[sharonl]

Hi all,

I finally got the onion bed dug and want to put in onion sets this weekend. Is it too early? Also, really basic question, when planting the sets, is it fine to just bung em in and then water, or should I water the bed first before planting the sets. I've never grown onions before so I'm a complete noob! Final question, is it too late to plant garlic?

Thanks
sharon

[James Kilkelly]

It's not too early sharonl, get them in as soon as you can.

Its good if the soil is slightly damp to the touch, however watering before planting can cause the soil to be very sticky forcing you to leave off planting until it drys out slightly.
The way I look at it is the sets have been out of moist soil for ages already so the wait for watering after you plant will not bother them a bit.

About the time to plant garlic, I think blackbird said it best in this post.... can i transplant garlic now? Late April / Early May

"They are usually planted in autumn as the bulbs need the cold of the winter to encourage them to split into new garlic bulbs. With late planted garlic you'll probably find that you'll get one large bulb, instead of many split bulbs.
It wont be as usable in the kitchen but it should still scare the greenfly."

some pics from my own garden ....


Shallot planting.

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[sharonl]

Thanks GPI the pics are really usefull, at least I know now how they should look.

sharon

[Gill]

Hi... Im in exactly the same position as you with the onions.... just planted them last sunday. Fingers crossed as I too am new to this.... good to see the photos that actually really helps . Good luck

[michael brenock]

just press the sets into the ground about half inch.Plant any time between mid march and early may. Plant garlic now about 2 inches deep, divide up a garlic bulb into cloves the natural division within the bulb.
michael brenock horticultural advisor (retired)

[Blowin]

Sharon. Hi! The fact that you've made the conscious decision to grow onions in the first place means they obviously have a value to you.

Too late for this year but, around September time (possibly August), have a trawl through the websites and you'll find various types of onion and shallot sets that are planted around October and sit in the ground right through the winter to provide an earlier crop the following year - around June. As always, cover with some sort of netting to stop the birds pulling them out.

Using this facility plus the more orthodox spring planting, you should keep yourself in onions for 90% of the year. I've still got the remains of last year's 'rope' hanging in the garage and, whilst some have gone off, there are still enough rock hard ones to meet our needs.

If, as I am, you're fortunate to have a commercial strawberry grower nearby, many of them grow their crops in commercial cropping bags (growbags) which they throw out at the end of their crop. I get these, turn them over and carefully slip off the plastic to reveal a nice smooth surface of compost and I then dib holes at the required intervals for the little onion sets.

It seems as though strawberries and onions use different types of nutrition as I always get a good crop from these bags. It's also a long time before the weeds come through the compost and, once the onions have been lifted, you're left with the rich dark residue to dig into your soil and improve its general quality.

If you have difficulty sourcing winter sets within Ireland, I know Dobies of Paignton do them every year.

[ian]

plant them now if you have room and see how they go here is a pic of mine red. white and shallots planted only 3 weeks ago under glass in rotted manure and peat compost mix, no harm tryin'
regards ian.