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Onions - Autumn planting

Any one else having a go this year?

First time trying onions, ive ordered a bag of mixed sets to try.

 

Ive got a couple of questions

As my garden is all concrete i bought a large reusable grow-bag, (H23cm x L100cm x D40cm) i believe this should be suitable for about 2 rows of 10. Figured it'd be better than pots.

Ive bought bulb compost to fill the grow bag and blood/fish/bone to scatter in as i fill the bag. Then some netting to go over the top to stop the birds getting to them.

Is there anything else i need to do?

How big do onions from sets get come June/July? 

Posts

  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    I grow vegetables in raised beds on tarmac. I treat the soil just as I would if I was gardening on a soil base. The way to stop the birds is to start the onions off in modules until they have a green shoot and roots then when you plant them out the birds don't pull them up.



    Onion sets will produce onions the same size - or bigger - as you buy.
  • Ellie 2Ellie 2 Posts: 2

    I'm growing runner beans for the first time, so far they have produced a huge amount of long beans and flowers. Do I prune them, and when are they ready to eat?

    Looks as though I will be eating beans until next year!

     

  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    Pick them young, not like they are in the supermarket, those are too old. Pick them before they have to have the strings removed.



    Not sure what you mean by 'prune'. Just pinch out the growing tip when they threaten to get too tall to reach the beans.



    Usually we have a frost which kills them about the same time you get tired of eating them. Try not to freeze them, they should be treated like a seasonal vegetable IMO. But above all eat them eat them young.
  • FleurisaFleurisa Posts: 779

    I have read that 'bulb compost' is only needed for planting up bulbs into containers that don't have drainage holes. The kind that are used for forcing paperwhite daffodils and hyacinths indoors. It is a bit of a con as it is pretty expensive compared to multipurpose compost

  • Didnt know that, luckily i didnt pay to much for the compost. £5 per 35L bag. Thought that was reasonable enough.

  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    For about £5 or £6 you could get 125 litre bags of general compost from B&Q and other outlets. I was a bit disappointed with the Red Baron onions I planted last Autumn; they didn't grow very large. I think I will try growing from seed, not sets next time.

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