Over-wintered onions. Harvest?

[Emmylou]

Oh, I fully understand you now! Makes sense, I'll try that.

[zazen999]

Em

Give them an epsom salt/ seaweed feed/ root veg fertiliser feed when you do [any of them might help]; to try and jolly them up. I've not fed mine as they seemed to be doing well but if they weren't, by now i'd have tried to give them a kick up the backside.

[Emmylou]

Ok, thanks. I've got some Maxicrop, will try that.

[zazen999]

If it is any consolation, from the same batch of sets, the ones I've sown at home in loamy soil are half the size of the ones at the lottie.

[maytreefrannie]

Will be checking today on my few autumn grown onion sets and fingering them to see if anything's doing.

Thanks for all the tips.

[Snadger]

*Touches wood* This is the first year my autumn jap onions HAVE'NT bolted *Touches wood again*

[zazen999]

Nooooooo

you've gone and done it now Snadger......

[Snadger]

Nooooooo

you've gone and done it now Snadger......

Not too bothered if it happens as they are now of an eating size annd won't store anyway!!

Went to lottie yesterday and overnight nearly all of my overwintered leeks had thrown up seedheads though!

[jenjen]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Sowed red and white onions last autumn, and the biggest are the size of small shop bought onions - hoping for a bit more yet though, and no sign of bolting yet (fingers crossed)! Came across some reduced shallot sets yesterday which I've just bunged in.

[finney]

Winter Onions

hi all,
advice needed last september i planted my red and white winter onion sets,

yes there doing fine but i have noticed at the top of the middle stem theres a white bud?

wot is this,do i leave it on,cut it off,wot do i do with it,i havent never seen them on my summer onions,or do they just grow on winter sets,

advice will be a great help

many thanks

Finney

[zazen999]

It's a flower. Onions from set are in their second year, so it is trying to flower.

Nip it off as soon as you see it.

[finney]

Thanks zazen,

but if i nip it off and it rains will it not get inside the onion and make then mushy.

finney

[zazen999]

I've not found that, but if you leave the flower on, it gets bigger and you get a hard indie to the onion which you cannot eat. So you lose half the onion. So, best just nip it off. If you have concerns, then bend it over.

[finney]

thanks zazen,
but the onions still seem a little soft round the base in the soil wot happens if i bend them do you lose any taste or do they grow any bigger coz at the minute there only about an egg cup size

Finney

[gojiberry]

Autumn planted sets don't get that big and are usually only used as a stop gap between last summers stored onions and this years summer crop. They will often run to seed and if you let them continue with seeding all the energy will go into the flower and onions wont get any bigger. Usually any onion that throws up a seed head will not store for long, as the stem which the flower head was on will start to rot even when the onion has been fully dried. Don't know how many onions you have or the size of your family, but at golf ball size I would think of starting to use a few.

Ian