[alan/gill]

i have not had much success growing spring onions,i would like some advice on the best way to grow them please

[cadalot]

All I do is sow in vending machine cups that have has two hole melted in the bottom with a soldering iron full of verve compost, I space them around the outside then another circle at half the radius and one in the middle, like a target. lightly water, then water from the bottom with some comfrey tea after they get going. Once big enough they go out in rows still in their bunches.

   

[sunshineband]

I like the use of those cups as they are deeper than the modules I use cadalot 

Mine are grown similarly but in 3cm modules and planted out as soon as they look big enough, in their clumps. I usually also sow some early in the Autumn to plant out before the hard weather and give us spring onions around early May, but this year I forgot for some reason.

Looked at the price of them in the shop --- criminal 

[cadalot]

Yep = 90p a bunch recently and the quantity in a bunch is ever reducing. We buy two bunches a week, but this year I kept us supplied for quite a few months. I have half a bed in over wintering together with some Japanese Onion Sets 

[alan/gill]

I like the use of those cups as they are deeper than the modules I use cadalot 

Mine are grown similarly but in 3cm modules and planted out as soon as they look big enough, in their clumps. I usually also sow some early in the Autumn to plant out before the hard weather and give us spring onions around early May, but this year I forgot for some reason.

Looked at the price of them in the shop --- criminal 

when do you normally put the seeds in ?

[cadalot]

Sow End Feb/March - until Mid June Harvest Mid June to end of October
I start mine off in the greenhouse or cold frame
Germination is 17-21 Days so I sow the next batch as the last start to show

Winter Hardy Spring Onions are Sown Mid Aug - Mid September - Plant out End Sept/ Early October - Harvest March -  April

So if your luck you get 6 and half months of Harvest

[Robster]

I am keen to extend my spring onion season.  So I think I shall adopt Cadalot's method and sow in pots now germinate indoors put in unheated greenhouse and plant out a wee bit later in the clump.  I'll start with winter white lisbon I think as I have the seed.

[jaydig]

I think the biggest mistake I made with spring onions was thinking that they are a quick crop because they are basically a salad ingredient, when they take longer to mature than I'd allowed for. Last year I sowed most of them all at the same time early in the Spring and had a great crop of the best spring onions I've ever grown. I suppose this will vary depending on what type of season we get. I sowed a few more in some vacated soil about the beginning of June, and these weren't too bad either.

[sunshineband]

Yes sometimes people forget they need time to grow, or sow them where the soil still has a lot of weed seeds and the little seedlings get lost amongst these. Spring onions do like their own space, a bit like their bigger cousins really 

[Salmo]

White Lisbon has been the standard spring onion variety for many years and is still very reliable. It has one drawback and that is once they reach usable size they start to bulb and soon get a bit hot.

I have tried some of the newer varieties such as ramrod and they hold at the usable stage for much longer.

The alternative to growing proper spring onion varieties is to grow clumps of bulbing onions in modules, plant them out as usual and thin the clumps out to leave 3 or 4 to develop into bulbs. The spring onions that appeared on the markets in the past were usually thinnings from commercial bulb crops. They were called scallions.

[cadalot]

I didn't have very good results Ramrod last year, and I love Onions when they get hot

This year I'm having a crack at

De Barletts
Purplette < last year very strong and hot
Pompell
Ramrod
White Lisbon
Shimonita
Ishikura
 

[sunshineband]

Try Lilia if you like them with a bit of bite 

Glorious red colour too 

[cadalot]

I will keep a look out for them at the next Wyevale 50p sale

[sunshineband]

I will keep a look out for them at the next Wyevale 50p sale

Look on line as they are not pricey for a large packet 

[Robster]

My first experience was the same as Jaydig.  They take ages to germinate and grow on.  For a while now I have sown relatively thickly in a big square trough and use them over months and months thinning as I go.  Two sowings and I'm done.  But I'd like some a bit earlier hence Operation Cadalot