Can I still sow onions?

[CimaDirapa]

Arrr.. this is the last time I am growing from sets, all my Radar and White Globe autumn sown sets are starting to bolt.

1. Can I save them by nipping the flowers?
2. Is there any onion variety I can start now from seed for next year's crop?

[zazen999]

If you sow now, they will still bolt next year.

If you sow after June 22nd, they may bolt

If you sow after December 22nd - they shouldn't bolt, as they will still be in their first year.

Overwintering onions will bolt, esp if the weather is weird as it has been - but you can pick these and use them now...these won't be much good for storing and I never store my overwintered ones - I use them straight away

[CimaDirapa]

If you sow now, they will still bolt next year.

If you sow after June 22nd, they may bolt

If you sow after December 22nd - they shouldn't bolt, as they will still be in their first year.

Overwintering onions will bolt, esp if the weather is weird as it has been - but you can pick these and use them now...these won't be much good for storing and I never store my overwintered ones - I use them straight away

Thanks zaz, don't mind if I ask you when are you sowing your main crop onions? do you always start the seeds in the midst of winter?

[zazen999]

Boxing day and I sow pinches for the following few months. I am reducing my annual onions this year due to white rot though so concentrating on perennials - shallots, potato onions, Babington leeks, walking onions etc...and I mainly grow Long Red Florence as you can get more into the space and they are a fab looker. My radars are just bulking up nicely so will start to harvest them once the batch of onions that we are currently eating have gone.

[solway cropper]

I've lost five of the overwintered ones to bolting and oddly enough they were all planted from sets directly on the plot. I have another sixty or so growing in fish boxes and they are looking far more healthy. Onions are quite happy in containers and that's probably the answer if you have disease on the plot. This year is the first time I've grown them from seed which was sown end of January and so far they are all looking good. I'm also trying welsh onions for the first time although I found germination was a bit erratic.

[kathyd]

... concentrating on perennials - shallots, potato onions, Babington leeks, walking onions etc...and I mainly grow Long Red Florence as you can get more into the space and they are a fab looker.

I didn't know you could get perennial onions.. are all shallots perennial? How do you harvest them if they're going to come back next year?? Are Long Red Florence really red, or is it just the name? I don't grow normal yellow onions because they're so cheap to buy in sacks, but OH loves the red ones which are way more expensive for some reason - but I've had problems getting them to grow well so maybe the perennial ones would be safer?

[zazen999]

I didn't know you could get perennial onions.. are all shallots perennial? How do you harvest them if they're going to come back next year?? Are Long Red Florence really red, or is it just the name? I don't grow normal yellow onions because they're so cheap to buy in sacks, but OH loves the red ones which are way more expensive for some reason - but I've had problems getting them to grow well so maybe the perennial ones would be safer?

Not all shallots are, no - banana shallots aren't.

Most other shallots will keep coming back so I intend to dig up each plant when ready - take most of them off for eating and replant the others straight away.

Potato onions are part of the same family as shallots - but produce larger onions. If any of the large ones flower then I'll be letting them do so, and saving the seed as it's the only way to increase the size of them.

Long Red Florence are red enough for me.

[CimaDirapa]

Not all shallots are, no - banana shallots aren't.

Most other shallots will keep coming back so I intend to dig up each plant when ready - take most of them off for eating and replant the others straight away.

Potato onions are part of the same family as shallots - but produce larger onions. If any of the large ones flower then I'll be letting them do so, and saving the seed as it's the only way to increase the size of them.

Long Red Florence are red enough for me.

I like the sound of perennial onions especially as it mean I don't need to lift everything at once.
There is on ebay one seller that offer 10 bulbs for £10 plus p+p. This is not cheap in anyone's book. When is the best time to plant Potato onions?

Other sellers from Canada offer it as well, they do ship to the UK but I am not sure if this is allowed to be brought to the country??!!

[zazen999]

They are more likely to be available in Sept/Oct time. Perhaps stick to shallots [get them in now] for this season and keep an eye out later in the year for when people have harvested theirs.

[kathyd]

Hi Zazen - banana shallots are presumably the slightly elongated curved ones - the ones that look a bit like a small er... banana? Which is mostly what I've planted of course! But I also planted a few roundy ones with a slightly rose colour - so I could try leaving a couple of segments in and see if they come back again next year?

If I buy shallots in bags now, would they keep until the autumn? They don't seem to sell them in the autumn over here, but the few I planted from the UK last autumn look way more advanced than the ones I bought and planted over here this spring - unless that's down to the weather like everything else - so I'd like to autumn plant again if poss?

[CimaDirapa]

They are more likely to be available in Sept/Oct time. Perhaps stick to shallots [get them in now] for this season and keep an eye out later in the year for when people have harvested theirs.

I emailed the ebay trader and he confirmed that Potato onions can (and should) be planted now, I am tempted. The implications can be grand as we consume a lot of onion (about three kg per month) and I like to invest in something I don't have buy every year and takes a lot of space (not to mention bolting and white rot which I just discovered on one of the white globes).

[Shadylane]

Hmmm I would have thought it's a wee bit late for spring planting. Though the seller would say that wouldn't they? From what I gathered about them they should be planted in early spring or autumn, I'm tempted - but think I will hang on until autumn. *sits on hands*

[zazen999]

I emailed the ebay trader and he confirmed that Potato onions can (and should) be planted now, I am tempted. The implications can be grand as we consume a lot of onion (about three kg per month) and I like to invest in something I don't have buy every year and takes a lot of space (not to mention bolting and white rot which I just discovered on one of the white globes).

To breed them to be big is going to take some time! If you want to pay £10 for 10 then go for it. I'd suggest that paying less when this season's are in and putting them in over the winter will get you a better result but it's your decision obviously.

If you want your onions big, and lots of them - and you don't want to spend a fortune then a few packets of seed sown in Jan/Feb will be the best way to get them.

[zazen999]

Hi Zazen - banana shallots are presumably the slightly elongated curved ones - the ones that look a bit like a small er... banana? Which is mostly what I've planted of course! But I also planted a few roundy ones with a slightly rose colour - so I could try leaving a couple of segments in and see if they come back again next year?

If I buy shallots in bags now, would they keep until the autumn? They don't seem to sell them in the autumn over here, but the few I planted from the UK last autumn look way more advanced than the ones I bought and planted over here this spring - unless that's down to the weather like everything else - so I'd like to autumn plant again if poss?

If you leave one in then it will split over winter, grow about 5-12 new sets of leaves and each one should become a shallot in a year. You might be able to keep them til the autumn - after all it's only 4 weeks until the longest day so pop them in after then and net them during the winter and you should get next year's shallots from them.

[zazen999]

If I'd known - I had about 30 extra that I tipped into my compost heap only a month ago. You could have had them...