[garddwr]

I have my Radar onions under fleece to stop the birds picking them out. When will it be safe to take it off ? From what I can see some have started to sprout.

[/IMG]

[DD.]

I would say that if they're sprouting, they've rooted & should be safe.

[MARROW HEAD]

There is really no need to cover them now...... the birds will keep trying to pull it out until the roots are long enough to anchor them in. I would just take the fleece off, and if the birds take them out, put them back in.

[gobs]

You can well take it off, never mind the birds.

Onions will generally grow on ground level and they always seem to get there, however deep you planted them.

Also, such weather factors as heat/frost and moisture/dryness will move the soil and your hardly rooted bulbs, not all the birds doing this.