Onions 2022

[bramble]

Some autumn onions bolting here 8n my garden as well.
Last year, same varieties, sown at the same time, and none bolted.

[quanglewangle]

You can go a lot closer than that.
I plant my onions at probably half that spacing, and still get some really big onions every year.

We're probably at the limit for wobbly hand hoeing.

[Snoop Puss]

I'll be picking the first of my autumn planted onions for a salad today. The rest will stay in the ground and get used up as and when. Some of them are still quite small, but others are tennis ball size, so I'll be starting with them. Locally known as Tiernos y Blancos (Tender and White), but I suspect that's descriptive rather than a real name.

[Mr Bones]

These are our autumn planted onions (Autumn Champion) quanglewangle sets were put in at 6 inches apart either way.
Snoop Puss we use ours as and when they're ready too - keeps us going until main crop are ready

[quanglewangle]

They look wonderful Mr Bones but however do you weed between them?

[Mr Bones]

They look wonderful Mr Bones but however do you weed between them?

By hand Most weed seeds need light to germinate so the mulch (our own toothy compost) prevents germination. Just the odd ones to pull out .. if you look closely - bottom left hand side - there's a typical weed that needs to be dealt with ... I'll sort it tomorrow..

[Jungle Jane]

Three of my autumn planted onions had bolted,I have neglected them tho,they should’ve had more water,I think I’ve watered them once

[quanglewangle]

By hand Most weed seeds need light to germinate so the mulch (our own toothy compost) prevents germination. Just the odd ones to pull out .. if you look closely - bottom left hand side - there's a typical weed that needs to be dealt with ... I'll sort it tomorrow..

OMG you know the location of each weed!

Respect

[ameno]

That's about the same spacing I use, and I weed by hand, too. It's not actually that hard; if you do it at the right time, you can sort of just scrape the weeds off, rather than having to actually pull them up.

[Marb67]

Brand new spring onions. First sowing took ages to show, with poor size growth so far. Subsequent sowing = no show. It doesn't make sense.

[Snoop Puss]

I've just lifted my autumn planted onions. Not a great harvest, but enough to keep us going for a few weeks. Plus they've been next to no effort, as they've pretty well looked after themselves apart from these last few weeks when they've need watering.

[Snoop Puss]

Brand new spring onions. First sowing took ages to show, with poor size growth so far. Subsequent sowing = no show. It doesn't make sense.

Marb, I'm always amazed how slow spring onions are to get going. I still keep thinking that they're skinny little things and should take next to no time at all. But they don't.

That said, I've recently bought some Ischikrona spring onion seeds. Not sure if they're very fresh or it's a great variety, but I've had really quick and a good rate of germination from them. Not sure how easy they are to get in the UK but might be worth trying if you ever see them.

[quanglewangle]

I've just lifted my autumn planted onions. Not a great harvest, but enough to keep us going for a few weeks. Plus they've been next to no effort, as they've pretty well looked after themselves apart from these last few weeks when they've need watering.

We'll leave ours in another 4 to 6 weeks to get big enough to be our whole year's supply. We've got just about enough of last year's to bridge to gap.

[Mr Bones]

I've just lifted my autumn planted onions. Not a great harvest, but enough to keep us going for a few weeks. Plus they've been next to no effort, as they've pretty well looked after themselves apart from these last few weeks when they've need watering.

We lifted the remainder of ours today also Snoop. We're out all day tomorrow then the forecast is for a couple of days of rain. White rot's always lurking ready to set in now it's warmer so today seemed to be the right time, they were toppling over anyway and looked about ready.

PS the mesh is an attempt to dissuade a couple of fox cubs from nicking off with the onions or garlic (like they did with my watering can rose )

[Snoop Puss]

We'll leave ours in another 4 to 6 weeks to get big enough to be our whole year's supply. We've got just about enough of last year's to bridge to gap.

I had to harvest them. The heat and the oven-hot winds did for them.

Nice looking harvest, Mr Bones. I've got mine rather oddly arranged: one of those silvered windscreen sunscreens over the bulbs, while the leaves are exposed to the sun. I think they'd cook without the sunscreen.