[Zak the Rabbit]

I've just realised that this year for the first time I shelled out on a soil testing kit which determined that I had a large deficit of potash and potassium so I added the appropriate stuff as directed.

I think I must have had a duff kit which gave me duff results and therefore I've overfertilized the bed,which can cause it apparently.

That's technology for you,10 years of playing it by ear and no problems and the first time I use a soil test kit I totally b@lls it up. :roll:

how many samples did you test? did you sample diverse areas of the bed?

the trouble with most of these kits, and no offence meant here, is that most people are of course not scientists, so just take one sample and use the results from that, so if that one spot is poor it gives a false reading. What you should do is take a dozen samples from around the bed, evenly spaced, test them all, then average the results. That will give a much truer result. Of course, the test kits dont say this on them.

To be honest, despite me supposedly being a scientist (almost finished my chemistry degree ) i dont use these kits and just play by ear as well, theyre too expensive for what they are, and just not accurate. Buy a decent pH meter (from a scientific suppliers), and if you want soil test kits, get them from an environmental suppliers, not garden centers, although for the cost, it might be cheaper to buy a 2nd hand mass spectrometer!!!

[Motivator]

Dan mine are doing sort of the same , But the bulbs are coming on
 bigger to the size of the necks . I am no expert in fact looking at
 your blog made want to try to grow some big onions .