Onions - poorish crop

[Shirley Sherriffs]

Am growing white onions and also red baron never grown onions before.

The white onions are only a little bigger than golf balls despite feeding with pelleted chicken manure and a more specific feed (seperate times of course). Some of the stems have flopped over and just laying on the ground, are they ready to be taken up and left to dry out, or is it a bit early

The red barons are better but its not quite the end of July and some of them are going to seed with that little pear shaped seed ball forming at the top of the stems. I've been told to just take these ones up and use them.

The shallots seems to be fine.

We have had a lot of rain the summer in the N East of Scotland and a lot recently. Is the dry spell followed by loadsa rain the reason for small growth. I did expect the onions to be much bigger. They were from sets peerhaps I just bought the wrong variety.. All advice welcomed

What is the general rule of thumb for time to lift and dry.

[rustylady]

It's early to be thinking of harvesting onions. They produce leaves up to around the longest day, and then the bulbs start swelling until around August / September. The ones that are producing flower heads you can use fresh or pick off the flower bud and leave them to swell. They will be usable but will not store well.

[Two_Sheds]

When did you plant them?

I've just harvested a load of mine, but they went in early, March I think

[rustylady]

The white onions are only a little bigger than golf balls despite feeding with pelleted chicken manure and a more specific feed (seperate times of course). Some of the stems have flopped over and just laying on the ground, are they ready to be taken up and left to dry out, or is it a bit early.

If the stems have fallen over, then they won't grow any more so you can lift and dry. Can you remember the variety? Some are meant to be smaller than others - Paris silverskin is a small one, I believe

[rana]

Having grown onions for many years and in different conditions I am convinced that soil type has a major bearing on the resulting crop. Secondly to perform well they need light and will disappoint if the site is partially shaded. IMHO the most robust cultivar for all conditions is Sturon. I have yet to grow onions in Scotland but it might be worth checking out the varieties grown by the other locals.

[Two_Sheds]

In my part of the woods, Stuttgarter always out-performs Sturon & Red Baron.

I do agree about soil quality ... last year I grew onions on two different patches, about 3 foot apart. One patch had been heavily mulched with grass clippings the year before, and those onions did much better.

[jackie j]

I have used sets for the last two years and put mine in to overwinter in october, they have all done well and I have harvested all my Senshu yellow and most of my Red Baron, still got shallots to take out which I will do today if I have time after planting cauli's and red cabbage. I have about 200 onions as well as the shallots.

[chriscross1966]

One problem with sets is that they've grown somewhere else first.... if your conditions aren't liek those the onion started life in then one would have to assume that it has some bearing on the crop you achieve.... Onions can be a bit fickle too and are remarkably variable.... Now I've got a place to grow them again I grew Kelsaes from seed (I grow all my onions from seed unless they're something like a Catawissa where it's almost impossible to get a seed) and the variablility in there sizes is pretty tremarkable when you consider that the soil, the climate and the attention they get has been identical.... the big ones are already up to the 3lb mark by the looks of things (one has a fairly decent chance of being the biggst onion I've ever grown) but some of them are barely too big to pickle.... A good way to maximise crop weight is to sow seeds of a decent variety (Aisla Craig, Sturon, Stuttgarter for whites, Red Baron for reds) about five to a module in a forty-module tray indoors in January, greenhouse through Feb, then plant the modules out at 8-10" spacing in March after hardening off. The individual onions might be a bit smaller but the overall weight is big.... for big single onions then one of the larger varieties (Unwins Exhibition, Robinsons Mammoth, Kelsae) sown one to a module in late December indoors, treated as above but planted out at 12" will get you some big ones....

chrisc

[burnie]

My onion sets haven't performed very well,some have barely grown bigger than the sets I planted and the tops have gone over on them.I tried some new varieties which maybe don't suit Scotlands conditions,back to Sturon next year,plus some seed grown ones

[amandaandherveg]

I'm growing Sturon from sets too - they're doing ok, not yet falling over but I have seen a difference in them the last week with all the rain we've been having. My red onions bolted last year so decided not to bother this time.

Perhaps some Scottish grapes that have been successful with their onions this year can pass on tips on which variety to try next time.

[peanut]

My Spring sown Onions were all rubbish! Not sure i'll bother again....well maybe i'll give is one last try with some Autmun sown sets, but if they're rubbish too that's it I give up!!

[Dibblecat]

my onions are rubbish too. Last year they were fab. I think we just got the rain at the wrong time for them this year.

[zazen999]

A good way to maximise crop weight is to sow seeds of a decent variety (Aisla Craig, Sturon, Stuttgarter for whites, Red Baron for reds) about five to a module in a forty-module tray indoors in January, greenhouse through Feb, then plant the modules out at 8-10" spacing in March after hardening off. The individual onions might be a bit smaller but the overall weight is big.... for big single onions then one of the larger varieties (Unwins Exhibition, Robinsons Mammoth, Kelsae) sown one to a module in late December indoors, treated as above but planted out at 12" will get you some big ones....

chrisc

I do this Chris, and then transplant the module ones once they start to push themselves apart. I'm in the process of growing lots of non-F1s for seed saving; from all sorts of different places, so I have onions all over the place.

[Getoffmylande]

With regards your onions, I am now in my third year on the allotment and have recently been told by one of the wise(Stanley a gent in his 70's) who has been allotmenting for a good 40 years, to bend the stems over about an inch or two above the bulb, if any come out of the grounds while you are doing this then they are probably diseased( you will see the white fungal Disease under the bulb when you lift if) Get rid of these by burning them as you will only add the fungal infection to any compost if you add them to the heap. You can then leave the onions in the ground for at least another couple of weeks and rather than putting the energy into making stem all of the nutrition from the ground goes into swelling the bulbs giving a higher size return.

[Flobalob]

I pulled these a month ago.
july+09+060.jpg (image)