Onions
Last November I resolved to make a real effort for our 2010 local flower
show (today) and produce some stonking onions. Just for fun. So I bought Centurion sets - recommended "for the show bench" - planted a dozen in large pots filled with a mixture of good loam topsoil, well rotted manure and sharp sand. They received regular feeding and lots of TLC. Well, they grew OK but no bigger or better than the rest of the packet which prospered normally in my normal soil. Nothing spectacular. So I have entered some Radar into the show. They grew beautifully having been planted as usual and am waiting for the result right now (the show doesn't open until 2.30pm). What surprised me when lifting the pot planted Centurion was that, while the onions themselves were quite reasonably sized (diameter c. 12 ins.) but not at all "special", the root systems were enormous. Most had roots exceeding 18 ins long, a vast system with many of the roots being extremely thick and well developed. It seemed as if the plant concentrated on growing roots rather than bulking up the bulb. Any thoughts on what I should do next year to reverse the process - other than planting them upside down!? -- Gopher .... I know my place! |
Onions
On 14 Aug, 13:13, Gopher wrote:
Last November I resolved to make a real effort for our 2010 local flower show (today) and produce some stonking onions. Just for fun. So I bought Centurion sets - recommended "for the show bench" - planted a dozen in large pots filled with a mixture of good loam topsoil, well rotted manure and sharp sand. They received regular feeding and lots of TLC. Well, they grew OK but no bigger or better than the rest of the packet which prospered normally in my normal soil. Nothing spectacular. So I have entered some Radar into the show. They grew beautifully having been planted as usual and am waiting for the result right now (the show doesn't open until 2.30pm). What surprised me when lifting the pot planted Centurion was that, while the onions themselves were quite reasonably sized (diameter c. 12 ins.) but not at all "special", the root systems were enormous. Most had roots exceeding 18 ins long, a vast system with many of the roots being extremely thick and well developed. It seemed as if the plant concentrated on growing roots rather than bulking up the bulb. Any thoughts on what I should do next year to reverse the process - other than planting them upside down!? -- Gopher .... I know my place! Heh Heh! If it was as easy as that winning would be a random event wereas the same people tend to win all he time! Many of these secrets can be winkled out on the internet. I am on the same mission with pumpkins. I downloaded a ot of stuff from the USA but I suspect some is not relevent to our climate. This is my first year, I have found out some stuff already. I think a main one is you need to grow lots just to have a chance of hitting on a good one. You need the right seed as well of course. But you could start right he- http://uk.ask.com/web?q=Grow+giant+o...=dir&s iteid= |
Quote:
Both Onions and Pumpkin benefit from Micorrhizal Fungi, It is sold as Rootgrow. These fungi attach themselves to the roots of the plant and deliver much greater amounts of nutrient to the plant. In return the fungi receive soluble carbon from the plant roots. The system by which this works is known as symbiosis as in both fungi and plant benefit from the association. I have added two links, one to the purchase of Rootgrow and the other to a site which specifies plants which are Micorrhizal. I hope that this information helps and look forward to hearing that you have won something! Mycorrhizal fungi, rootgrow, rootgrowprofessional, plantworks Plant List | Mycorrhizae: Soil fungi for your plant's root growth Uriel 13 |
Onions
In message , uriel13
writes Gopher;897320 Wrote: Last November I resolved to make a real effort for our 2010 local flower show (today) and produce some stonking onions. Just for fun. So I bought Centurion sets - recommended "for the show bench" - planted a dozen in large pots filled with a mixture of good loam topsoil, well rotted manure and sharp sand. They received regular feeding and lots of TLC. Well, they grew OK but no bigger or better than the rest of the packet which prospered normally in my normal soil. Nothing spectacular. So I have entered some Radar into the show. They grew beautifully having been planted as usual and am waiting for the result right now (the show doesn't open until 2.30pm). What surprised me when lifting the pot planted Centurion was that, while the onions themselves were quite reasonably sized (diameter c. 12 ins.) but not at all "special", the root systems were enormous. Most had roots exceeding 18 ins long, a vast system with many of the roots being extremely thick and well developed. It seemed as if the plant concentrated on growing roots rather than bulking up the bulb. Any thoughts on what I should do next year to reverse the process - other than planting them upside down!? -- Gopher .... I know my place! Hi Gopher, Both Onions and Pumpkin benefit from Micorrhizal Fungi, It is sold as Rootgrow. These fungi attach themselves to the roots of the plant and deliver much greater amounts of nutrient to the plant. In return the fungi receive soluble carbon from the plant roots. The system by which this works is known as symbiosis as in both fungi and plant benefit from the association. I have added two links, one to the purchase of Rootgrow and the other to a site which specifies plants which are Micorrhizal. I hope that this information helps and look forward to hearing that you have won something! 