confused about onions

[Newbie]

I am hoping next year to be as self sufficient in veg as possible, & am in the process of sorting out my veg patch planting plan & ordering any few remaining seeds that i require. However i am confused about Onions after reading various bits of conflicting info.

I have got already started in modules in my unheated greenhouse (as the veg patch was being expanded) Radar Onion sets - which i believe fall under the autumn sown variety, and i also have Paris Silverskin Onion seeds (for pickling)which are yet to be sown.

I have recently read that autumn sown onion sets store poorly - is this correct? If so should i be planting spring sown ones too if they keep better? Are the Autumn & Spring sown sets both ready at the same time - and whan can i expect this to be?

Oh....and as my Radar sets now have quite tall tops and my new veg patch is ready, is it ok to now transfer these straight into the veg beds?

Sorry for the multiple questions (and waffle!) but its all so confusing

[zazen999]

Hi

I put autumn sets in mainly to keep stuff in the ground, I might stop this next year with a bit more planning, by sowing later seeds so that they are set size around autumn and use those instead.

I think what alot of people do is to use the autumn sown onions first, and put spring sets in for main storage. I never have autumn sown sets left over as by mid summer, they have all been pulled and eaten. Sometimes, autumn sown sets bolt and send up seed heads - I now transplant the first few and pull the rest of that batch and chop and freeze them. I don't want to lose the whole lot and the first few are left to produce seeds for the next year.

If you've got space, get your onions in the ground if you can, but it wouldn't do them too much harm if you put them in in the spring...they don't grow an awful lot over the winter that you can see...but they do grow!

[Snadger]

Either spring sown seed or spring planted sets are more reliable than autumn planted sets. As you say, they also store better for longer.
I grow both as the autumn planted ones usually mature a couple of weeks before spring planted sets but can be used immature from early spring!

If I only had the choice of planting one lot I'm afraid it would have to be spring sown!

[bluemoon]

It's true they do say that autumn planted sets don't store as well, but they do still store for quite some time (an average of 4 months, I'd guess) and I'm still using some from the summer. Just grow a few for immediate use and use spring sown for long term storage. Only you know how many onions you'll need, but if you plan it right you will never have to buy another one. Autumn planted sets can be pulled and used as necessary, you don't need to wait until they've ripened for storage, just start to use them once the stored ones have all gone and they've started to bulb up.

[Pumpkin Becki]

I found that my spring sewn sets rotted off in the very wet spring of 06, even though I grow in raised bed. So put in some autumn ones in autumn (obviously). These faired much better and gave me a really decent harvest. We grew Radar and Sprint (I think). They lasted out of the ground til about September but I really didn't store them properly, I had them on the wire rack of my plastic covered greenhouse on the south facing wall of the garden, but it was a bit humid in there, I should have moved them out once the skins were dry. I might try Zazen's tip and freeze them next year.