Garlic/Onion - Autumn or Spring?

[veg4681]

Some parts of my bed are tied up with Autumn sown onions and garlic so having checked out the harvesting periods (if my understanding is correct), I feel I may have to abandon the project.

From Onion/Shallot sets:
Autumn planted (Sep-Oct) harvest between Jun-Jul
Spring planted (Mar) harvest between Jul-Sep

From Onion/Shallot seeds:
Winter sown (Dec-Feb) harvest between Jul-Sep

From Garlic cloves:
Autumn planted (Oct-Nov) harvest from August onwards
Spring planted (Mar-Apr) harvest from ????

Based on the above info I've gathered (please feel free to rectify), isn't it obvious that Spring planted is the best approach. What other factors and considerations am I missing here?

Even if I may not get to work around a bed schedule, I hope to be more aware next year. Also I'm unable to plant the onion sets I bought this year as really I should be planting them now and bed ain't ready .

[Cutecumber]

I take your point, and, well, it may only look like a month or so earlier if you sow in the autumn, but this is a real bonus if you are waiting for fresh produce. From my experience, autumn planted garlic may be harvested earlier than August, too.

There isn't a huge amount of variety of produce suitable for overwintering - enough for some, you might say - so why not use the ground over the winter for something that you like, and for some people this will be alliums.

Some of the longer-grown types are bigger on harvesting, which is good if you want as much as you can get.

Garlic really needs some good cold to split properly - start it in the Spring and this may never happen. It is more of a gamble.

I can't say about the onions as I only grow shallots and garlic.

[roitelet]

Always autumn sow Garlic and Shallots. Last year I sowed oinoins in the autumn and the result was that they threw a lot of seed heads. Won't do it again, the ones I grew from seed in the spring were much more sucessful.

[Cutecumber]

Veg4681 - sorry, I see now that you were hoping to sow both autumn and spring types, but surely in the future you could just sow more autumn ones? What was your thought about doing both?

[Paulottie]

Most autumn stuff come good in June freeing space for a follow on crop; whereas spring planted is August -It stores better but doesn't really allow for a second crop in the ground.

I always do a bit of both

[Eyren]

It depends on the variety, at least for garlic. This year I'm growing some purple hardnecks (Lautrec Wight, Chesnok Wight and Moldavan), which really do need to be in the ground for at least a month whilst it's still cold or they won't cleave, and some softnecks (Solent Wight) that are better planted in spring. The hardnecks went in in early February (my first order, back in autumn, got returned to sender as I wasn't in to receive it ) and are already growing strongly, the softnecks went in a bit later and are just starting to show.

[Cutecumber]

Of course variety is important - in both hard and softnecks - but so are local growing conditions and weather.

I've had the same varieties of garlic behave quite differently.

Do you generally consider softnecks to be unsuitable for Autumn planting or did you specifically mean Solent Wight?

[Snadger]

It's just a succession thing!

If you have a few autumn sown sets it helps stave off a hungry gap until your maincrop spring planted onions are ready. That's the way I look upon it anyway.

If I had the choice between autumn sown and spring sown onions, it would have to be spring sown as they romp away straight away and gives a better crop!

[Alice]

Hello Veg 4681, last year I planted garlic in November and in the spring. They were both ready around June/July but the garlic planted over the winter was more than twice the crop. I'd definately go for autumn planted garlic.
As for onions, I only grew red onions planted in the spring. I started using them as soon as they were any decent size and had them ready for eating with salads long before I had any spring onions. I don't know if they store as they didn't last that long. But see the pics.

[veg4681]

Thanks for all your replies. I take all your points with the pros and cons.

It's obvious that Autumn sown Garlic is the possibly the best option with bigger, better produce that will improve from the wintry months that Spring sown cannot always guarantee. I know I want bigger garlic!

Autumn sown onion/shallot has less variety for overwintering and besides they take longer to grow and supposedly don't store as well as the Spring planted onion/shallot. And Roitelet has pointed out the they throw up a lot of seed heads too. So it seems Autumn planted are mostly only useful for making use of bed during the cool, inactive growing season.

