Grow Your Own Magazine

hello

I started spring onion seeds off in small cells 11 days ago. They have germinated well but I haven't got a clue what to do with them! Most of them are looped over and are about an inch high, but some have shot up and are about 3 inches. They look really fragile. Any advice greatfully received

Dear willowstar,i have doe exactly same with g onions .they do look very fragile .i thought i will wait for another week before i take them to allotment as they look too little to be transplanted yet. this is my first year growing them so any advice is welcome.g

I always (now) module sow spring onions, about 5-10 seeds per module and they stay in them until the roots fill the module completely. They are then planted out.

The onions push each other aside as they grow and you just harvest them as they get to a required size.

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

Piglet why do you module sow spring onions when they are such a simple and quick growing vegetable when sown direct into the ground?

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The idea LJ is that these will be planted into raised beds but the same is valid for traditional beds. I can get far better yields by planting out modules of seedlings, set distances apart and thus know how much is growing in what space. There are no gappy rows with the resulting wasted space and modules are so much easier to plan succession sowing with, and again you know that you have viable plants to plant out into any spaces that are available.

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

Thanks Piglet. That will be valuable information for alot of people.

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Thank you for sharing that info PW I will give that a go. Growing Spring onions is another first for me, it's good to give tested and tryed ways a go.

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Denise xox

Learn from the mistakes of others because you'll never live long enough to make them all yourself.
-- Alfred E. Neumann
http://irchesterplot.blogspot.com

iI've never had much sucess growing spring onions,so will give the module growing a try.

They're much tougher than they look Willowstar. The lot I planted at the end of last summer have been out all winter and growing on fine. Just do as Piglet says and plant the whole module. No need to thin. They push each other aside and make space for themselves. As they get bigger, pull them from here and there and eat the thinnings.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

hi pw, i have read that you do this with carots as well and am giving this method a try this year. do you multi sow any other crops?

Hi Serenity, do the carrots directly into the ground, there is a post in the technical board re them, the other veg I do is

beetroot,
onions
spring onions
radish
turnips

either into modules which are then transplanted when the roots fill the modules or 4" apart directly into beds with between 4"-8" between rows. I sow about half a dozen seeds per station bar the beetroot which are sown 2 per station as 1 "seed" is in fact a cluster of several seeds.

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

You say when the roots fill the modules - does that mean when the roots are coming out the hole in the bottom? Sorry, learner grower!!!

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

just about Shirl, if you pull the plantlets gently out of the module you will see plenty of root which holds the compost together. Ideally you will plant them out just before the roots start to come out of the bottom as then they run the risk of becoming module (pot) bound if left much longer.

I will try to sort out a picture.

__________________
Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

Thanks both for the advice and the patience - hope I get it right - first try at beetroot!!

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Any time Shirl, we all started somewhere knowledge wise, keep the questions coming as thats what the forums for.

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

Never had much luck with spring onions, might try the module/cell approach.

My experience of spring onions is that they take an absolute AGE to grow. I normally start them in pots and then split them into small groups when planting out. But from a Spring sowing, I'm lucky to have spring onions by August. Am I doing anything wrong? Tried North Holland, Shimonita and Ishikura and they were all the same last year - really slow growth.

Try the over wintering ones Jennie to give you a crop from late winter to early summer until the spring sown ones are ready to eat. I do about 4 sowings, March, June, August and October and have them all year round.

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Kindest regards, David.

http://pigletsplots.blogspot.com/
updated - Sunday 19th at 2100hrs

PW your blog is amazing.

Thants Piglet - which one (s) would you recommend for over wintering? There's none in the T&M catalogue than mention "over wintering".

Hello Jennie, spring onions suitable for overwintering are - Ramrod, White Lisbon and Winter White Bunching. The ones I've had outside all winter are looking great. I'll send you some of each and you can trial them. They're just as suitable for spring sowings.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

many thanks everyone...really good advice. Just going to leave them awhile to develop their roots then transplant them. good stuff :-)

Got a short row of spring onions in the greenhouse border but outsdise I've always had gappy germination. I shall try the PW module trick! Thanks a bunch (groan, onion joke)

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated November 17th - The Big Dig

Thanks Alice! I've just checked and I've got White Lisbon, so I'll give them a go and see how I get on.