[gardengnome]

Hi all!

Can you plant onions late and pick them early and make them into spring onions?

I had a few onion bulbs spare which I planted two weeks ago, just for the hell of it!  Will they become spring onions and be edible before they turn into large onions?  How do you know when to pick them?

THanks in advance!
x

[DD.]

Spring onions and the onions from sets are different cultivars.

Your onion sets may make bulbs the size of spring onions, but they are not spring onions - nonetheless edible though.

They've been planted too late to make large bulbs.

Pull them when you want to!

[LilacSandy]

You can plant onions now and pick them when they are pencil thickness, use them the same as for spring onions.

[Fisherman]

As spring onions are a bit if'y to germinate early in the year I just use spare shallot and onion sets until the end of April and they are fine in salads and the like. Can't see they would be any different planted later. As LilascSandy says just pick them when they are pencil thickness.

[Growster...]

I rescued about twenty from the plot after they were in danger of handing in their notice in the recent dry spell. They're the size of spring onions too!

They're in intensive care in the green house, and Mrs Growster is tending to them - such that they're beginning to sit up and take notice again...

We were far too late for getting onions in - or the dry weather just used up the little bit of life they had to put down decent roots; one or other of these facts!

[TerryB]

Always use pull some shallots as spring onions at the start of the season. Get a bunch from each shallot and as they become too fat the spring onions started in greenhouse are usually ready.

[gardengnome]

Thanks guys
Well I've picked some and they taste really nice, like spring onions really!

[Gandan57]

I`ve just finished pulling the last of the autumn sown hardy white lisbon and the spring sown ones are still on the small side.

However Mr F`s kindly sent me a free packet of Conservor F1 shallot seed and these have come on really well with the shaft on some almost the thickness of my little finger and the leaves a foot long. I shall use a few in place of spring onions in salads over the next week.