Help somethings been bashing my onions!

[HayleyB]

I was really proud of my onion stringing but I could hardly lift them, His Lordship had to put them on the hook in the tack room for me.

I still have a load to do (reds as well) but I might just leave all the ones left unstrung as they've gotten wet a few times and perhaps use them first. The reds will be used over the Summer anyway.

The ones still in the ground will be stored so they'll get strung.

[zazen999]

They are stupidly heavy aren't they?

[Incy]

Wow love the onion strings!
Not sure I'm clever enough to make one though
I don't tyhink our onions will last long in any case we tend to eat a lot of them so will probably leave in the ground for now and pick them as we need them

[HayleyB]

I must take a pic of my string.

Zazen and I are BIG onion lovers, they are the most amazing thing to watch growing, I stare at my onions regularly

[Incy]

I can relate to that. I tried red onions from seed a couple of years ago and failed at them so this is my first proper onion crop. And yes they get stared at regularly

[zazen999]

Incy - do try again from seed; sets are okayish but growing from seed is the absolute mutts nutts.

The best method I have found is to sow into modules, a pinch at a time and leave there until they are a good few inches tall [don't try and transplant too early].

then, put them module by module into fine soil [i sieve mine], and leave for another few weeks.

Then, dig up each module and separate into individual seedlings, and transplant into final position. Once the leaves are nearly a foot high, loosen the soil around the onion to enable swelling, and leave again....just weed by hand and you should get large lovely onions bulking up around now.

[Incy]

Thanks for the tip Zazen. When should I sow the seeds?
Would it be too late to sow some now for spring onions?

[HayleyB]

I grew Senshyus from seed in trugs they got used green a few months ago. I have taken a pic of my string...........

[Incy]

What a lovely string Hayley!. I think I would need to watch someone make one in order to do it myself. I'm not very creative...

[zazen999]

No, you can sow now for late springs. If you make 3 or 4 sowings you can have springs pretty much year round - I had a load in a raised bed over winter and they were fine.

I've sown my onions to overwinter in the greenhouse to go into their final positions next spring.

My main crop will be sown on the next moon day after Christmas, we might start another thread on it [PW did one last year]. The ones I sowed on this day are now bulking up nicely at the lottie.

P.S. the strings are so easy, but the stalks need drying out first or it is difficult to thread them through the string.

Hayley - they are lovely.

[sarraceniac]

They are stupidly heavy aren't they?

I hung mine on a wall bracket that had a rather valuable Nepenthes in a planter hanging on it. Let's put it this way - I am not the world's greatest DIYer.

[Incy]

Cool I will give it a go then. Hubby will be thrilled!

[HayleyB]

Thank you.......

[chriscross1966]

I must take a pic of my string.

Zazen and I are BIG onion lovers, they are the most amazing thing to watch growing, I stare at my onions regularly

I'm a big fan too... growing four maincrop types this year (Kelsae, Rjinsburger, Aisla Craig, Long Red Florence) two picklers (Borretana, Paris Silverskin) a few white lisbon springs, plus a couple from the wierder end, Welsh perpetual and Catawissa, the biggest of the tree onions. Although only one of the Catawissa has done the tree onion thing, it has done it in spades and is currently opening up its third deck of bulbils and given how much summer is left I'm hoping for another deck yet... all the others are just turning into monster shallot-like things (if the sown bulb is too small then that's all it will do, if it's big enough it trees)... A couple of the Kelsaes are giving me hope that I will set an outside personal best this year, I don't think I'm being unreasonable in hoping for one or more of them to break the four-pound mark....

I grow all my onions from seed these days, start them in modules. Kelsaes go one seed to a module in a 60-module tray, the rest go five seeds (mains) or 10 seeds (spring, pickling, chives etc) to a 40-mod tray. The mains start in January in a propagator, the others a bit later when the GH has warmed up enough for them not to need the extra heat. Mains get potted on into 15-mod trays in early March, hardened off early April and planted out mid April....... Wish I had a polytunnel, it's not hard to crack six pounds with Kelsae in a tunnel

chrisc