[LilacSandy]

Hi,

I have left two large onions on the plot to get them to seed next year.  Should I dig them up and put them in pots in my unheated greenhouse or are they best left where they are?

[Kleftiwallah]

If you can dig them up with as large a root ball as possible to ensure ther roots are not disturbed, I should move them into your greenhouse so they are safe from damp and being blown over.     Cheers,     Tony.

[8doubles]

Hope you have better luck than i did, saved a lot of seed and planted and nurtured it to find the 'father' had been a chive plant so no onions.
You cannot trust bees to do a proper job ! 

[LilacSandy]

Thanks, I will dig them up tomorrow and overwinter in the greenhouse.

I did not plant any Chives this year so hopefully the donor was compatable, however as I am on a very big allotment site I will await my children with baited breath.

[LilacSandy]

Hope you have better luck than i did, saved a lot of seed and planted and nurtured it to find the 'father' had been a chive plant so no onions.
You cannot trust bees to do a proper job ! 

What do Chonions look like?

[8doubles]

Hope you have better luck than i did, saved a lot of seed and planted and nurtured it to find the 'father' had been a chive plant so no onions.
You cannot trust bees to do a proper job ! 

What do Chonions look like?

Undernourished chive plants ! The flowers were pretty but no bulbs to eat .
Good job i planted 'proper' onion seed too.

[LilacSandy]

I think I will play safe and put some brought seeds as well, I would hate to have no onion crop.  This year I thought I had enough and I will run out in a couple of weeks time!!    I had no idea we used so many.

[chrisnchris]

I have done both.
I planted some seeds gathered from onions I let go to seed last year, just to see if they would germinate, which they have.
I will plant some more in Jan. & see what grows.
I must have at least 500 seeds so if the 30 or so I planted prove to be a sucess I will be very chuffed 

I have also planted a few dozen sets, just to make sure 

I use a lot of onions in cooking, it's incredibly satisfying to cut a few from the strings......in fact, the whole "growing your own" thing makes me feel quite "smug"   

[LilacSandy]

I know how you feel Chris, that is why it is so disapointing that I badly miscalculated how many I need.  I did the same with carrotts, I had enough to provide for meals during the week but nothing to put by for the winter.

Thats the great thing about growing, you learn every year.