Me again! Spring Onions

[newbietogardening]

I have quite a few Spring Onions growing in a trough on the patio and they are about an inch high. Do u think I should thin them out? How long do we think it might be before I can start eating them? Also same question for radishes? Cheers

[TEB]

If they are anything like my spring onions then you will be old and grey before you harvest as there is nothing spring like about them bar the name. The packet says dont bother thinning but I do give em about half inch each. My Feb sown Holland Blood Red are about 6" tall but the April sown White Lisbon are about 8" tall and I will wait until the bulbs have got to about 10mm before harvest. Cannot help with the Radish - sorry.

[ysb33r]

I have quite a few Spring Onions growing in a trough on the patio and they are about an inch high. Do u think I should thin them out? How long do we think it might be before I can start eating them? Also same question for radishes? Cheers

Unless they are very close, I would not bother. You might need to thin the radishes though. I've found that radishes usually germinate so well, that I sow them to the exact spacing that I want and then there is no need for thinning.

My Feb sown Holland Blood Red are about 6" tall but the April sown White Lisbon are about 8" tall and I will wait until the bulbs have got to about 10mm before harvest..

My overwintered NHBR and Ramrod sowings were very slow. I have sown some again some weeks back and they are progressing much better and I expect to be harvesting in a couple of weeks.

Whiote Lison sowings on the other hand, did really well.

[la cebolla grande]

Radishes - I find mine are always crowded, but some 'bulb up' very quickly, so combine thinning with harvesting, just taking the ones ready to eat, and then the others will start to swell.

I CANNOT grow spring onions, I do onions, leeks and garlic well, but spring onions defeat me!! I bought some ready growing last year, and although they were delicious and lasted in the garden for MONTHS, they were no bigger than when planted.

One tip though, I planted a couple of packets of winter onion sets last Oct/Nov time - on purpose quite close together. They sprouted v quickly and I had a supply of 'spring onions' right the way through the winter. Then - as I'd harvested every other one, and increased the spacing - the remainder bulbed up this spring, and I have just harvested as real onions.....

[Alice]

I did the same as you cebolla grande. I planted red onion sets early and used the thinnings as per spring onions.

I planted 3 varieties of spring onions . All doing fine but White Lisbon doing best. I sowed them early in 3" pots in the greenhouse then planted out the whole pots when the roots appeared out the bottom. They're eating size now.

Radish I plant spaced at growing requirement and don't thin. They've been a bit disapponting this year for no obvious reason. They seem to be very slow.

[LostthePlot]

I sow my spring onion in pinches, about six seed to a pinch and let them grow on in clumps so that you can pick a bunch like in the shops. I don't thin, just plant the resulting clump into the ground and away they go. I picked some red spring onions yesterday and some are so big I am leaving them to grow into red onions.

[NattieG]

Our White Lisbons are doing very well too - I sew them directly into troughs about two months ago, they could be harvested now but I think I'll leave them a couple of weeks to thicken up just a little more

[Leeder]

I was late sowing my spring onion this year, I am growing 'white lisbon' in various troughs and small pots, sowed my first lot 3 weeks ago and they now look like 4inch long pieces of grass, I guess I had about a 70% germination rate with this sowing.

I am sowing a small pot every two weeks or so and I am hoping that I will get to enjoy eating some of them this summer, although reading all the difficulties people have growing them on here, I am not going to get my hopes up too high.

[terrier]

I put some white lisbon in the ground late March, they look as though they are going to be ready for next March. I planted some mixed radish about the same time. I've got loads of lush greenery but nothing on the end of it and now the slugs have moved in! One thing is the ground the radishes are in is quite acidic (loads of equipoo), I'm wondering if that can be my problem?

[Paulottie]

Hi terrier you've answered your own question-not so much the acidity of the muck but the nitrogen content- all greenery.

I am harvesting first few spring onions now. must have been about 10 weeks I guess- really not difficult -sowed them next to the parsnips.(carrot fly deterant too) Come on grapes!

like your method lostheplot-clever-might try starting it in modules for an early crop next spring.

[Flummery]

I've eaten my first lot - second lot are being consumed as we speak - and 2 more modules are at the grass stage - they'll be in the ground soon I reckon. With the module method I've eaten more home-grown spring onions this year (since I joined the grapevine!) than in the previous 10 - mainly because I'd all but given up getting a crop.

[pigletwillie]

If you think that the module method works well with springers Flum, try dropping 2 beetroot seed clusters in modules and then do the same as with your springers. You get fab succession as you just harvest from each clump when it reaches the size you want and the ones left then carry on. No thining, no waste and a guaranteed crop.

[Flummery]

Whoo yes! Off out to re-sow beetroot! I've got some direct sown but patchy - story of my life!

[Paulottie]

Thanks PW I'm just about to sow some more beetroot too-going to try that. Like the new Avatar...is that Babe or one of yours?..Ah!..temps me to join Mrs P's vegitarians...if my daughter sees that she'll never eat bacon again.