Last year was the first time in a while that our autumn planted onions did really well. I know that we had a mild winter but I think the main reason for the improved performance was that we planted the sets much earlier. In 2013 we planted directly into the ground on 21 September which was about a month earlier than in previous years. Previously we have ordered autumn onion sets online as this has offered more choice but it also means that planting time is at the mercy of the timing of the delivery of orders and in the past this has been rather late. Last year we decided to buy sets locally even if this meant that we had less choice.
This strategy appears to have paid off as last year we had a good early onion crop which lasted well.
We start picking the autumn onions as soon as we think they are big enough to use but last year we ended up lifting and storing some in the greenhouse for later use.
I think one advantage of getting them in the ground earlier is that they have time to put on some growth both above and beneath ground before winter sets in and calls a halt.
The table below shouldn't really be used to compare varieties as I think we planted more of some that others. Next year we will try and keep a better record of what we plant.
In 2014 we repeated the early planting on 25 September and planted, First Early, Electric Red and Troy which were the varieties available locally. They were off to a good start and are holding their own in spite of the constant battering that the wind has subjected them to.
To try for an early start for the spring planted onions, the sets (or at least some) are started off in modules and planted out as soon as conditions allow. Last year things started off well.
Then at the end of July things suddenly went wrong.
The plants just suddenly keeled over leaving us worrying about allium leaf miner or onion and leek moth. Received opinion was that this was neither so it remains a mystery. We harvested some and the bulbs seemed fine and so the whole lot was lifted on 3 August as there was obviously no more growing likely.
The previous year we lifted the onions on 8 September, a whole month later. The mature onions were rather small - some being not much bigger than the bulbs produced by the closely planted sets .
There are always too many sets in a bag so this is how we use them up. They produce good pickling onions from this planting method.
After drying the onions were stored on cardboard trays firstly in the shed and then the garage. In previous years we have stored them in the greenhouse but we felt the conditions were too damp which made the onions more likely to rot. The drier atmosphere seems to have been beneficial.
This year we will be growing Red Karmen, Rumba, Sturon and Stuttgarter again. There does seem to be rather a lot! I doubt they will all be planted.
Batches of each variety of onion have already been potted into modules so here's hoping the mystery problem that affected our onions last year was a one off occurrence.
We are still using the spring planted onions but I think their time may be running out.
It's mainly the very small ones that are still to be used up so I look set for an onion peeling session. Anyone ever frozen small onions for use in stews etc. I know that they are readily available to buy all year round, I'm just thinking about not wasting the ones we have grown. Maybe I should make some French onion soup and freeze that.
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