![]() ![]() If you want to be clever and save weeding later on you can plant through a sheet of black plastic. If the soil is very loose the roots don't get a firm hold, the plant thinks it's starving and can run to seed (Bolt). Firm the bed before planting either by standing on a timber plank of leaving the soil to settle a couple of weeks before planting. You can solve this by placing enviromesh or cloches over them for the first month which I strongly recommend. Birds seem to love pulling them out of the ground and scattering them round the garden. Push the sets about 1 cm into loose soil approx 10cm apart with 25cm between rows, leave about half of the onion showing above the soil. ![]() 5 Nice, tidy and round and oval bulbs will produce an excellent onion.4 Any very big sets are more likely to run to seed.3 Discard anything with mould or brown patches on the skin.1 You don’t want any shoots, you might think you’re getting a head start but you’ll just get a very poor quality bulb.Here are some tips to help you pick the best: If you do this correctly you will end up discarding almost half of the sets so bear that in mind when deciding what quantity to order. Once you have your bag of little golden onions you will need to pick the best ones to sow. Red onions are more likely to bolt (go to seed) and a later April planting can reduce the chance of this happening. Plant the onions from early March till the end of April. Onion sets are just small, immature onions from the previous year. Growing onions from sets is much easier than growing from seed and perfect for the beginner. If you have a heavy wet soil we recommend using riased beds to avoid potential disease caused by damp conditions. Onions will need a realtively fertile soil with a good tilth and good dranage. Onions prefer a slightly acidic soil - PH 5.5-6.5 is a good PH for growing onions. If your soil is heavy then you can introduce some organic compost or manure into the soil to help its moisture retaining properties. Onions will grow in almost any soil from sandy loams to heavy clay. Onions will grow in most climates and are frost resistant. ![]() Spring onions (scallion) can be sown from April and planting should be staggered every few weeks to ensure a continuous crop throughout the growing season. When covered back up with soil the tip of the neck should just show through the soil surface. Dig a small hole for each set and place the set in neck upwards. Sow sets around 10cm apart as they shouldn't require any thinning. If planting onion sets then they can be planted around Mid to Late March (earlier if a cloche / polytunnel is used). The soil should be moist before sowing so check the soil the day before sowing and water if the soil is dry. If sowing in rows then space the rows about 30cm apart. If sowing from seed then sow in drills about 2cm deep with about 1 inch between seeds. ![]() Sets are more expensive but they tend to be more reliable in their results and also require less work - no thinning and reduced onion fly risk. Onions can be planted from seed or from sets (small partly grown onion bulbs). You can tread the soil gently to firm it up a bit prior to sowing. If adding manure or composted organic matter then add a few weeks before sowing / planting out. They are used in a huge range of culinary dishes, both raw and cooked and are quite easy to grow. They can be stored over winter thus making a versatile crop. Onions are one of the most popular vegetables for growing in home gardens and are one of the first crops of spring. ![]()
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