Grow Your Own Magazine

Hey this is my first year growing Veg properly (last year i just chucked seeds everywhere) and this morning i have put in my first 2 rows of onion set, one red the other white "turbo". Just wondering if i should water them now, my soil is still quite damp anyway tho? Also should i cover them with plastic, i live in Norwich and the weather is ok at the minute.

Hi there - and welcome to the Vine!

I'd leave them be ....and wait for them to start growing!

( exciting isn't it!)
Just check them from time to time as the birds may pull a few and they'll need pushing back into the soil. If that does become a problem then a criss-cross of cotton thread over the area at about 6-8" should put them off!
All the best!
What else are you planning to grow?

Cheers for the advice! Im also planing on putting my first rows of maris piper and charlotte potatoes out this weekend, should i hold off the water for these as well?

Also ive planted some courgettes in little pots for in door germnation, and as the soil is cold ive been putting them on top of the radiator in the mornings to warm up a bit, is this a good idea? or should i just leave them on the window still?

Don't water the spuds-

I'd leave the courgettes on the windowsill. If you want to give them a little bit of warmth, then why not water them with lukewarm water and have clingfilm over the top to maintain the moisture until they germinate?

I have chillies germinating on a radiator- but they need plenty of heat.

Yo John,
I'd hang back on the spuds for a bit. Charlotte are a second early and usually go in about the beginning of April and MP's are a main crop to put in about a fortnight later. If you're desperate to put spuds in, get a few first early.
The only thing that beats a plate of new potatoes with a knob of butter and a bit of mint on is - another plate of new pota...........
PS, welcome to the mad house

If you're planting things like onion sets and seed potatoes you don't need to water if the ground is moist. You only water young plants that are being moved from seed beds or trays, and this is mainly to settle the young roots into the soil. My grandad always used to "puddle them in" and this still works well for me. Dig a small hole with a trowel, pop the young plant in, fill the hole with water and let it drain away, then firm the plant in and away you go!!

A question for everyone does the frost do onions any harm

Well it didnt seem to do mine any harm at all, their shooting up nicely! one question i do have though is, how many onions will you get from one buld? Is it one for one?

Onion sets is one large bulb for one small set. Shallots divide themselves, so you get four, five or six bulbs for one set planted.

I have grown onions from seed this year which I germinated in my heated propagator in my greenhouse.

During the recent frosts I left them out of the propagator on the greenhouse bench. The temperature on the bench dropped to a minimum -8C during a couple of nights with no adverse affects to the seedlings.

Incidentally, I also had several pots of winter density lettuce seedlings with the onions which did not suffer either.

Outside I have Japanese onions growing which I put in as sets late last October.



Pippin

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"Growing For Gold"

The Japanese onions which were planted in the Autumn will take no harm from the frost.
I still believe a lot of people, especialy in NE England, plant there spring sown onion sets too early then wonder why they bolt prematurely? A shock to the system can cause bolting so planting early is a chance you take, it may pay off, it may not!

Shallots are planted early spring and usually much earlier than onion sets!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Hey, cheers again to everyone for the advice!

ok, will do, what ones would you recommend? and whould they be ok to plant out now, without chitting?

And I think it's a bit early for the courgettes. They can't go in the open garden till after the last frost. Round here they reckon that to be mid May. I don't sow till mid April.

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I rather like Pentland Javelin. They produce a good crop and have good resistance to scab. Duke of York taste great too. Both are first early and if you're lucky, there will be a few on sale which have already started to chit. I've planted them with and without chitting. Unchitted take a litle longer to come through but soon catch up, or at least mine did.

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it and if you ain't going to eat it, don't kill it

Welcome, JV. I would cover your onion sets with fleece for a couple of weeks till they start to take root. That way the birds etc can't disturb them. That's what I do, anyway.

Cool, i get to the garden centre tomorrow, thats is if it hasnt been blow away

Think i hav'nt got a choice there, came home today and a cat has already dug up three! The rest of my plot is empty but for some reason it was attacked the onions.