]

As I have never planted onions in the autumn before I don't know what is the best for them, if I manage to get the sets planted should I leave uncovered or cover with fleece?

[Thelma Sanders]

Round here they're planted under fleece or debris netting. Keeps them a bit warmer and also stops the birds pulling them out

[Greenleaves]

I cover mine to protect them from the birds not the cold....then again rary you do live closer to the artic circle than me

[rary]

Just because I stay round the corner from Iceland doesn't mean I am closer to the arctic circle

[rary]

I will try and get them in before the temperature gets colder, and can cover them with enviromesh

[rary]

A nice day here today so managed to get my onion sets planted and the bed is now covered by enviromesh, angry at myself for not covering the bed when the carrots were in it, most of them a ruined by the root fly, well all the beds will be covered from now on I also replanted the elephant garlic, so it will be int to see how that turns out

[4Shoes]

Let us know how you get on. I've tried twice. 1st year was a success'ish. Reasonable onions, but had to trap mice until into December. Last Year - too wet - most onions rotten by spring and remainder failed to swell up. For 2nd half bed went down the seed route. Best onions yet.

my Garlic was again a disaster. Didn't get anything, but the small bulbs I did have sprouted and are growing. Moved to next year's onion bed and covered with Large cloche.

Both onions and garlic were covered with scaffolding netting. Enviro mesh just shreds down here. Perhaps double layer is needed.

[rary]

^^^^^ The fact that where I stay is one of the wettest areas in Britain is one of my concerns with autumn planted onions, though I have been thinking of fitting a strip of polythene running the length of the bed in the hope it would shed some of the water off the bed

[rary]

Let us know how you get on. Last Year - too wet - most onions rotten by spring and remainder failed to swell up.

To try and avoid the same problem I have partially covered the bed with a poly sheet, hopefully this will shed some rain water from the bed