Teeny tiny onions

[w33blegurl]

Morning all!

Pulled up all my onions (autumn planted sets - red cross i think) over the weekend, and was a bit disappointed. Mostly they were about ping pong ball size which is pretty small! There are about half a dozen really good sized ones - tennis ball or bigger - but the rest are teeny. What can I do next year to improve my onions?? Do they benefit from a special fertiliser or more watering perhaps? The plants were pretty healthy and they were definitely ready for pulling up so its not that I've just got them too early or they were just rubbish. Help please!!

Cheers!

[Capsid]

How much sunshine do they get? For the bulbs to swell they need a minimum day length.

[Florence Fennel]

I had a similar problem, some were a decent size but others little. Luckily I grew white, brown and red, so have a general mix. Their saving grace is that no matter what the size, they all have incredible flavour and the white ones are ultra strong! They all had the same amount of light, so it will remain a mystery for me.

[Bountyhunter]

I have been incredibly lucky with mine this year. The red ones are going to be huge! I have a blog that shows how i have managed it. I am leaving all my onions in the ground until all the green leaves are straw like. They are also in the sun all day so this helps but i think whats really done it is keeping the foliage off the bulbs when the fall down so they are never covered.

[w33blegurl]

How much sunshine do they get? For the bulbs to swell they need a minimum day length.

They are at the bottom of our graden which is the shadiest point but for the majority of the day (at least 6 hours) they are getting full sun! Plus some of were a really good size and they got the same amount of sun as the tiny ones! They do taste fine though so no complaints there just wanted bigger ones!

[Suky]

Some of mine got more water than others and they are definitely larger. Mine were spring planted sets. All I need to do now is find out how long to dry them.

[w33blegurl]

Some of mine got more water than others and they are definitely larger. Mine were spring planted sets. All I need to do now is find out how long to dry them.

Last year I left them out drying in the blowaway greenhouse for about 2 weeks and they were fine!

[Bountyhunter]

Some of mine got more water than others and they are definitely larger. Mine were spring planted sets. All I need to do now is find out how long to dry them.

I have read that you leave them until all the green is gone. I found a link with some info. I am going to follow the advise as the growers seem to know what they are doing Look at the link i have posted just below. They seem to know their onions lol


http://*************ers.org/question...-are-ready-dig

[Caro]

I have been incredibly lucky with mine this year. The red ones are going to be huge! I have a blog that shows how i have managed it. I am leaving all my onions in the ground until all the green leaves are straw like. They are also in the sun all day so this helps but i think whats really done it is keeping the foliage off the bulbs when the fall down so they are never covered.

Sarah, I thought I'd have a look at your blog as my onions are weenies. The link doesn't seem to be working, though?

Congrats anyway!

[Bountyhunter]

Sarah, I thought I'd have a look at your blog as my onions are weenies. The link doesn't seem to be working, though?

Congrats anyway!

GOT IT
copy and paste this into google.... How do I know when my onions are ready to dig? click on it and you go straight to loads of onions drying. Fingers crossed ha ha

[gojiberry]

Soil type has a bearing on good onion growing. Mine is rather sandy and doesn't hold the moisture and nutrients for good onion growing. The soil need to be fairly firm and I always tread mine before planting sets. I also use a good dose of blood,fish and bone and try to feed with a liquid feed from about the half way growing period onwards. I can never allow my onions to go to full term as I have onion rot so as soon as I see the first signs I lift the crop and dry.

Ian

[Nykied]

My onions are also about the size of ping pong balls, if that. Very disappointed. My garlics are even smaller...

[SarzWix]

Mine have been very hit and miss this year too - the overwintered sets were hit badly by the hard winter and about half died, then we had a really dry spring. So the ones that were left struggled too and I've ended up the same as you; a lot of tiny ones and some about right. Mine are Red Cross.

[Glutton4...]

I pulled my autumn-sown setts yesterday - got a good success rate, but again, poor growth in size. Being a very lazy gardener, it's probably due to the fact that I didn't water them in the dry periods. The soil was made up of various substances; horse manure, grass mowings, old compost and chicken coop bedding. It was very dry when I lifted them.

Garlic will be coming out later today. It was grown in the same medium, with the same conditions. Fingers crossed, although, some are seeding.

[binley100]

My Garlic came out a while ago and the majority were a decent size. Dried and strung up now. The onions grown from spring planted sets, and the shallots have all been lifted and are drying in the blowaway. There is a fair old mix of sizes . The onions I grew from seed this year are still hanging on to get a bit more growth.