Spring onions still small months on

[Marb67]

I have grown some red spring onions which were sown early spring. I planted them out in small clumps in the raised bed. Even now they are still around the same size as they were when I planted them. The soil has had some chicken manure as well as organic seaweed but to no avail. This has happened to other veg in the past, even growing smaller !

[Scarlet]

Get some photos up Marb. There's obviously more to your poor harvest that you think. Let us have a look at your garden

[Marb67]

You see you wont be able to tell by a photo really.

[Martin H]

On the positive side, those parsley seedlings look really healthy.

[Marb67]

They are not seedlings. They were a plant
i potted out in the bed. It was bigger earlier on in spring. So why on earth would spring onions stop growing ?

[Scarlet]

How much do you water?

[Marb67]

When it is dry. They have just gone thin and whispy. They have been under enviromesh for a few weeks so have been protected.

[Greenleaves]

Hi Marb
A few questions if I may?

1. What type of soil do you have?
2. Do you know the ph of your soil?

[veggiechicken]

Sorry to interrupt but I thought I'd show you my Apache spring onions, sown 10th February and grown on in the GH border.




They're so small I'd forgotten they were there Actually, I've never grown a spring onion that looks remotely like the enormous things they sell in the shops - I don't think they're as easy as they should be. However, I'll keep trying until I succeed.

Apologies for the lousy photo - its almost as bad as the onions

[Marb67]

No idea what ph the soil is. The raised bed gets bits of old compost and soil moved around a bit to top it up so hard to tell what type.

[Greenleaves]

I believe that if your soil is too much either way then any onions will struggle to grow. As raised beds water logging should not be the issue.

My guess is your soil is too acidic, as Parsley and onions like the same range plus your brasicas look a little small too. Might be worth buying a soil test kit.....cheap as chips

[bearded bloke]

I'm still wondering if your problems with stunted growth might be aminopyralid/Clopyralid contamination related.

[solway cropper]

When it is dry. They have just gone thin and whispy. They have been under enviromesh for a few weeks so have been protected.

What are you protecting your onions from??

[Marb67]

Soil can't be too acid as I have always had ericaceous plants die in my borders (before I turned them to raised beds) I am putting all my green waste directly on to the raised bed in the hope that next season it will have composted down . Duckweed is a good one to use and helps get rid of it from the pond. I was protecting them from onion fly which I have had in the past and noticed some hanging around this year. Basically I seem to have every pest and diseases in my small garden known to man :-( I want to move.

[Marb67]

This is the basic layout I made from discarded house bricks.