'Mycorrhizal fungi, rootgrow, rootgrowprofessional, plantworks' (http://tinyurl.com/2bd6mkg) 'Plant List | Mycorrhizae: Soil fungi for your plant's root growth' (http://tinyurl.com/2fmm6cb) Uriel 13 Thanks for this. I have used Rootgrow for a couple of years for shrubs and other plants which have roots and have found it generally pretty effective. However I have never tried it for vegetables. Onion sets don't really have proper roots - just the rounded part at the blunt end :-)). Have you tried Rootgrow on onion sets with success. I guess there's no reason why it should not be effective on tray or root-trainer grown seedlings when planting out, although it's rather an expensive medium. Have you, or anyone else in the ng used Rootgrow on onion sets or any vegetable crop with success? It would be very interesting to know. BTW, I won a couple of things (inc. for shallots) but nothing for my onions (the Radar) which were quite big and beautifully shaped but would not "golden up" in time as I lifted them too late. Next year will be different!!! ..... ;-)) -- Gopher .... I know my place! |
Onions
In message , uriel13
writes Gopher;897635 Wrote: In message , uriel13 writes- Gopher;897320 Wrote:- Last November I resolved to make a real effort for our 2010 local flower show (today) and produce some stonking onions. Just for fun. So I bought Centurion sets - recommended "for the show bench" - planted a dozen in large pots filled with a mixture of good loam topsoil, well rotted manure and sharp sand. They received regular feeding and lots of TLC. Well, they grew OK but no bigger or better than the rest of the packet which prospered normally in my normal soil. Nothing spectacular. So I have entered some Radar into the show. They grew beautifully having been planted as usual and am waiting for the result right now (the show doesn't open until 2.30pm). What surprised me when lifting the pot planted Centurion was that, while the onions themselves were quite reasonably sized (diameter c. 12 ins.) but not at all "special", the root systems were enormous. Most had roots exceeding 18 ins long, a vast system with many of the roots being extremely thick and well developed. It seemed as if the plant concentrated on growing roots rather than bulking up the bulb. Any thoughts on what I should do next year to reverse the process - other than planting them upside down!? -- Gopher .... I know my place!- Hi Gopher, Both Onions and Pumpkin benefit from Micorrhizal Fungi, It is sold as Rootgrow. These fungi attach themselves to the roots of the plant and deliver much greater amounts of nutrient to the plant. In return the fungi receive soluble carbon from the plant roots. The system by which this works is known as symbiosis as in both fungi and plant benefit from the association. I have added two links, one to the purchase of Rootgrow and the other to a site which specifies plants which are Micorrhizal. I hope that this information helps and look forward to hearing that you have won something! 'Mycorrhizal fungi, rootgrow, rootgrowprofessional, plantworks' ('Mycorrhizal fungi, rootgrow, rootgrowprofessional, plantworks' (http://tinyurl.com/2bd6mkg)) 'Plant List | Mycorrhizae: Soil fungi for your plant's root growth' ('Plant List | Mycorrhizae: Soil fungi for your plant's root growth' (http://tinyurl.com/2fmm6cb)) Uriel 13 - Thanks for this. I have used Rootgrow for a couple of years for shrubs and other plants which have roots and have found it generally pretty effective. However I have never tried it for vegetables. Onion sets don't really have proper roots - just the rounded part at the blunt end :-)). Have you tried Rootgrow on onion sets with success. I guess there's no reason why it should not be effective on tray or root-trainer grown seedlings when planting out, although it's rather an expensive medium. Have you, or anyone else in the ng used Rootgrow on onion sets or any vegetable crop with success? It would be very interesting to know. BTW, I won a couple of things (inc. for shallots) but nothing for my onions (the Radar) which were quite big and beautifully shaped but would not "golden up" in time as I lifted them too late. Next year will be different!!! ..... ;-)) -- Gopher .... I know my place! Hi Gopher, I always plant my onion sets using a bulb planter, I dig out a hole about 5 inches deep. To the hole I add a good handful of home made compost and a sprinkling of Rootgrow. I then place the set on top of the Rootgrow, cover with soil and water in. It sounds a bit finicky but it works for me, the onions grown using this method are bigger and the plants seem healthier. Most vegetables are micorrhizal the exceptions are Brassica and Turnip and Beets. It is best to use organic fertilisers like Blood, Fish & Bone as Mycorrhizsa are killed off by N,P K fertilisers. Hope this helps. Uriel Many thanks! Will experiment with the overwintering bulbs later this year. -- Gopher .... I know my place! |
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