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David in Normandy[_3_] · 26-11-2007, 05:04 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

In article 51710118-b5fd-4801-a160-
, michael says...
Hi,David.Thanks for your reply.I.too.had problems with onion growing
last year,which for me also was the first time I lost many onions due
to stem rot,probably caused by downy mildew.Both the onions from seed
and those from sets fared badly and I am even thinking of moving the
onion patch since the existing one may well have been infected with
mildew spores.I have planted and dug in some green manure on the
existing patch as the type I have chosen is supposed to absorb mildew
spores,but we will see.I think the main reason in the UK for this
mildew,was the very wet June/July we had,which is certainly very
unusual here in Herefordshire.I do not have problem with weeds on my
ground,which certainly would suppress small onion plants,but with the
extreme dryness of the soil.The earlier I can plant the sets,then the
better crop I get.However,one is very limited as to choice of onion
variety with sets and I really do wish to persevere with seed for this
reason,and am looking for a way to sow onions which makes it easier to
transplant.The method that I think that I will try is to sow lots of
seed closely in a 5" pot,and grow them on until reasonably large and
then plant out.I would welcome some advice though as to whether I
would just end up with shallot sized onions-planting onions out singly
into modules or trays seems to me a lot of trouble as I grow lots of
onions,Best regards,Michael

What I noticed about the onions I grew from seed in the
seed trays was that they didn't all grow at the same rate.
A few put on a spurt and a strong root system much to the
detriment of the rest of the onion seedlings nearby. So I
would guess that several seeds in one pot would not be
good. You would probably end up with one strong onion and
several weak ones. Perhaps a better approach would be using
plug trays with reasonable sized plugs. That way they would
not compete with each other. It would be time consuming if
you grow lots of onions, but it would be "a steady job" as
they say and not really hard work.

I don't think I will bother with seed onions again though.
Back to the sets. Stutgarter seems to be generally reliable
and a nice strong flavoured onion. Strangely though, this
year the bottoms of the onions that survived seem to be
flatter than normal and even a little indented, which makes
cutting off the roots and preparing them for use more
difficult. The onion bottoms are normally a little more
rounded. Is this a problem you've encountered?

--
David in Normandy