[Torystoms]

Hello, I'm new to this site. I need some advice please.  Earlier this year I planted 200 onions from sets onto my new allotment. 

The ground was just grass and weeds until last December when I took off all the turf but didn't manage to get manure on. I dug it over as well as I could and tried to take out most of the weeds.

There is a bad rabbit, muntjac, pigeon problem on site nad all my onions' green shoots have been razed to the ground twice. Onions are not growing at all now and many have died. My neighbour's plot has the most enormous onions! He manured. 

I'm not sure what to do now. I wonder if I leave them in the ground will they grow back next year? Is there still time this year with the better weather approaching for them to recover? Should I go to the lengths to fence them off now - a bit like cloing the gate after the horse has bolted, I know...

Any advice to a fairly newbie gardener would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance,

Victoria

[azubah]

Welcome, Torystoms

If you leave your onions in the ground they will go to seed next year. Ours have done badly this year so you are not alone.

The best advice I can give is to copy your neighbour, who seems to have the secret of growing onions well in your area. He might be growing a variety called 'Kelsae' which do grow large and are not too strong.

[mattwragg94]

First of all, this year has been an appauling year for growing, so dont be dis-heatened, my onions have been rubbish too!

To answer your question, no they wont grow back next year, they will most likely rot in the ground, and if they do survive the winter all they will do is bolt, so you wont get anything wort eating.

Will they recover? - maybe, but the majority of us pull our onions in late august, so they havent got long to fatten up, but you never know, they may surprise you! But i wouldn't waste you money in fencing then in!

My main pice of advice for you now is to plan a bed for over-wintering onions, these can be planted from september/october and are ready for picking in around may, however over-wintering onions dont last very long once pulled and are mainly grown to fill the gap before storing onions are ready.

Oh and if you do decide to grow overwintering onions i would suggest to fence them in!

[fatcat1955]

I grow my onions by dibbing a hole and filling with sharp sand, place the set on this and i have the best onions i have ever grown. next year i will doing this again but also planting on ridges.

[gavinjconway]

This year has been bad in all sorts of ways for different veg in different areas. Maybe yours were just not planted at the right time and the green shoots were nibble off.

I just dib and plant the sets. I also have to cover with a loose netting to stop birds pulling them up and destroying them. Manure although is good for the ground and does wonders you can get great crops with applying a general fertilizer 2 weeks before planting when you prepare the soil..

Dig them out as they wont grow properly and seed straight away.. then try again next year..

ps. I also had problems with cats using my long tubs as a loo when i was growing on my roof top garden... bet you dont have that problem.. 

[Greengiant152]

I've trouble growing this vegetable too. Like last year I have no bulb showing as such the bulb has thicken out and the neck has become one more liken to that of leeks, can anyone help me please!

[gavinjconway]

They take a while to grow into the bulb and as the season is so mixed up you will have to wait a bit longer to bulb...

[sunshineband]

It would be worth you investing in some rabbit fencing, or you might find they take a nibble out of most of your crops

We have a huge rabbit population around our site as we back onto farmland, and wihtout the fencing \i would have little left to eat I think 

[gavinjconway]

Good advice Sunny...

[alancas]

one thing i have learned that is cover every thing with fine net cages it is well worth the expense and time my onions are the only thing doing ok ,not to big but eatable even if my veggies arent growing to well they are safe from predaters.

[Torystoms]

Wow - brilliant responses, thank you everyone for taking the trouble to reply.  Maybe I'll just pretend they're pearl onions this year...

 I will definitely take some of all your advice for next year's crop however, and fingers crossed, we'll have a better summer. Gorgeous sunny day in Oxfordshire today though, hope you're all getting it too.

Thank you again.

Victoria

[sunshineband]

Wow - brilliant responses, thank you everyone for taking the trouble to reply.  Maybe I'll just pretend they're pearl onions this year...

 I will definitely take some of all your advice for next year's crop however, and fingers crossed, we'll have a better summer. Gorgeous sunny day in Oxfordshire today though, hope you're all getting it too.

Thank you again.

Victoria

You can always pickle them 

Better luck next season though - but remember you can plant autumn onion sets too, which will be ready to harvest around June time next year

[gavinjconway]

I have always done winter Japanese onions every year on my rooftop garden and always start picking as green onions on 1st May every year..  So this winter will be my first one in teh plot with them..  These are just a stop gap before the main onions are ready and are all eaten by the time the main crop are ready!!

[sunshineband]

Mine did rather well this year, thanks to all the rain

[mattwragg94]

sushineband and gavin - do you start your overwintering onions from seed or sets?

Im wanting to do some this year, and it will be my first year growing them, so i wondered whether you get a good crop from seed, or just to stick with sets?