Onions

[Baldy]

So - my red onions from sets have been fab - probably the best thing from the plot this year, other than the rhubarb that even I seem unable to discourage

Overwintered onions in the same type of bed were pretty rubbish though - might not bother again though I do like to see something growing over the dark months.

Do overwintering onions tend to bulk up ok - I imagine it was me rather than them...

[greenishfing]

I grew Senshyu onions last Winter. They were a pretty random selection, probably the firmest looking sets. They were very good. Very few went to seed, they were a good size and solid. They are quite mild.

[Snoop Puss]

I never bother with overwintering but plant out onions from seed in February or so. They seem to do just as well and a lot less hit and miss on survival.

[ameno]

Winter onions are only ready about 4 weeks earlier at most, so they're not really worth the bother unless you desperately want slightly early onions.

If you want to fill the ground over winter (I'm assuming with stuff planted late, after summer crops come out, so most winter crops are out), I'd recommend spring cabbage, sprouting broccoli, daikon radish (you should get a decent crop by November from an early August sowing, and they last all winter), or field beans.
Or just sow a green manure.

[Snadger]

I have had my best crop ever of Autumn planted onions .



They are absolutely huge even though they were planted relatively close together.

I have spring planted sets growing as well so will be well onioned this year.

For me, spring planted red onions are a waste of time but I have major success with Autumn planted reds.

[ESBkevin]

We've had a decent success with over winter sets this year. They went in a fallow patch (stacked pallets and used decking) which we brought into use having dug out the bindweed.
The crop produced mainly good sized onions both red and white, but they did bolt early. Consequently many won't dry store well. They will be chopped and frozen rather than wasted although we always expect some losses.
Strangely in view of @ameno comments in #4, I decided the patch had no immediate use last night so dug out more bindweed and planted field beans, before coating with an inch of compost/soil improver mix to maintain my no dig policy.

[Bacchus]

I have had my best crop ever of Autumn planted onions .

Can you say what variety these were - they look great!

[Snoop Puss]

Interesting comment, Ameno. When all my onions in storage are used up, I start using my Feb-planted ones as soon as they're of a reasonable size.
Good reminder about daikon radish as well. They make a useful addition to the no-dig armoury as well, ESBKevin. So long as you've got no brassica diseases and pests, they break open the soil deep down and if you leave them to rot, they add organic matter at a lower level rather than just on the surface. This is what I've read, anyway.

[Snadger]

Can you say what variety these were - they look great!

I had various varieties planted including Troy and Senshyu with Electric red onions. Its the Troy onions which have grown the biggest but all have done well.

I had very few 'bolters', maybe half a dozen in total which I took out straight away. I don't believe in taking the seed head off and trying to use bolters, preferring to pull them out and plant something else instead. Because there were so few bolters I just stuck in a spring planted onion set as I scrapped the bolter.

If for some reason I had a high percentage of bolters (which I usually don't) I would have something ele completely growing in that space.

[rary]

I planted over wintering onions last autumn and have had mixed results, nothing as big as Snadgers but some decent sized ones and some small (slightly larger than a golf ball) but few bolting I also planted some heat treated onions in the spring and though they are a good size several have bolted caused I think with the big differences of day and night temperatures

[Penellype]

Can anyone with experience of onion white rot tell me if it would be more successful to grow overwintered onions and lift them early rather than spring planted ones which are harvested later, or will overwintered ones get it too?

[ameno]

Can anyone with experience of onion white rot tell me if it would be more successful to grow overwintered onions and lift them early rather than spring planted ones which are harvested later, or will overwintered ones get it too?

No difference.
But a good way to help avoid white rot is to initially plant your sets in plastic pots with the bottoms removed, filled with compost. Then when the plant has grown a bit, plant the whole pot out, with the rim slightly above soil level.
Basically, the key is to prevent the infected soil ever touching the onion bulb. If you can do that, in theory they won't get infected.

[Penellype]

No difference.
But a good way to help avoid white rot is to initially plant your sets in plastic pots with the bottoms removed, filled with compost. Then when the plant has grown a bit, plant the whole pot out, with the rim slightly above soil level.
Basically, the key is to prevent the infected soil ever touching the onion bulb. If you can do that, in theory they won't get infected.

Thanks - I was wondering if the overwintered ones might beat the white rot since they are ready a bit earlier, but that's probably not going to happen. The odd thing is I grew the onions this year in a raised bed with a good 4 inches of compost made from well rotted horse manure and topped up with used compost from pots at home, which hadn't been near onions. All I can think is that the worms must have mixed things up to the extent that there was infected soil in amongst the compost. The only difference last year (apart from the weather) was that I put a layer of cardboard under the compost, which I didn't do this year. But I wouldn't think cardboard, which had rotted away by the time I pulled the onions, would have made much difference.

[Mark_Riga]

I've been growing autumn planted onions in a patch infected with white rot and I get a reasonable crop most years. The organism is made up of pinhead sized black bodies that can stay dormant for a very long time. I plant the sets at least 6" apart and 12" between rows. Keep a close eye on them from end May onward. If any develop white rot, they pull out quite easy and a spade of soil from around the bulb ends up in the verge on the other side of the road where it will do no harm. Last year I didn't have any infected but this year I had 5 bulbs, they get rotated about. The attached pictures were from 11th June (rather wet). Probably harvested a week or so later.


Actually, your cardboard layer could well have prevented any of the offending bodies getting at your onions last year. This Which article (https://gardening.which.co.uk/hc/en-...nion-white-rot) seems to suggest overwintered onions are more affected which is not my experience. Ideally, you want to activate the buggers but whip your onions out before they can set 'seed'.

[Snadger]

Here is a thread about white rot and Golden Bear onions.

https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...ess_94321.html

Luckily, white rot hasn't reared its ugly head in my current plot.