[sharky]

Hello,

vegmandan is posing in his avatar with a rather large onion, but how do you grow them THAT big?  :oops:

[compostqueen]

my dad was a champ onion grower and he would never reveal his secrets.  The first thing is the type of seed.  Medwyn Williams probably sells it or Robinsons Seeds  

[nothinghasdiedyet]

I would love to know this also maybe not the secrets but the varieties would help massively  

[vegmandan]

Theres no secret really.

1st you need a giant variety,I'm growing the world record holding variety "Ailsae".

Other big onion varieties are "Mammoth" from Robinsons and "Kelsae" not quite as big but a fantastic shape.

Then you need to start them off early,around December,or buy seedlings in early spring

The more care you give them the bigger they get,i.e extra heat and light in early spring.

Then just plant them out at increased distances than normal onions,increase the water once they start to bulb.

I grow mine in a polytunnel which does help,but I never feed them,I just make sure the soil has the correct nutrients at the start of the year,excessive feeding in a polytunnel can lead to the onions ripening off prematurely and not getting as big as possible..

That's about it.

Oh and a decent Sunny summer helps !

[sharky]

Theres no secret really.

1st you need a giant variety,I'm growing the world record holding variety "Ailsae".

Other big onion varieties are "Mammoth" from Robinsons and "Kelsae" not quite as big but a fantastic shape.

Then you need to start them off early,around December,or buy seedlings in early spring

The more care you give them the bigger they get,i.e extra heat and light in early spring.

Then just plant them out at increased distances than normal onions,increase the water once they start to bulb.

I grow mine in a polytunnel which does help,but I never feed them,I just make sure the soil has the correct nutrients at the start of the year,excessive feeding in a polytunnel can lead to the onions ripening off prematurely and not getting as big as possible..

That's about it.

Oh and a decent Sunny summer helps !

I have looked at your diary/website and it is all very impressive. You must be pretty much self sufficient?

[Ropster]

can you grow huge onions using set's ?

[vegmandan]

You used to be able to get Marshalls "Show Master" sets and I've grown them to 4-5 lbs but they seem to have discontinued them,they now just sell showmaster seedlings.

There doesn't seem to be a really big onion set out there any more unfortunately.

[Tinbasher]

I would love to know this also maybe not the secrets but the varieties would help massively  

Yes, as the monster grower from Yorkieshire says, it's the variety.  A chap on our allotment site very kindly gave me half a dozen 'Mammoth' variety onions at the weekend, all grown from seed in January.  Very healthy they looked and his advice was:  plant out 12" apart in the row in well manured or composted soil.  Additionally he said try one or two in a 12" pot, half filled with well-rotted manure and then topped off with some good compost, into which put the young onion plant.  I've tried both methods - 4 in the garden in a fertile patch and 2 in pots.

I've promised him a home-made loaf in return - a mozarrella and rosemary focaccia, with lashings of olive oil and with sea salt and more rosemary on top.  I know he'll be impressed, as I was when I discovered the recipe.  Can't wait till the Mammoths ripen  - focaccia and mammoths will be a staunch filler for late summer days.

[Tinbasher]

I would love to know this also maybe not the secrets but the varieties would help massively  

Yes, as the monster grower from Yorkieshire says, it's the variety.  A chap on our allotment site very kindly gave me half a dozen 'Mammoth' variety onions at the weekend, all grown from seed in January.  Very healthy they looked and his advice was:  plant out 12" apart in the row in well manured or composted soil.  Additionally he said try one or two in a 12" pot, half filled with well-rotted manure and then topped off with some good compost, into which put the young onion plant.  I've tried both methods - 4 in the garden in a fertile patch and 2 in pots.

I've promised him a home-made loaf in return - a mozarrella and rosemary focaccia, with lashings of olive oil and with sea salt and more rosemary on top.  I know he'll be impressed, as I was when I discovered the recipe.  Can't wait till the Mammoths ripen  - focaccia and mammoths will be a staunch filler for late summer days.

[Tinbasher]

I would love to know this also maybe not the secrets but the varieties would help massively  

Yes, as the monster grower from Yorkieshire says, .... etc

Sorry for double posting - browser glitch.  The site seems just a little slow at the moment and I got a 'Timeout' error, so clicked 'submit' again.

[Chappers]

This book will tell you all about growing giant veg.

[vegmandan]

If you have a look at some of Bernard Laverys ridiculously enormous veg and flower records he must have some "secret" ingredient that he's not going to tell you about in his book me thinks.  

[adekun]

How about growing normal sized onions? Any harm in leaving them in an extra month?  :oops:

[vegmandan]

Trouble is once the foliage has fallen over (August onwards)they don't grow any bigger so leaving them another month won't make any difference.

So you need a big variety to get a big 'un. :shock:

You might get bigger "Normal Onions" if you space them further apart and give them a bit more water in July/August once they form the bulb.

I'd recommend buying some "Kelsae" plants from T&M next year.

I grew 'em last year and they averaged about 3-4lb in a rubbish summer.

I think they were about £6 for 40.might sound a bit dear but if you only get to 2lb thats 80lbs of onions,less than 7p a pound. :shock:

It's gotta be worth a go just for the ego trip you get when you do grow a big un  

[adekun]

I should have mentioned a bit more on the background. The sign said the onions are for May harvesting.

Trouble is once the foliage has fallen over (August onwards)they don't grow any bigger so leaving them another month won't make any difference.

In any case, perhaps I should be looking for the signs rather than the calendar.
A few have bolted following a long cold spell but I guess it's okay to leave them.
It's a good point on the numbers. A couple of onions costs around ¥100 (50 pence).