small onions

[KayJay]

Hi,
I've grown onions from onion sets (can't remember name of them ) but they are rather small. Taste good though. They had plenty of room and I left them in long enough, what am I doing wrong?
Do I need to add well rotted manure to the soil, and do they need a lot of sun as they are near hedge that puts them in the shade.
Thanks, Kath

[arpoet]

I've also had a bad (ish) year for onions from sets. I don't think the cold wet and often dull spring helped.
Next years rotation will put them into a sunnier part of my garden.

[WendyC]

Conversely I have had a great year for onions. Lots of them are really big. Even the ones from seed. They had a little manure, plenty of sun and a soaking once a week when it was really dry.

[BUFFS]

with such a short summer they didnt get enough time to grow, your growing season will be weeks shorter than say the south coast, I sowed my onion seeds just after boxing day and had to lift them and blanche them earlier this month as they were still very "green". with good nourished soil and a reasonable summer you should do fine. good luck for next year...

[Kirk]

Haven't seen a decent sized onion for the last 3 years.

[solway cropper]

As Buffs says, the relatively short season meant that they didn't have enough time to bulk up. My seed grown onions were 4-6 weeks later than normal going in the ground and the yield was consequently lower. Probably have enough to see me into the new year but not much longer.

[Two_Sheds]

they are near hedge that puts them in the shade.

It will also starve them, and they won't be getting enough water.

You want to have at least a foot of space between the hedge & any crops. Also, onions are pretty greedy: they like their food

[kathyd]

Have to say that all the onions in the supermarket here are small at the moment too, so presumably the farmers have also faced problems.

[KayJay]

Thanks, but

Thanks for all your comments. I will grow them further from the hedge next,
As I don,t have much space, is there anything that will grow close to thirsty hedge?
thanks, Kath

[Bren In Pots]

Lettuce does well in the shade and it doesn't like to be too wet either.

[Penellype]

I have a large Leylandii hedge running the length of my veg plot (on the eastern side, fortunately, so the plot still gets some sun). Its far from ideal as the thing needs cutting right in the middle of the growing season, so my solution was to put a 3ft wide path along the bottom of the hedge allowing access for cutting - this also acts as one of the access paths to the veg plot. I then put large pots up against the hedge with shade tolerant veg in them - I have grown cabbages, lettuces, carrots, spinach, chervil and even potatoes on this path. I put the pots on wheeled trolleys so they can just be moved out of the way when I need to cut the hedge. The only thing you need to watch is that the plants don't flop over the path and block it, as they tend to grow towards the light. Turning the pots occasionally helps.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Hi,
I've grown onions from onion sets (can't remember name of them ) but they are rather small. Taste good though. They had plenty of room and I left them in long enough, what am I doing wrong?
Do I need to add well rotted manure to the soil, and do they need a lot of sun as they are near hedge that puts them in the shade.
Thanks, Kath

whether grown from seed or sets, onions are gross feeders and will benefit immensely from the addition of copious amounts of fym. Although onions don't need a huge amount of moisture to grow(some of the best onions in the shops are grown in arid areas in Spain for instance), fym will help retain moisture in the soil and will also provide nutrients. I also throw down a few handfuls of granular fertiliser and have been known to foliar feed as well. Up here, I don't plant my sets until well through April and they are ready to lift in August/September. You should be able to plant some 3 -4 weeks earlier.

As the others have said, best to keep away from the hedge if possible.

[Two_Sheds]

onions ... benefit immensely from the addition of copious amounts of fym.

... or homemade garden compost. I've never used FYM in m'life (just because) and most things grow just fine for me.

Onions are greedy though, AP is right. Usually I didn't give them anything, and they didn't do well on my sandy light soil. When I grow them in the contents of a dalek though, they're much better (I also mulch them during the growing season, with grass clippings and green manure clippings)

[Aberdeenplotter]

... or homemade garden compost.

agreed m'lady