Autumn onion sets
 

Good morning,

On an impulse buy I purchased some onion sets yesterday that (according to
the label) should be planted in the autumn.

Had a look through a couple of gardening books, but there is no mention of
growing onions over the winter!

Does anyone know when these should be planted and when they will be mature -
I'm guessing that I should put them in October / November time when I plant
the garlic.

Many thanks.


Andrew

Does anyone know when these should be planted and when they will be
mature -

Never mind mature, plant them in large seed trays 2 inches apart, keep them
well watered in the greenhouse and have some lovely "spring" onions in a few
weeks time!

Geoff

"ajr" wrote in message
...
: Good morning,
:
: On an impulse buy I purchased some onion sets yesterday that (according to
: the label) should be planted in the autumn.
:
: Had a look through a couple of gardening books, but there is no mention of
: growing onions over the winter!
:
: Does anyone know when these should be planted and when they will be
mature -
: I'm guessing that I should put them in October / November time when I
plant
: the garlic.
:
: Many thanks.
:
September here in the south west to get the roots down before it gets too
cold. Had a lovely crop this year
:
: Andrew
:
:

"ajr" wrote in message
...
Good morning,

On an impulse buy I purchased some onion sets yesterday that (according to
the label) should be planted in the autumn.

Had a look through a couple of gardening books, but there is no mention of
growing onions over the winter!

Does anyone know when these should be planted and when they will be
mature - I'm guessing that I should put them in October / November time
when I plant the garlic.

Many thanks.


Andrew


Geoff / Robert,

Many thanks for the advice - as there are a shed load of bulbs I'm going to
try both options - particularly like the idea of 'spring onions' in
October!!

Will report back on the results in a month / the spring respectively.

Cheers,

Andrew

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 11:00:09 GMT, "Geoff" wrote:
Does anyone know when these should be planted and when they will be
mature -

Never mind mature, plant them in large seed trays 2 inches apart, keep them
well watered in the greenhouse and have some lovely "spring" onions in a few
weeks time!

Erm, OP was talking about sets not seeds ! At 99p for 50 sets in my
local yesterday that'ud make for very expensive 'spring onions' !

On Sun, 28 Aug 2005 09:51:43 +0100, "ajr" wrote:
Good morning,
On an impulse buy I purchased some onion sets yesterday that (according to
the label) should be planted in the autumn.

Yep, autumn, that is about right.

Had a look through a couple of gardening books, but there is no mention of
growing onions over the winter!

Have you looked under/searched on "Japanese Onions" ?
Cos that is what they are usually known as.

Does anyone know when these should be planted

Autumn !

and when they will be mature -

worth eating when they are big enough, ie. about mid May here.
They will 'mature' ie. turn brownish on the skins about June/July -ish
They don't keep/store as well as the 'normal' onions so they are not
worth maturing for that purpose alone.
They will only keep till about xmas giveortake a bit., whereas
'ordinary' onions will keep well into the new year (sometimes even up
till the next Japanese onions are big enough to eat).

I'm guessing that I should put them in October / November time

that sounds more like winter to me ! brrrrr!!

I usually do my Japanese Onion sets late Sep - early Oct depending on
omens and feelings, some folk do them in mid Sep. Depends where you
are and what kind of autumn-winter you expect.
As Robert has said, it is all about giving them time to get a good
root system developed (ready to turbocharge them in the spring) before
winter sets in, but not _too_ much top growth.

May I suggest 1/2 early and 1/2 later, then by May2006 you'll know
when the best time _was_ and can tell us all ;-!))

when I plant the garlic.

I usually do my garlic about the same time as you, Oct/ Nov approx,
but I do the onions a few weeks/month earlier than that.

Many thanks.
Andrew

Welcome to the club, and good luck :-)

PS
Excuse lateness of post, been to surplus cider drinking local fest.
(it all had to be consumed to make way for new ,,, hic ,,, )

Erm, OP was talking about sets not seeds ! At 99p for 50 sets in my
local yesterday that'ud make for very expensive 'spring onions' !


50 spring onions will be about 5 bunches I suppose. At 99p for 5 bunches
you call that expensive? Where do you do your shopping so cheaply?

G

On Mon, 29 Aug 2005 08:03:42 GMT, "Geoff" wrote:
Erm, OP was talking about sets not seeds ! At 99p for 50 sets in my
local yesterday that'ud make for very expensive 'spring onions' !


50 spring onions will be about 5 bunches I suppose. At 99p for 5 bunches
you call that expensive? Where do you do your shopping so cheaply?

Oh ! :-) buy spring onions, in a shop ? What a strange idea ! :-)

I was thinking of _seed_, as per post,
and even cheaper if one collects one's own !

Oh ! :-) buy spring onions, in a shop ? What a strange idea ! :-)

It's not a strange idea if one does not eat many and growing just how many
one needs in a seed tray from sets is a good idea. Spring onions are not
expensive at 99p for 5 bunches besides which, in raised beds (largest 2.4 X
2.4 m smallest 1.2 X 1.2m), I grow things which are quite expensive -
asparagus , rhubarb, strawberries. runner beans and leeks. I suppose I
could make better use of my garden but with raised beds surrounded by gravel
chippings I can go gardening in my slippers!

Geoff

On Mon, 29 Aug 2005 12:36:37 GMT, "Geoff" wrote:
Oh ! :-) buy spring onions, in a shop ? What a strange idea ! :-)

It's not a strange idea if one does not eat many

True, but I was attempting a wee jest, (since this is a gardening
place you see) hence the smiley at front and end ;-)

and growing just how many
one needs in a seed tray from sets is a good idea.

and quicker doing that than raising them from seed, a good idea I
suppose if one leads a hectc modern lifestyle !

Spring onions are not
expensive at 99p for 5 bunches besides which, in raised beds (largest 2.4 X
2.4 m smallest 1.2 X 1.2m), I grow things which are quite expensive -

and things like peas which are just not the same from a shop.

asparagus , rhubarb, strawberries. runner beans and leeks. I suppose I
could make better use of my garden but with raised beds surrounded by gravel
chippings I can go gardening in my slippers!

Yes. Me too, sometimes barefoot even, but on grass paths. Bit of a
nuisance keeping them trimmed, one of these days I'll lay paving or
gravel or something.
I need a new pair of slippers tho' cos they are getting thin and
yesterday a holly leaf from a tree we have just removed stabbed me
right thro' the sole when I trod on it :-!(
Cloth type slippers are not a good idea for gardening early in the
morning, they let in the dew. But that is a good excuse to have
another cuppa and wait for the dew to evaporate :-))

In article , WaltA please@dontb
esilly.somewhere.com writes
Cloth type slippers are not a good idea for gardening early in the
morning, they let in the dew. But that is a good excuse to have
another cuppa and wait for the dew to evaporate :-))

Going barefoot in the dew s supposed to be good for something. Not sure
whether it's a good complexion or finding the name of your future
husband. Either way, it may not feel very relevant to you ;-)
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

On Mon, 29 Aug 2005 17:12:23 +0100, Kay wrote:
Going barefoot in the dew s supposed to be good for something. Not sure
whether it's a good complexion or finding the name of your future
husband. Either way, it may not feel very relevant to you ;-)

lol !
How did you know that my complexion was perfect already ;-)