[davethespread]

please can i have some views on the best onions to grow from sets in the spring, thanks

[DavidT]

If you want good, reliable, tasty onions for the kitchen, then you can`t beat Sturon. They are good keepers, too.

[davethespread]

cheers mr t

[DavidT]

Enjoy.

[chriscross1966]

Seconded for Sturon, though I always grow from seed not sets.... had too many bolt on me....

chrisc

[DD.]

I've tried many different sort over the years, but had my best ever crop this year. They were "Centurion" - very large onions with a uniform round shape.

Taste good too.



All of them:



Didn't have one bolt on me either. I don't get on with onion seed for some reason. The plants I grew in the same bed made 2 jars of pickled onions - that from 3 x 30 ft rows - some of them didn't even make spring onion size.

[Debz]

I grew Sturon from sets this year again.  Didn't have any bolt on me and although the ground is not the best, I was really happy with the results.

[pushrod]

Hi DD - very impressive, how are you going to store them?
 For some reason i am the opposite - my sets are average but the ones from seed are great.

[Buckcherry]

I'm going to try a mixture of sets/seeds next year.
I've never used sets before (but then again I've only grown onions twice!)
I think it's my stubborn nature that doesnt like the concept of sets.

This year (I think mainly due to neglect) my oinion crop has been rubbish (mostly absolute tiddlers). So I'm going to try saving the ones that are less than 1inch diameter to use as sets in early spring.
I'm also ready to try some new seeds.

And yes DD, that looks like the kind of onion crop I dream of!

[DD.]

Storing - I'll string 'em up in the garage.

Buckcherry - I doubt you'll have much joy trying to grow the tiddlers on. Sets are oniions that are stopped prematurely in their growth cycle, yours have had a full season's growth, but did not achieve greatness. I rather think they'll juts run to seed.

[DavidT]

Buckcherry, I agree with DD, those sets will just bolt. Chuck them in a stew and use fresh sets.

[Buckcherry]

Ahhhhh, that's what it is!
Thanks for pointing out the growth cycle side of things wrt oinion sets DD and DavidT (I've been wondering why no one seems to do it).

So I'll eat up the ones I sowed in spring.
But if the seeds I sowed (probably very niavely) about a month ago managed to form bulbs in the next month then I can save them as sets? If so should I dry them off and cut off their roots or just pull them up and hide them away until spring?

[Howard]

Like the thread starter, I'd welcome any thoughts on which onions to grow this year.

I've been looking through the archives and rather than start a new thread I thought I might as well bump this one.

Far more often than not I only cook for two, consequently I'm looking for an onion that finishes growing with something like a 2" - 2.5" diameter.

Any recommendations?

[DavidT]

As previously stated, Sturon.

[DD.]

Centurion.

Hang on - there's a bit of an echo in here!