[davethespread]

i was all set,preparing my onion bed for spring next year down at the plot,when somebody walked by and suggested getting autumn sets as well.can anyone tell me the advantages of autumn planted sets and what variety does best and tastes best, thanks.dave

[peterjf]

we grow ours from seeds , all our sets go to seed and bold , so sticking to good old seeds ,

will be starting them off on boxing day as usual

[madcat]

The great thing about the over wintering onion sets is they are ready before the main crop and cover the 'hungry gap'.  Particularly if last years are a bit short or haven't stored too well.  You dont want a lot because apparently they dont store (I cant say as ours were eaten too quickly to worry about it), but they can be useful.

[Jonajo]

i planted my overwintering garlic and onions last week. COvered the onions but not the garlic! The damn birds had eaten the garlic when I went today to pull up some carrots and leeks! Serves me right, So another lot of garlic will go in and I will make sure I cover these

[Goosegirl]

Garlic is usually planted an inch or so below the soil surface so you shouldn't have any problems with birds if you do that.

[Jonajo]

in theory! but the blighters did get them nonetheless.

[missycat]

What do you cover your onions with would an old voile curtain be ok or does it have to be fleece?

[DD.]

we grow ours from seeds , all our sets go to seed and bold , so sticking to good old seeds ,

will be starting them off on boxing day as usual

Think you missed the point there Peter, the question was about over-wintering onions, not spring planted ones - which is when your plants will go out.

[davethespread]

cheers all,i am going to do half and half,some in autumn and some in spring.but what i was asking was if anyone had a name for one to be planted in autumn,that done well and was tasty.taaaa

[DD.]

If you do a forum search on "Winter Onions" or "Japanese Onions" you should find quite a lot of existing threads & you'll see what folk are planting.

As we are well into the planting season, you may have to be content with what you can get hold of.

[davethespread]

ok cheers DD