Onion Droop

[JimineyC]

How Do.
First year growing veg and my first forum here, and here's my first question.
I've got some onions growing and while the leaves are long and green they are not standing tall but are bent and trailing and sometimes broken. Basically, is this normal, or is this a problem of nutrition or soil quality? I'm acquiring books and knowledge as I go but it's said there's no such thing as a stupid question...well, that might get tested. I've fed them with tomato feed but nowt has changed that I can see.

[STEVE PARTRIDGE]

Hi Jiminey C and welcome to the forum, are you growing these on an allotment or at home? the reason for asking is that you may be able to see if other plot holders have the same problem, on our allotments we had notification from the NSALG about a year ago of a new pest called the Allium Fly which attacks Onions and Leeks, it results in symptoms like you have described, so far we have had success when covering the Onion beds with Enviromesh but the majority of Onion crops around our allotment site that are not completely covered have been attacked, hope this helps you regards Steve.

http://www.myallotments.blogspot.com

[JimineyC]

Cripes, I hadn't even thought it would be a pest. I'm in a garden of a terraced house. The gardens directly next to mine are wild on one side and flowers only (I think) on the other. I'll look into the pest, thanks for the tip, but if they have already been attacked (and this has been going on for weeks) I'm not sure Enviromesh would save them. Thanks though. This forum lark does work!

[SueA]

Hi JimineyC, it doesn't sound that bad to me, it could just be general buffeting in the wind etc. or maybe they need a bit more water. Having said that though my onions rarely stand up straight, I think they can be a bit floppy naturally.

[Doggler]

My onions sometimes do this. Most of the time I think it's because they need more water or my dog keeps treading on them!

[Burnzie]

Dont worry, if they have plenty of green leaves on them the bulbs should start to swell now. Like earlier post said may just be a bit of wind damage.

[JimineyC]

Thanks for the posts. Wind damage can be an issue can't it so yes, that might not help at all. The gardening book I just bought by Monty Don stresses as much, but then he also says Slugs don't eat onions (unless he only means the bulbs) and I found them chowing down on the leaves the other night - which certainly won't be helping them. The bulbs do seem to be swelling at this time so maybe I'm just over-reacting. Thanks for all your help.

[lyndap]

Slugs do munch on the leaves,and very occasionally a bit of the top of the bulb,but they usually carry on growing.They sound as if they are still growing ok,so don't worry.