[NorthEast Old Newbie]

Hi Everyone,
This is an extract from the guides on this site:
"Onions grow best in good, well-drained soil. A heavy, wet soil encourages fungal rots. Add a general purpose fertilizer a week before you plant".

Our new (nearly a) half plot I share in Co. Durham, since last spring, has very heavy soil with a large amount of clay content. As we wish to plant Japanese Senshu overwintering onions, can any one advise as to how to improve the bed soil to a light well drained type before we plant 50 sets please?

I would advise that following the advise of our good neighbours last spring, we put in 50 sets of Santero F1 Onion Sets mildew resistant, but watched almost daily as they failed one by one, turning brown with no root growth, and some just rotting off, but no sign of white rot amongst the roots. Others just not showing any signs of life at all. Ground was soaked underneath with all the rains.

We leapt into all the planting of all veg with no knowledge, as spring was fast passing us when we received the plot.(feeble excuse)

We really dont want to build and fill raised beds for only 50 sets as it affects crop rotation on such a small plot. We would prefer to simply improve a strip of say 2ft wide x 10ft long(width of plot). Enough for the sets. The rest of the plot is almost all covered in manure now for the winter

[Yorkie]

Soil structure improvement is really a long term plan, best achieved by the ongoing addition of lots of organic matter (leaf mould, compost, manure, etc).

You could try adding grit to improve drainage, and plant the onions on slightly raised rows.  The addition of sharp sand will also help too.

For my spring planted onions, I start them off in tiny modules (about 1" square) in a seed tray insert.  That allows them to get a root system established before being planted out.

[LilacSandy]

Same as Yorkie, I garden on clay so put my sets into used plastic water cups I get from work and then plant out in the spring when they have a good root growth.

[Kleftiwallah]

You don't prepare an onion bed the same way you prepare an apple pie bed.

Where's the cloakroom? ? ?

Cheers,   Tony.

[LilacSandy]

If you stay with us you will soon get used to Tony.  Usually found on the naughty step.

[gavinjconway]

Tony..... get outta here....    

[NorthEast Old Newbie]

You could try adding grit to improve drainage, and plant the onions on slightly raised rows.  The addition of sharp sand will also help too.

Thanks everyone for their responses to my query. The idea of using raised rows/adding sharp sand/grit will be the solution for us I think,  until we get some years under our belts, time to improve the heavy clay with the constant addition of rotted manure.

I will discuss with my partners in crime the idea of setting them away in cups until the roots are established. Storage maybe the problem for us on that one but good idea all the same

Also gave Tony's suggestion some thought and ordered an apple pie pastry bed from Ebay just to give it a try. Not for the onions but for me supper!

Thanks again   

[rowlandwells]

 i think i made a bad choice of ground in my rotation plan this year with the wet weather had i anticipated it being a wet season i wouldn't have set them there because that ground was to heavy and stayed wet rotting the onions

we do get mildew on the Lottie but if you harvest Early its not a problem this was just bad judgement on my part to select this part of the Lottie

never mind we live and learn theres always next year i also usually spread wood ash on the ground prior to planting never bothered this year disappointed or what

[SG6]

Although a long term exercise you have to start somewhere.

Visit a garden centre and buy some bags of manure, guessing at least 6. Have assumed that they do a package deal where 3 are something like £12 or whatever.

Visit somewhere like Wicks that do cheap compost, last I visited theirs were something like 4 bags for £12 so get 8. Does your council do compost at a reasonable cost.

While there get 2 or 3 bags of fine aggregates.

Spread it all out and rake it over then dig it in.

I have a bed that was heavy and clay like. I have I have put more or less everything on and in there. Excess compost, used compost, manure, fine wood chips, composted wood chips, chopped leaves, coco mulch, they have all gone in. Pretty good soil now, easy to dig over, can do it with a hand trowel easily.

[Yorkie]

I thought an apple pie bed was what boarding school students did to play a trick on their peers  

(Or did I just read too much Enid Blyton as a child?  :blink: )

[SG6]

I thought an apple pie bed was what boarding school students did to play a trick on their peers  

(Or did I just read too much Enid Blyton as a child?  :blink: )

St Trinians perhaps?

[NorthEast Old Newbie]

"I have a bed that was heavy and clay like. I have I have put more or less everything on and in there. Excess compost, used compost, manure, fine wood chips, composted wood chips, chopped leaves, coco mulch, they have all gone in. Pretty good soil now, easy to dig over, can do it with a hand trowel easily."


Thank you. That sounds like exactly what I want to have overnight. Still I have immediate access to some old wood chips and can soon pick up the the rest to get going now. Hopefully it improves enough to resemble a soil lighter than is there at the moment. Hopefully the onion sets appreciate it and flourish a little better than this years plantings.

[pdblake]

I prepared for this year's overwintering onions and garlic by growing phacelia on the bed, then strimming and digging it in with some fish blood and bone. I left it a couple of weeks then planted.