I'm thinking the best option is growing onion/shallot from seeds between
Dec-Feb that offers more variety, cheaper seeds that may possibly even last beyond a year (obviously better than Parsnips & Carrots) but the only snag is bed hogging during peak growing period...so may not often be ideal for small garden but great for plotties (who can afford to go for both Autumn & Spring planting).

[Cutecumber]

Veg -

Hold your horses - don't lump onions and shallots together, they are not the same and you are confusing some of the issues.

There are also only 3 varieties of shallot seed currently available (I really have looked everywhere!). It is F1 and not cheap. Shallot seed should be sown in March, not as early as some onions. Sets can be sown in autumn or spring. Remember a seed produces one shallot bulb, a set produces a clump of bulbs. Spacing and time to maturity are different.

Roitelet mentioned onions bolting, not shallots.

Onions are much more commonly grown from seed, both from autumn and spring sowings.

[Eyren]

Do you generally consider softnecks to be unsuitable for Autumn planting or did you specifically mean Solent Wight?

Sorry - yes, Solent Wight is better planted in spring (though it can also be planted in autumn), according to the Garlic Farm's blurb. This is the first year I've experimented with different sorts, instead of just grabbing a 2.99 pack from the garden centre

Next year I will (fingers crossed) have my own bulbs to plant, so won't be dependent on ordering. Then I can experiment further with autumn vs spring plantings.

[Snadger]

Veg -

Hold your horses - don't lump onions and shallots together, they are not the same and you are confusing some of the issues.

There are also only 3 varieties of shallot seed currently available (I really have looked everywhere!). It is F1 and not cheap. Shallot seed should be sown in March, not as early as some onions. Sets can be sown in autumn or spring. Remember a seed produces one shallot bulb, a set produces a clump of bulbs. Spacing and time to maturity are different.

Roitelet mentioned onions bolting, not shallots.

Onions are much more commonly grown from seed, both from autumn and spring sowings.

I wonder why there are no open pollinated shallot seeds then CC? Apart from Piglets , of course!

[Cutecumber]

I can't say I really understand the mysteries of shallots.

Part of it is that they can be propagated so well from sets rather than seed - sets may be from open-pollinated plants but they don't need to be pollinated to continue the line - and part of it must be that it is competition growers who favour seed. It's much harder to achieve the perfect bulb when they grow in a clump from a set. Seeds give you individual shallots and I guess F1s give you uniformity within a crop.

[Paulottie]

My allium regime

I don't know about shallot seed, Ive never bothered, but I always save some bulbs for planting. Traditionally Shallots are planted on the shortest day and harvested on the longest. Though you can just as well plant in spring. Picasso is the variety i'm using.

Garlic is planted in Nov and again harvested in June. I buy my stock in a Brittany market. (won't pay Isle of Wight price)The guy knows me now and sells me bulbs suitable to the climate..There is no point trying to grow Spanish garlic. I also save some.... We have just turned all the remaining plaits (before they sprout) into 'lazy garlic'....mix with a little salt and cover with olive oil. With a bit of wild garlic(harvested before it flowers) this will see us nicely to the next crop.

Japanese over wintering onions suit very well for summer consumption when spring onions (overwintered cloched white lisbon )run out as, Snadger points out. I think they are a very worthwhile gap filling crop. regular watering in dry spells and a feed in spring means I have very few bolt. Varieties:Senshui and Arctic

Main crop onions I sow in Jan in the greenhouse and then set out with some other sets in March. They are usually harvested in Late August. The better you dry them the better they store...Normally till March.
varieties: from seed: Paille de vertue (french)
From set: Centurion F1 and Red Baron

Leeks I sow Jan and March in pots. for setting out in June jully-they normally follow my early spuds in the bed.
Varieties: St Victoir(superb French variety with blue leaves) stand well into new year. Autumn Mammoth Verina OK for autumn use