[hubballi]

I have a lot of onion sets (red and white) waiting in modules with a little compost to plant out. My dilemma is I have a small, square raised bed for everything to go in which so far has potatoes and broad beans. I want to plant the onions out at the other side but there are so many. Can I plant them very close together as I am not too bothered about great big onions come end of summer. Just a regular supply through the coming months. The other problem is I got onion maggot fly in them 2 years ago so I am a bit paranoid. Netting them isn't practical and would look unsightly. Can I grow a few together in large pots filled with garden soil and fed with blood, fish and bone, chicken manure ?

Thanks.

[Beetroot queen]

Not sure about the maggot fly but we tend to plant on the close side in our defined beds. I don't like huge onions so smallish is fine for us.

It's trial and error, my dad says it has two choices grow or don't grow. Bit of a basic idea but you never try, you'll never know.

[rowan57]

You'll want at least 3 inches ideally 6 between sets, else you'll have expensive spring onions.

[hubballi]

Well Geoff Hamilton grew them together in clumps on his organic vegatable garden programe and they came up a treat and decent size. I suppose if you feed them well however close they will be ok.

[mumofstig]

why did you ask if you have already decided to grow them like Geoff Hamilton did?

[Wiltshire Worms]

i think it was Alan Titchmarsh on TV fairly recently suggesting growing in clumps of 3-4 onions and letting them push each other out of the way..i tend to plant my sets about 4" apart and start using as soon as they are a usable size

[snowdrops]

I think you will find that Geoff Hamilton grew 3/4 together from a sowing of a pinch of seed in a module & planted them out together,they will then push each other out of the way,not sure it would be the same with sets.

[rowan57]

Well Geoff Hamilton grew them together in clumps on his organic vegatable garden programe and they came up a treat and decent size. I suppose if you feed them well however close they will be ok.

A 'dilemma' suggests you have yet to make a decision, a decision suggests you have made a decsision

[GrannieAnnie]

Why buy several sets if you haven't enough room to grow them?

[shoozie]

I have a lot of onion sets.  Can I plant them very close together.  Can I grow a few together in large pots filled with garden soil and fed with blood, fish and bone, chicken manure ?

Thanks.

Yes you can plant sets close together.  In a square foot garden you can plant 8-9 per square foot - I've tried this and you won't get giants, but a fair enough size for the kitchen.  In a pot like a builders bucket you can plant 15 - you can thin them to eat as green onions and leave the rest to grow on - mix FBB in the compost/ soil mix and feed again later.   I've tried the planted as clusters of five - but only from seed - and some in small 7" pots as well as the ground.  If you've got lots of spare sets, get them planted!

[DD.]

A reccentish post of mine:

A couple of years ago, I visited the Eden Project.

The farmers down in Cornwall had found that they could increase their overall yield by keeping the spacings the same, but plant four at each station.

The size per onion is less, but the yield in total weight is more.

Keeping the spacing wider makes for easier weeding.

Something to consider if you're stuck for space.

[shoozie]

DD - I missed that earlier post, that's really interesting - what spacing did they use between stations?

Hubballi - I re-read your post where you say you've already got broad beans in your bed, hasn't registered this first time. I grew onions and broadbeans close together once ..... It was a bad idea as neither grew successfully.  Make sure they are not beside each other.  Onions also prefer good light so avoid any shade from the tatties. 

[hubballi]

This is the area I have to play with. I was thinking on the far left of the square bed. The broad beans and spuds are at the far right although they have not yet been planted in this pic.

[DD.]

DD - I missed that earlier post, that's really interesting - what spacing did they use between stations?

All they said on the boards was "usual spacings", interpret that as you will! If I've got a few left over at the end of a row, I double up the last few with my usual 6" spacing.

[snowdrops]

Hub your garden is lovely. To be honest in that sized veg area I would be thinking of growing one type of crop,I think that might be where your crops are failing they really do need adequate space to grow successfully. If you overcrowd the degree that it appears you are intending to/have in the past that explains why you are struggling to grow anything successfully. Remember the roots will not be just the same size as the plant above, they need to spread out to anchor the plant, feed & hydrate it too.
On the positive side have you thought about planting the sets in the borders in groups of 3/5/7 as in Geoff Hamilton's ornamental Kitchen garden.It worked quite successfully in my last garden. Conversely have you heard of square foot gardening, look on Amazon for books about it,I bought 1 for a friend a couple of years ago,I think there is a new book on it called square metre gardening just been published,I read recently somewhere.