having trouble growing spring onions

[butter fingers]

Any one else have trouble growing spring onions, i cannot seem to grow them on my allotment.This year i have tried twice and failed, as a last resort i am going to try growing in some guttering and over winter in my poly greenhouse.So i will see how this goes otherwise i think ill just give up and buy the silly things, unless any one knows better !.

[Demeter]

I've not tried growing them in the ground. I've grown several lots quite happily in containers, although the first lot didn't get watered enough so took absolutely ages to grow! Later sowings considerably quicker.

What's the problem - don't germinate, get eaten by pests, don't fatten up, keel over and die... ??

[lynda66]

i'm still trying ..... planted some beginning of june, and they still look like blades of grass, just like the onions next to them ..... i guess they will get there one day.

[marigold007]

I have made several sowings of them since late winter, so there are little pockets of thin blades everywhere in my garden. A few now have itty bitty bulbs. I think my soil may be to blame.

[lottie dolly]

i usually have bother,only very sparse thin blades of grass,but this year as an experiment,i sowed a few seeds into modules,using compost,not the little ones,the long ones that will hold 5 pricked out plants,when they were well on the way i made a depression in the soil and slid each section in,push some soil around the roots,gave a good drink of water,it worked a treat,will do same next year,it should work with guttering.

[Two_Sheds]

I always have trouble too, when sown direct in the soil. Patchy germination, grow very slowly, etc.

They're better for me if I sow into modules to get them started, then plant out when they've got going

[Cutecumber]

They really do seem to prefer being sown in modules or plugs. A sprinkle of seeds in each works best for me - I don't prick them out, just transplant the plugs to their final growing spot when they are growing strongly. I could not grow them at all until I adopted this method.

Try to keep them just moist - not dry or sopping wet.

[butter fingers]

I tried sowing direct the first time, and nothing happened.I then tried in pots and the few that germinated just ended up as blades of grass !.
Although both times i used Lisbon spring onions, so maybe a different sort might be worth a try.

[Lurch]

Not just me then. I have them but the are a bit puny. About 3/4 the width of a pencil. Seems to be all green and not much white to them.

[flowerofshona]

Phew and i thought it was just me tha failed with them !!
Will give sowing in plugs a go

[Flapjack]

Glad to hear others have the same problem - I was under the impression that they were quick growing and easy! My dad grew them for the first time last year, just sowed a pack direct and they grew really fast and huge! He didn't do anything to them and they are in a partly shaded area! Grrr!

Will try modules - is it too late this season?

Michelle

[ailsasyl]

The first sowing we did in june didn't get the chance to get big. Stacey and her pal were munching everytime the went up the garden!! These were started of in trays lost a few when transplanted out. Stacey sowed some direct a few weeks back they are going well have been thinned once but need doing again as the kids go back to school on thursday up here then maybe they will be in the ground long enough to get to a decent size

[Gwen11ian]

I'm a bit of a cheat when it comes to spring onions.. I buy them at the grocery store, use all but the bottom two inches, then plant up the bulb in a pot where it will send up new green growth. I've tried it from seed as well, and all I ended up with was grass.

[zazen999]

I sowed several onion and carrot beds from the start of May and the carrots are now harvestable [from the first bed], and the onions are about an inch in diameter. What are you guys doing to your poor onions!

I think I posted on here that one of my onion set beds had half good and half dying onions [I picked the dying ones on sunday]. The difference in the two halves is the one that is going well had coffee grounds in it.

So have all my carrot/onion beds as mentioned above. I also sieved the soil, mixed in some compost from home and the coffee grounds. Then sowed direct and just kept it weeded. There are a few coriander seeds sown at the same time around the edge for companion planting. These get chopped back each time I am there.

Also, try some onion and root veg fertiliser.

[Demeter]

Glad to hear others have the same problem - I was under the impression that they were quick growing and easy! My dad grew them for the first time last year, just sowed a pack direct and they grew really fast and huge! He didn't do anything to them and they are in a partly shaded area! Grrr!

Will try modules - is it too late this season?

Michelle

According to my packet, you can keep sowing them though until September, or even later if you have a greenhouse. Might depend on the variety though as I deliberately chose some that you can sow all year round.