[Natasha]

Hello everyone. 

I'm asking this because I have just got an allotment and have space to play with onions for the first time. 

My allotment is clay with a pH somewhere between 6.5 and 7.  It's a new site, which had been left as waste ground.  I think it has had horses: we've dug out rotted bits of what look like iron and leather tack.  The main weeds are couch grass, creeping buttercup and plantain.  There were a couple of docks, but not too big. There are frogs nearby! It's about 14m x 10 m.

So that's what I've got.  I've dug strips and am lugging spent compost up bag by painful bag (no parking) to open up the soil.  I decided to get onions and garlic in, partly to encourage me to look after the digging I've done.  Garlic I've done for years in the garden, but never onions.  Reading around here and elsewhere online there seemed to be a consensus that spring-planted onions liked firm soil and their tops poking out, covered with fleece to prevent bird damage, but there seems to be a variety of opinions on autumn onions.  Some say the same as for spring, others that they like looser soil and should be completely covered. 

What does everyone do? They may rot anyway, of course, in clay over the winter, but I have put each one into its hole on a handful of compost, and gone for half buried, half sticking out but all under fleece at the moment.  I have Snowball, Radar and Electric Red, all sets.

Thanks in advance!
Natasha

[shoozie]

 I plant both spring and autumn sets the depth of the bulb so their tip is just at soil level. 

I've not had any luck with autumn sets on my clay, so don't bother giving them ground space now and grew them in buckets last year using old compost.

Birds and rodents like to pick the sets out of the ground over the next few weeks, so netting is a good idea. often the birds will just pull them out and leave them lying - so just pop them back in again.  Once they have a decent root, they'll be fine. They don't need fleece.  They are a bit of a hit or miss whether they'll come through our winter - I've found the reds less reliable. 

If you like your onions, have a think about summer onions from seeds - it's not hard and it'll get you sowing (indoors) in January. 

If you can get manure to top dress the beds you've cleared, the worms will get busy.  Don't over work or stand much on your soil now (planks are always handy) - a turn over, top dress and leave the winter frost to do what frost does. 

Best of luck with your new plot

[devonbarmygardener]

I get mine going in cut-down toilet rolls before planting - they always have a good sprout and roots on before they go out on the lottie.
This works fabulously on spring planted sets - never done it on autumn planted - just stuck them in the ground and they all rotted so figured I'd give them one more chance treating them the way I treat my spring planted sets.

[mumofstig]

I plant winter and spring onion sets with just the tops poking out, because they seem to raise themselves out a bit as they form roots.
Yours should be fine under the fleece, which will keep the birds off while they root - you can take it off later 

Good luck!

[Natasha]

Thank you everyone for the replies - lots to think about there.  Shoozie, I probably will try some seeds in the future as well as sets - I'm bound to end up with a packet somehow (has anyone noticed how seed packets just seem to turn up once you start growing veg?).  And sowing in January is good - I start chitting the first batch of broad beans on New Year's Day.  (The second batch begins on 1 Feb and always catches up, but that's not the point!)

Cut down loo rolls is a great idea, devonbarmygardener - I have a bag full for the broad beans and I can get onto that at once  and stick them in the cold frame in the back garden.  I have some 'spare' sets in modules in there already as I'm expecting the rain and winter to wipe out the onions at the allotment.

And thanks for the reassurance, mumofstig.  Assuming I still have a fleece after the wind and rain this week...