[harry]

My kelsae are doing well i'll put them in separate pots soon

[Christine]

I've just discovered an old packet somewhat out of date (Red Baron) so have put the seeds in a tray of compost under fleece in the greenhouse. They either grow or not but they won't grow in the packet. We shall see.

[Baldy]

Here's a picture of the Bedfordshire Champ that I experimentally overwintered... These have been out on the plot since late Sept. and neglected till yesterday when i did a quick weed and chucked a couple of handfuls of chicken poop on them. I'm pretty impressed thus far...

That just about sums them up - some have bulked up already and some are just about pencil size. Probably a 50 - 50 split.

Pip pip,
Balders

[Snoop]

Looking good there, Baldy.

The onions I put out a few weeks back are drowning. 5 cm of rain over the last 24 hours and still falling...

[Casey76]

I eventually got my onions sown last week - I know I'm really late, so I gave in and bought sets too!

[Salmo]

Here's a picture of the Bedfordshire Champ that I experimentally overwintered... These have been out on the plot since late Sept. and neglected till yesterday when i did a quick weed and chucked a couple of handfuls of chicken poop on them. I'm pretty impressed thus far...

That just about sums them up - some have bulked up already and some are just about pencil size. Probably a 50 - 50 split.

Pip pip,
Balders

I have done a similar trial with Sturon which I sowed direct in late August, because I read somewhere that you could. They look about the same but survival rate was not 100%. It will be interesting to see if they bolt to seed. I have sown the other half of the packet in modules this Spring alongside my other onions to see how they compare.

[sunshineband]

My Bedfordshire Champions are not as perky looking as your, Baldy. Interesting idea overwintering them like that.

I shall be planting mine out in the ground next week, and hope they put on a growth spurt then, they are a tad floppy at the moment

[Growster...]

I planted out our new sets last weekend.

There were some gaps, as some where past planting-out stages, so the very few onions from sowing last year were chucked in to make up the numbers...

Never again, I'm afraid, why bother! Three weedy plants for a couple of quid? No thanks!

[AlaninCarlisle]

I'd got about 40 onions grown from seed, date of sowing early January in the propagator. They were still spindly little things in 3" pots this morning so I bit the bullet and planted them out into good soil in the polytunnel. Be interesting to see if they do better than the sets I planed into open ground about three weeks ago

[Salmo]

Should I put my onions out this week, or should I wait a bit?

[New shoot]

I'm hanging on a bit Salmo as my clay soil is soaking wet again    Mine have gone out early May before now and still done really well.   

As long as you can keep them steadily growing, they are happy in modules.  Mine are getting a fortnightly liquid feed (nothing special, just a general one) and were pricked out into individual modules.   

They cope with being kept back in modules better than they do being put out too early into soil that is not ready or getting a battering from bad weather

[sunshineband]

Now I have a quandary --- I was going to plant out the onions this week but like New Shoot advises, am now wondering if this is the wisest action as the soil is very wet again. I shall have to see what it looks like when I have dug in some leaf mould.

They are a bit on the floppy side but  a good dark green so they are probably alright for a bit longer

[Salmo]

I took a decision and planted them out this morning. I am on light soil which had been worked down a few days ago so fell to a fine seedbed. They look good and I have covered them with a tunnel, mainly to stop cats scratching them out.

[steved]

Having been preoccupied with clearing my new plot, i forgot to snip off the weaker onions in my boxing day sown onions, to leave 1 per module.  I cant really bring myself to do it now as theyre about 7" high and thickening up nicely. Has anyone grown onions in clumps before and had good crops?
I know that spring onions are often grown in this way, or would i be better just biting the bullet and thinning them to 1, no module has more than 3 in it?

[New shoot]

They will be fine Steve.  If you grow in small clumps, they push each other out of the way and co-exist quite happily.  The individual onions will be a bit smaller, but you get more of them