All Year Round Onions

[poultrychat]

I'm in my second veggie year at my new house and am trying to make us as self sufficient as possible but am seriously lacking in in the 'how to' area. I have 8 link-a-bord beds 12x3, this year I have 4 different potato crops to grow to try and give a year round supply (first early, second early, maincrop, late maincrop). I have one bed with autums onions in it and I think they will be ready in May, I have ordered seeds of 'High Keeper' and sets of 'hydred and alpha (Ialso get 25 free bulbs with this order), this probably makes me sound really dense but here goes.......will I be able to plant the new sets where the autumn onions are or will I have to give up another bed to the new onions? I seem to be really good at ordering all the seeds and sets but lacking in the forethought about where it's all going to go

[Lesley Jay]

You will need to use a new bed. You should always try to rotate your crops and ensure that the same vegetables are not planted in the same spot each year. The other thing is that the autumn onions will not be ready until about June although you can start pulling them to use immediately a bit earlier. The spring sown onions want to be planted in March/April so for a few months you will have two beds with onions in.

[poultrychat]

Thanks Lesley Jay for the info. I thought I would be alright on roation if I grew my summer onions in the same bed as my winter onions as long as after the summer ones I changed beds

[Jaxom]

From what I have been reading.. Some people keep a separate onion bed and don’t rotate when all the other beds change. In some books it tells you to leave the onion bed un dug and un manured for four years before moving to a new bed that was manured at least a year previously.
It seems as though there are many ways of growing onions?
Jax

[nick the grief]

A lot depend on how good you are. If you read the info on Robinsons website, they have used the same bed for there Onions fo years. But I suspect his is the exception rather than the rule, the main problem being White rot I guess. You could plant them in the bed your early spuds came from as they should be clear by then and there will still be some goodness left from the manure.
The only alternative would be to steralise the bed some how, but thats not easy without resorting to some sort of Chemical - unless you can do it by steam, which isn't easy in the garden

I'd be interested on how you get on with the Link a boards, I've thought of them here.

[poultrychat]

Mmmm, I think maybe putting them in the bed the first earlies comes out of sounds the best, steaming is totally out of the question and I will just have to pretend that all the poultry manure somehow sterilised itself in the compost heap


ntg - I have been using link-a-bord for about 3-4 years ( I moved with it from my last house) and have been gradually adding more, I think it's brilliant and you can even strim and not worry about damage. On my last order I was told by the nice lady about some 'cloche' supports' that they are trying out that fit the links and the nice lady gave me some with my order for free as long as I give them feedback

[Lesley Jay]

Jaxom I do believe that you shouldnot plant the same vegetable in the same spot each year. You have to be careful of disease.

[Nicos]

The guy who runs our allotment has a raised onion bed and has used it for the past 30 years!!!! He used to win all the local competitions for biggest and best onions in the area. He doesn't compete anymore (how many 1st awards can you give a good home to?!) but still produces loads of very healthy onions. We rotate- as all the good books recommend- and lose some of ours to rot!! I am sure someone out there must be a champion onion grower and can tell us the secret!

[Geordie]

I have to say that I have used the same bed for my main crop onions for the last few years with no problems. Strict hygiene is followed as a matter of course.

[poultrychat]

Geaordie, can you tell me what you mean by 'strict hygiene'?

[nick the grief]

The Chook muck will be great in the compost heap as it's high in Nitrogen and will work as an activator.

OK on the Link a boards, I might just send off an order as It seems to be cheaper than wood for what I need and as Geordie said in another post, it won't harbour pests & disease.

Some of the locals use ***** fluid & Armillotox on their Onion beds as this will help disinfect the ground, I guess if you grow carrots in between them the smell will confuse the dreaded carrot fly as well

[Geordie]

Poultry chat,

Sorry for not replying earlier.....by strict hygien for my onion bed.... after the crop is harvested each year I water the bed with a solution of ***** Fluid. During the season if I even suspect any of the onions have problems I remove it with as much of the underlying soil as possible, bag it and bin it.
Do not grow onions in the same bed as peas or beans.

[poultrychat]

Doesn't that kill off worms etc, or is the solutions so mild that it doesn't? So......you do that after one crop a year, then should I be using ***** each time, if so how long after using it is it suitable for replanting or is that it for the bed until you re-plant the following year and what's the solution ratio? Don't plant in the same bed as peas and beans, but can peas and beans be planted in the bed after onions, ie, when I lift the autumn crop can I put some in then?

Questions, questions

[Geordie]

Using ***** fluid does not seem to affect worms etc (as far as I know). You only need to do this if you plan to use the bed just for onions....if you have a follow on crop or rotation system dont bother. After I use the ***** fluid I dont plant anything untill the next year so I dont know how it would affect a follow on crop. Solution ratio for me is about 60% water 40 % *****.
If you want to any crop can follow the onions.
Peas and beans go together with sweetcorn if grown in the same bed....sweetcorn uses nitrogen heavily and the peas or beans will fix nitrogen into the soil.

Answers answers

[andrewo]

Rotation

I always follow crop rotation, I will use ***** fluid to strerilise my coldframe and pots (and then thoroughly rinse) because it does not touch the main bed soil but I won't use it on the main beds. This is a personal choice as I try to be as organic as possible. I have heard many gardeners who use the ratio that Geordie has said and leave that patch fallow each year after spraying.

However, I stick with what the ancients did and that's crop rotation, it keeps down any virus but more importantly gets the most from the soil and also allows you to give back nutrients (of course, if you don't have the space then it becomes a different question, but even in the smallest space, even with pots, you can crop rotate).

It's also easier, changes your garden each year.

Andrewo