Hurrah! Onion seedlings have arrived!

[Protea]

The silly postman left them on the step outside the house (eventhough i was in ) so i didn't discover them until about 4pm as i was going out. Cue mad dash to the garden centre to get appropriately sized pots and fresh compost. Ended up filling the trays in the dark in the greenhouse and bringing everything into the kitchen so i could see what i was doing!

The seedlings are for show onions and having never grown them before i don't really know what i'm doing! How deep should i have planted the seedlings? they were about half the thickness of a pencil and i planted them about 1 - 1.5 cm deep (which looked about right), but i'm not sure if they should have been planted deeper?

Lots of the leaves were damaged so i've supported each seedling with a cane and a soft plant tie - will this damage affect the growth/ultimate size?

Any showing experts out there care to share some advice - total novice here!

many thanks

[Two_Sheds]

The silly postman left them on the step even though i was in ) Lots of the leaves were damaged

I'm well ticked-off with Royal Mail - I had some plants delivered today, marked FRAGILE but the entire package was squashed flat. Nearly all the leaves were damaged beyond repair (roots thankfully look ok).

[Protea]

Oh no! Two-Sheds, that's so annoying isn't it! Hope they survive if the roots are ok.

I suspect it wasn't my usual postie, our regular chap knows i get packages of live plants and he always rings the doorbell if there's anything that wont fit through the letter box. I bet its cos the curtains were still drawn - started working upstairs and hadn't been down to open everything up!

[Earthbabe]

I don't know what Royal Mail are up to, I've had two envelopes with seeds in from the seed swap trashed, probably trying to put them through the automatic sorter or something stupid. One by the time it got to me was completely empty, the contents of the other survived though. We've had six or seven posties in the last year. Don't know why because the one we have had for the longest is still around and on an adjacent round.

And don't mention the mail that gets lost

Grrr!!! Is it any wonder their customer satisfaction ratings are dropping like stones.

[Earthbabe]

Sorry Protea, rant over, unfortunately I'm not able to help you with your show onions. I'm just getting to grips with growing them for myself although it is starting to interest me.

What is happening to me?

[Protea]

Don't worry Earthbabe, I know what you mean!

I accosted the offending postie today - it was a young lady who isn't our regular person, i explained that the tube had contained live plants and i hadn't seen them until late. I also asked her to ensure she rings the bell if there is anything too big for the letter box as i'm normally in.

She apologised, which was nice, and no real harm done i suppose. Apparently our regular postie is back tomorrow - phew!

[SueA]

Hi Protea, I'm growing 'Mammoth Improved' onions from seed but not to show- just to eat if they ever come up! You sound as though you've done eveything right to me, I wouldn't think you would normally need to bother about propping up the damaged leaves as they will probably recover but I don't know if that affects showing quality(you trim the leaves off or tie them down don't you?).
I think I'm known as 'the plant lady' at our post office! I once got a delivery of live plants with the wrong address on which were intended for me & the postie, who wasn't our usual, said they knew I was the only person round here who ordered plants through the post!

[nutsaboutveggies]

i have planted some onion seeds in my propogator.. they are just coming through the compost... hope they grow ok! its our first time at growing veggies so its a bit of trial and error i think!

[Two_Sheds]

I've just emailed a complaint to Royal Mail. Anyone else want to? You may get compensation:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/j...diaId=15500193

[Benacre]

I just sow my own plants from seeds and never buy from mail order.

[Protea]

I've just emailed a complaint to Royal Mail. Anyone else want to? You may get compensation:
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/j...diaId=15500193

I've given up complaining to Royal Mail, nothing ever changes (except my bloodpressure - upwards!!). They continually mucked up my mail redirection when i moved house, sending me the rest of my family's mail just because i had the same surname....didn't think to look at the initial or first name . They also failed to deliver or 'lost' several wedding invitations i sent out last year. Compensation in the form of a few free stamps doesn't quite make up for the hours spent waiting in a queue on the phone to complain, or the lost wedding invitations.

Pha!