[Yana]

I put onion sets in last Monday and covered them with a fleece frame to stop the birds pulling them out and to keep them a bit warmer. After all the rain I wondered if I should cover the onions with a plastic tunnel cloche to stop them drowning?

[gazza975526570]

i dont think they will drown unless you are close to a river that is overflowing tbh.

I dont cover mine at all - a few get pulled out by birds but i just put them back in the ground with no issues.

[mattwragg94]

they wont drown, just keep them covered with the fleece and they should be fine 

[Trillium]

If you find you're getting a great deal of rain over a period of time, then it's a good idea to put a tunnel over your onions. Last year, or was it the year before, we had a lot of people with rotting onions because of too much rain. Onions do like regular watering but really can't cope with continuous heavy rain which softens them to the point of rotting. It's something to keep an eye on.

[Yana]

Ok thanks. Rain is forecast every day until Friday this week is I'll nip to lottie between showers and check.

[Donnay]

I planted 100 onion sets last week, how do I cover them from the rain all week??

[DD.]

You don't.

[Donnay]

I suppose that means they will rot and I will lose them!

[DD.]

What makes you think that?

I've never covered onions in 40 years of growing them!

[Salmo]

Onions are more likely to rot if they are in warm moist conditions under a cover. Having said that it is quite difficult to kill onion sets. They are usually very determined to grow.

If you do get some rotten ones it is probably because they have been in the shop or your shed too long.

[Trillium]

  I didn't mean that onions would immediately rot if they get rained on. I meant that if you get weeks and weeks of rain, then seriously consider covering them so they get less water around the roots. Onions can absorb only so much water before they become overloaded and start to rot, which happens quickly in warmer temperatures later and in storage. At the moment, I'm sure all planted onions can do with all the rain they can get.

[devonbarmygardener]

I've always covered my onions and leeks with enviromesh as it stops me losing (the leeks especially) to leek moth larvae.

As for the rain - I don't think they get as big when the season is dry - onions always do best near the base of my plot which is at the bootom of the slope where most of the water collects.
When they have been too dry they haven't swelled so big.

One thing I always do with onion sets is sprout them before planting - I cut toilet rools in half and fill them with compost and put one onion in each.
Once they have a nice 2-3 inch sprout and some roots I plant them, toilet roll and all on the plot. They have always done well fro that start.

Emma

[gazza975526570]

seems a lot of effort for onions tbh

I generally grow a good few hundred and just stick them straight in the soil. Odd one is pulled out by birds but just stick them back in and they are fine.

[DD.]

That's the way to do it!

No faffing - works every time.

[prakash_mib]

can i just say that birds dont pull them. it is certainly a myth. onion sets when you plonk in the ground, rushes its root first and pops out or subsistence in soil pop them out.
atleast for this time I dont blame the birds.