Weedy, whsipy spring onions.

Here we (I) go again. Another year of not being able to grow something simple like spring onions. I started them off in March and they got off to a good start. Then, as usual they either

1) never get any bigger (despite being healthy in good compost etc)

2) Get thinner and thinner until whispy and light resulting in them just fading or withering.

My friend gave me one of her spring onions today and it was like shop bought. Thick and jucy. I asked if it were her first sowing and she said it was only sowed 5 weeks ago.

 It's just so depressing when you see other people's results making yours look pathetic. I have given them a feed of liquid chicken manure (diluted in water) to see if ewt happens but I fear they will stay the same size all season. I still have a red spring onion in the same pot from LAST SUMMER which is still the same size. There seems to be forces at work that stop growth of a lot of my veg getting past a certain point.  

This has happened with

Carrots
Kale
oriental onions
Chili Peppers
Radish
Courgettes.

Five weeks sounds pretty fast to me! I know the packets all say just a few weeks but I have tried several varieties and they all seem to take ages for me! They do get there eventually, I just have to be patient and sow accordingly!

If several crops seem not to thrive it may be that your soil is acid and needs some lime. You can buy a simple test kit from garden centres.

Your pH level should be between 6.5 and 8. Read the section on liming on this site. Do not put too much on and do not just put it on without testing because acidity may not be your problem.

I have the same problem Hubballi - sowed in March, and still tiny. I have had success with them before, on previous allotments, so maybe I need to do the acid test. That said, the ones I am doing this year are red ones, which never seem to do as well as white. Plus the weather has been awful.

I've got three separate sowings made in March - one in compost in a container, one in rich home made compost in the ground, and the other in normal soil. None are bigger than 10cm tall.