On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 12:06:33 +0000, JB
wrote:

~On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 11:42:35 +0000 (UTC),
(jane) wrote:
~
~On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 09:57:13 +0000, JB
~wrote:
~
~~I ordered some red baron onion sets from organiccatalogue.com which
~~say they are not expected until 11 April. These are heat treated but
~~even so is that going to be too late to plant?
~
snip
~So the later these perishing onions arrive, the worse the crop. I
~moaned at them! (And went and bought some Turbo sets from the local GC
~so I actually have *some* onions!)
~
~When the HT ones arrive, I shall plant in large modules and keep them
~under glass until they have a lot of leaf, hoping they grow faster in
~the warm.
~
~Having said that, I just found a tray of small New Fen Globes from
~last year's relatively poor harvest that I'd forgotten about. Most are
~perfectly sound, and are now being eaten. So they definitely store
~well!
~
~For everything else I've tried they have seemed OK and being a novice
~gardener I had assumed that they would dispatch them at the 'right'
~time which is what they explicitly state for some items. Having said
~that I noticed my local GC had onion sets in and were selling out so
~I've planted some non organic red baron so that I should get
~something.

The worst that can happen is they bolt! My first year of growing
anything I started in May, planting two bags of sets within the first
2 weeks. I did quite well, considering! The onions lasted into the
autumn.

~If I try bringing them on in modules will they transplant successully?
~I thought they among the crops that don't like root disturbance.

That's why I use the larger modules (about 24 to a seed tray) - you
just plant the whole lot out when the roots start coming out of the
holes. The problem with allium roots is they snap easily, and don't
tend to grow replacements in a given season. Remove the feeding
mechanism and you don't get as large a crop.

Having said that, leek growers often, at transplanting time, trim the
roots to an inch long and cut back the leaves too, before dropping the
seedling into a 6" deep hole and puddling in.


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!