[diggin@diggle]

Just wondering if anyone has had any success with Japanese over wintering onions.
Mine seemed to be growing really well but when i pulled one to see what they were like I found that the onion was only the size of a spring onion and not the size it should be by now.
has anyone got any advice

Thanks

John

[corndolly]

I think that onions start to bulb after the longest day , so hopefully you will see bulbs devloping during few weeks, I think that we started using Japanese onions in August  , I only grew them once . Might give them a go this winter though ,so would be interested in other peeps tips and knowledge.

[DD.]

The longest day bit refers to spring planted onions.

All my winter ones are flopping over, so they won't grow any more. I'm pleased with the size of them though.

When were they planted, John, what variety and dig you use any fertiliser?

With winter ones, it's best to give them something in spring when they need it to put on growth. Anything added to the bed pre planting can leech out over winter whilst the onion is not doing anthing.

[diggin@diggle]

I planted them in September along with my garlic which are doing fantastic
I think I only added growmore before i planted them and then some chicken pellets last month

[DD.]

You may have been a bit late with the feed.

I did mine about the end of Feb as they started to take off again.

[yummy]

Ours have been great this year. They are nice and big and have just flopped over. Last year they all went rotten.

[madcat]

We are a bit higher up than you and ours are just starting to think about flopping.  Mostly bulbing up nicely - but then we weren't good like DD about feeding mid season.  They went into ground which had had a bit of growmore added a few weeks earlier, but that has been it.  They did end up under 18" of snow for about a week in February, so they are doing very well!

One experiment we did do - it was about the time last autumn that Gardeners world, I think it was, was suggesting they should be planted in a little ridge to stop them getting water logged.  I cant find a link to it.  Anyway, our patch is inclined to be wet so we did one row in the ridge as recommended and one in the flat as shown in most of the books.  The flat wins hands down!  Not pushed out the soil, bigger bulbs and generally less trouble.

[SG6]

Remember reading this some time ago:

Bulb formation is affected by temperature, light intensity, and the amount of light and darkness. Once the balance of daylight and darkness reaches a certain point, leaf growth ceases and bulb growth begins. Onions are classified as short-day, intermediate-day and long-day:


* Short-day onions start forming bulbs when days are 11-12 hours long.
* Intermediate-day onions need days that are 12-14 hours long.
* Long-day varieties need days longer than 14 hours.

It's important to choose the right type of onion for your area. Pick the wrong variety and you'll still get onions, but they probably won't be as big as you'd like. In general, long-day onions grow better in northern climates and short-day onions are better suited to southern gardens. Intermediate or day-neutral onions will grow anywhere. Growing short-day varieties in the North will result in leaf growth stopping too soon to produce a large bulb.


Problem is that I have no idea what japanese onions are and so what to expect. And I have a bed full of them as well.
Just have to wait and see.

[diggin@diggle]

I've just realised I've mixed up my onions and my garlic
My onions are doin fine its my garlic that hasn't started to swell it was planted in september shouldn't they be bigger yet

ps i've planted that much stuff this year i've forgotten which is which
Thats my excuse for my stupidity

John

[AnnieB]

Not 100% sure what garlic does. I recall reading that if pulled early they tend to be small and if left too late they tend to be small. The OK period did seem to be small however. If I recall the rule is to wait until 2/3 of the foliage has died back and turned yellow. Then harvest.

Have you kept them watered?