What I'm growing and some questions

[Forage420]

here is the over-wintering garlic. I'm going to remove the netting soon, it's mainly to stop foxes from squashing them.




over-wintering red onions - variety is called 'electric'



over-wintering onions from above



shallots I've just planted. I was confused because the instructions said to protect from frost, so I've waited until now to plant. The instructions on this website say to plant in March or earlier, or in autumn, so it didn't make sense to me - I just left off until now. Will these crop properly? What could I have done better?



another bed with a mixture of garlic and onions - both over wintering.

I have about 4-5 different varietes of over-wintering garlic including elephant garlic (never grown before).

It's not rained here for about 2 weeks, should I give them all a soaking? Is the yellowing normal or not related to drier weather?

Is it safe to apply liquid feed to shallots? i.e. feed added to the watering can and then applied? Is there any risk of the feed burning the bulb/roots?

Thanks guys for any help you can give me.

[Forage420]

some over-wintering cabbage. Not very organised but they have survived the worst of the UK weather and the slugs will no longer trouble them so pretty much a given.

[Martin H]

I've given up waiting for rain, I gave my onions and garlic a thorough soaking at the end of last week.

I gave them a spring feed first: a sprinkling of general fertilizer just to perk them up a bit.

My garlic has some yellowing too. I'm hoping it's not the early onset of rust. Whatever, the spring feed should help them along.

I wouldn't feed the shallots at this time, let them get growing first.

[johnjohn]

As Martin says, I'd be inclined to give them all a drink. Where are you? It's on my to do list tomorrow.

[Jay-ell]

Although rummaging under the first centimetre or so of soil; showed that my beds were still moist I gave my overwintering alliums a bit of a drink and mixed into it a comfrey feed. Onions will need some nitrogen and potassium and I'll be giving them a feed every couple of weeks or so.

My overwintering onions and garlic also had a touch of yellowing on the tips of the leaves which may be disease but may also mean that they aren't getting enough nutrients/moisture for some reason.

My spring sown alliums are OK, as are the garlic growing near the compost bin.

[Bigmallly]

The Shallots that you have just planted appear to be on the surface, they do sometimes push themselves out, can you push them into the soil so that only the tips are showing.

[Cadalot]

I'm growing shallots from seed in modules and I just have a few blades of grass showing

[Snadger]

My shallots are well on and ready for me to pull off the brown mushy bit from the bottom to allow the stems to spread out.
Two things that i always deal with in February are shallots which are planted in situ and parsnips which are sown in situ.

[Forage420]

Thanks guys I'll give them all a watering today then. Knowing my luck it'll rain right afterwards.

Should I apply some liquid feed to the onions and garlic then? The stuff is called biobizz biobloom and biobizz top max (both organic) from about 10 years or so ago. The opened bottle smells just the same. I'm just thinking a lot of the active ingredients in there will be inert now or something. I just don't want to poison the plants.

I was thinking to apply the directed amount in a watering can first, apply it and then leave it an hour and then get the hose out, this will remove any residue from the foliage to avoid burns.. what do you think ? I would hate to think the yellowing is from lack of nutrients. A mate of mine thinks it might be a lack of nitrogen so you are not the first person to say that Jay-ell.

Martin H - what fertiliser do you use? Organic or chemical? Not bothered which?

Johnjohn - London here. Not rained for a time!

Bigmallly - I planted them like that on purpose just like I did the red onions. I found that once the onions took they pulled themselves below ground with the roots. So I let the heads of the shallots poke out in the same way. Is this bad practice?

Cadalot - I've never had success with onions from seed. I don't think I have the patience for it. I get to your stage and then it all goes pete tong.

Snadger - give us some photos. Helps with the learning. Do you fleece the ground when you plant the shallots? What about frost damage?

[Bigmallly]

Bigmallly - I planted them like that on purpose just like I did the red onions. I found that once the onions took they pulled themselves below ground with the roots. So I let the heads of the shallots poke out in the same way. Is this bad practice?

I wouldn't call it bad practice, I've never seen it done that way before that's all. I normally push them into the soil so only the tip is showing..........makes it harder for the birds to pull up & also makes it harder for them to push themselves out. Netting is a good idea until they become established.

[Penellype]

With regard to watering, it has been an unusually dry spring, particularly in the south east where there has been only about 44% of the normal rainfall. There is little prospect of a deluge in the next week or so, so I would recommend giving everything a good soak from time to time, particularly if it has been windy. Nothing dries plants out faster than wind, particularly if it is warm.

[Jay-ell]

I don't push my shallots particularly deep - I have just removed the blue netting now that everythings got their roots down and are growing - infact some of them are almost caught up to the autumn sown which I put down to the blue netting (may put it back on once I've weeded it)

[Martin H]

Martin H - what fertiliser do you use? Organic or chemical? Not bothered which?

I use whatever I've got handy. It's nitrogen they want at this time of year, but this time round I used Growmore on the allotment ones and some ancient Miraclegro on the garden ones. If I'd had pelleted chicken poo around I might have scattered some of that, but I'd used it all up on my lawn.

[Forage420]

I use whatever I've got handy. It's nitrogen they want at this time of year, but this time round I used Growmore on the allotment ones and some ancient Miraclegro on the garden ones. If I'd had pelleted chicken poo around I might have scattered some of that, but I'd used it all up on my lawn.

Thanks Martin. Could you please comment on my thread here regarding the feed? :

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...old_93155.html

Want to make sure I get it right.

[Forage420]

Although rummaging under the first centimetre or so of soil; showed that my beds were still moist I gave my overwintering alliums a bit of a drink and mixed into it a comfrey feed. Onions will need some nitrogen and potassium and I'll be giving them a feed every couple of weeks or so.

My overwintering onions and garlic also had a touch of yellowing on the tips of the leaves which may be disease but may also mean that they aren't getting enough nutrients/moisture for some reason.

My spring sown alliums are OK, as are the garlic growing near the compost bin.

Jay do you switch to a different feed when the plants mature to flowering stage or do you not? If you do, what do you use and how often do you feed in flowering ? Do you stop feeding shortly before harvest, if yes, when do you stop ?

I'm planning to harvest the wintering onions and garlic on the longest day, so end of June