too late to grow pickling onions?

[Protea]

I bought some onion seed for gowing pickling onions (can't remember the variety now, but it said it was for pickling) and haven't quite got round to sowing it!

Is it too late? i really wanted to give growing my own pickled jobs a try!

any tips? my beds clay is a nightmare - either too wet or like concrete so i direct sow very little - whats the best approach?

[Sue]

Protea
Would have thought it too late now? It won't be long now before we start planting overwintering onions.
From my limited experience, I planted silverskin onions a while back and they are still tiny, get half a jar if I'm lucky.
I too, somehow missed out on the actual pickling onions but having dug up my shallots before the raised bed floated away after all this rain, found I had loads of medium sized ones so have pickled them instead. Do you have shallots? Seem a lot easier to grow than onions, the odd bit of weeding and that's their lot.

I'm on heavy clay so have put raised beds in and the shallots grew ok, onions were crap last year but they've soldiered through the winter rains to give a decent crop this year. Will try proper pickled onions next year, are they a special variety? Silverskins are ok but a bit nancy, wanted more of a full-blooded pickled onion.

Sue

[Flummery]

I've got some picking onions - a new venture for me - called purplette. They are still in their modules as I've run out of garden space but once the early veg are cleared they'll go in. They're in the cold frame and get fed/watered regularly and are plumping up into nce little purple onions. If I'd had more room the plan was to have them out by now and a second lot in modules - the best laid plans...?

[moggssue]

My pickling onions didnt get beyond the grass thin stage - too wet I presume? I was also thinking of trying a second batch now, in the hopes of this indian summer we keep dreaming of?!

[Sue]

And I found some (Suttons Brown Pickling) in the Wyevale sale yesterday. Says latest planting date is May and sowing to cropping is 18-20 weeks - which takes us into November so there will have to be a very late and extended Indian summer to get some onions, but worth a try?
best wishes
Sue

[moggssue]

Think I'll give it a miss until next year now then try again. I can put the space to better use with salads for now! Good luck to those who do give it a go though, be interested to hear how you get on with such a late sowing?

[Protea]

Ah, thanks everyone. Perhaps not then! never mind - i'll save the packet for next year.

My overwintered shallots were a bit of a disaster, but possibly OK for pickling - i must dig them up and see how bad the damage is!

Sue - the variety i bought were Paris Silverskin - sounds similar to yours.

[SarzWix]

I've done the same thing - bought seeds for Paris Silverskin, and some small brown-skinned variety (can't remember the name?!), and haven't gotten round to sowing them... D'oh! Hopefully they'll keep ok to sow next year. Was going to pickle the smaller of my shallots, which I did last year, but the OH says not too bother - they're too strong and he stinks at work the next day so all his customers run away... !!

[Sue]

SarzWix
Groan about the shallots - especially as I've laboured over peeling hundreds of the damn things and pickled them up already.... at least I know to eat them in private and wear a face mask afterwards!
Sue

[pigletwillie]

Try prisma shallots from seed. They grow into individual "fruit pie" bulbs just the right size for pickling or storing for culinary use. They store very well too.

As for planting now, I fear you will not do very well as its too late as onions work of daylight time and as the days are now getting shorter they will just bolt.

[shirlthegirl43]

Try prisma shallots from seed. They grow into individual "fruit pie" bulbs just the right size for pickling or storing for culinary use. They store very well too.

As for planting now, I fear you will not do very well as its too late as onions work of daylight time and as the days are now getting shorter they will just bolt.

They sound good PW - where would I find the seed and should they be planted autumn or spring? I really must try to grow some onions and garlic. Cheers.

[Eden]

Pickling onions

Hi there,
when I very first starting growing veg many years ago I had a packet of suttons brown pickling seeds. I had a couple of plastic containers about 18" by 6" which I filled with compost and sowed the seed in there, and they grew brilliantly. I too have really clayey soil and this was a great alternative. This year I did the same thing but used a couple of grow bags outside, again worked so well that some of the onions went way past the pickling stage and are now huge. From 2 grow bags I've pickled 6 huge jars so far and I left about a dozen whoppers in use in cooking. Good luck!!

[moggssue]

Eden, did you take off the whole front of the growbag or just make holes in it to plant the onions through? I'm surprised they're deep enough - just shows how much I know hey!

[Eden]

Hello,
I gave the bags a right good shake to make sure the compost was well broken up and then placed it where I wanted it to go, I had mine first time round in the greenhouse, this year I just had them next to my buckets of spuds. Make sure the compost is the same depth all over then I cut a great big hole out, leaving about 2" round the edges so that the compost doesn't fall out (sorry forgot to mention putting in drainage holes before you cut the big bit of plastic out the top!). Then water it well and sprinkle on the seed, cover with a thin layer of compost or vermiculite, then just wait for all those lovely jubbly onions to grow. I'll take a picture tomorrow and put it on here so you can see what I mean. When I harvested the onions the other week I found the dog had buried her bone in amongst the onions, without spilling a drop of compost!! I thought I'd found a bog mans arm!!

[moggssue]

Eden, that sounds like a great idea and one I will be trying next year, thank you for the tip! And I'll look out for bogmen too!