preparing onion & shallot bed

[queen of the cobs]

Dear All,

Yesterday I dug over the bed I'm going to use for my onions and shallots but we had a bit of frost last night so think I'll hang off planting them out just yet.

Is there anything I should be doing to prepare the bed? I heard that onions and shallots like the ground to be a bit warm, so I've laid black plastic over it. Should I dig in some chicken manure and leave for a month or are onions a veg that wouldn't like that?

thanks (just so keen to start the year!)

[SarzWix]

Sounds like you're doing the right thing; if you warm the bed up a bit, weed seeds might germinate too so you can hoe them off before planting the onions. I scattered chicken manure pellets over the bed before planting onions last year & it didn't seem to do them any harm

[Snadger]

Round here I usually plant my shallots in February/March and my onions in late March/April.

If you plant onions too early into cold soil they have a tendency to bolt. I think shallots appreciate a bit of cold weather, similar to garlic to make them cluster!

[shirlthegirl43]

Sorry, going to ask for a bit of advice on this thread since it is much the same subject. I put lots of fym on the bed where my onions are going this year, then grew sweetcorn on half the bed and psb on the other half. The psb is still in there but I reckon after reading Snadgers post above that I could put the shallots in the empty half now. Would I need to manure again or will I get away with leaving it?

[queen of the cobs]

I think you're right about the shallots, Snadger - just might let the worst of the February frosts go by before i put them in though.

[Two_Sheds]

I have been confused about when to plant my shallots ... some books say on the shortest day, others say wait till Feb/March. Thompson & Morgan don't despatch them until January (I got mine today).

Having read around, the consensus seems to be mid-Feb to mid-March, although they can be started off under glass a little earlier (I need the space for other things, so I will plant them direct in a couple of weeks time)

I think it might depend on variety. I have Golden Gourmet (yellow) and Pikant (red) which are both supposed to be bolt-resistant.
As for my supermarket Echalions (banana shallot) .. I'll just stick those in and see what happens.

[FionaH]

Just did a search for this thread as I was confused when to plant. I just bought some sutton onions and some garlic. I was thinking about doing the garlic now, and the onions mid to late Feb. Any thoughts about the garlic?

[zazen999]

Get the garlic in now...

[FionaH]

Get the garlic in now...

But but it's dark..... yes boss

I already have garlic and onions coming up from the october planting so I hope this will keep me going for a while.

[BrideXIII]

But but it's dark..... yes boss

I already have garlic and onions coming up from the october planting so I hope this will keep me going for a while.

PMSL poor Fiona, ZAZ you just scared her half to death!!!

[FionaH]

Too right, eldest son just had to stop me going out with a headlamp on

[zazen999]

Well, tomorrow then!

[FionaH]

Will do Zazen SIR yes SIR

[zazen999]

I won't be here to check so I'm gonna have to trust you!!!

[You'll thank me when your garlic splits with the next frost, honest!]


Good job we're mates outside of here [bookface], people might think I'm really bossy.

[FionaH]

Good job we're mates outside of here [bookface], people might think I'm really bossy.

Never!
Cheers hon