No wonder my Exhibition onions weren't growing well !

[vegmandan]

My big show onion attempt this year has had mixed fortunes to say the least with a lot of the plants just slowly dying off one by one.

Decided to do a Nutrient and P.H test today and WOW check out the results.



This was tested on the same compost straight out of the bag.

Completely depleted Potash and Potassium.

A surplus of Nitrogen and a much too acidic P.H of 5.5

So no wonder they weren't growing too well.

I remember the bag being quite wet when I bought it, so the garden centre must have left it out in the rain and most of the nutrients must have been washed out of it.

[janeyo]

Nice diary, just had a look.

Can you take the compost back? Where did you get it? Which type was it?

[Alice]

Lucky you checked Vegmandan. Pretty rubbish compost. Have you complained ?
Hope your onions recover and do as well as last year.

[SarzWix]

That's pants! I've never thought to check the compost I hope it's not Humax... I get their MP cheap off our lottie secretary and always assumed it to be trustworthy...

Hope you manage to salvage your onions Dan.

[j r hilton]

Just had a look at your diary vegmandan. Very impressed. I will certainly be having a look now and then through the year. Hope you have more success with your onions.

[Nicos]

You can hardly believe that a place selling plants and 'accessories' would at least know how to store compost wouldn't you???
I could understand a supermarket /general shop might not know- but a garden centre???!!!

Good job you checked Sherlock Holmes

[lynda66]

what type of compost was it? ? cos we all might want to avoid that particular brand

[Nicos]

I imagine it's the storage Lynda rather than the brand????

[lynda66]

yeah maybe, but compost comes in plastic bags, so can't see that much getting out, unless it's very old compost

[Woofster]

Hi Vegmandam. I read somewhere that it is best to start show onions (and possibly any onions ) in John Innes Seed compost. I too have had a miserable start with my Robinson's mammoth which I sowed in J Arthur Bowers Multipurpose - only one seed out of 15 has germinated. I am starting again with John Innes and hoping it makes a difference. I grew some big onions from seedlings given to me but I want to do it from scratch this year. I am posting a pic which includes my big onions for you to see.

[Woofster]

Well, I don't seem to have managed to attach the pic. Never mind. They were not as big as yours but they did win prizes at our local show.