[paul meese]

Hi i am new to this computor thing, but have been growing since i was a kid. What differant fertilizer,s do folk use for BIG show onion,s. Any idea,s would be grt, thank you. Paul  

[Bodger]

I was always lead to believe that soot was one of the secret ingredients.
 My friend across the road wins all the local shows with his onions, I'll ask him what he uses.
His string of show winners will be taking their last bow at tomorrows show and then we usually get them to eat. I'll get some pictures of the winners before they get eaten.

[Knoblauch]

You could look at vegmandan's excellent website, he grows show onions too.

[vegmandan]

Thank's for the comments Knoblauch.

Even though I've had a disaster this year re. big onions due to pests,(Damn Thrips !!!!!) plus rubbish plants and an awful summer.

Generally you don't use anything different to grow bigger onions than normal ones.

OK I've only managed about a 7 pounder but my mate has grown 10lb+ and like him I only use blood fish and bone,growmore and plenty of muck.

Some folks use high nitrogen ferts earlier to promote leaf growth but this can also make them grow a double neck and split into two if you're unlucky.

The secret is to get good big varieties, be it seed or plants and keep them warm in spring if you can and grow them on good rich fertile land and have a lot of luck.

Feeding later on in the season can actually do more harm than good as high potash can make the onions ripen up prematurely and then if you get a wet spell they'll just split.

So as far as I'm concerned there's no secret fertilizer (others may disagree) you just need a big variety and give them as much TLC as you can.