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Tiny, tiny onions!

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  • #1

    Tiny, tiny onions!

    Hi, my onions have not done at all well this year. I grew them for the first time last year with moderate success but this year most of them are not bigger than when I planted them. They started off well but were flattened several times by the rain and all the growth rotted off. I have a few golf ball sized but most have barely grown. I have noticed one has started to grow again, will more start to grow or should I just throw them out?
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  • #2
    nowt to lose by giving them a chance.

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    • #3
      My onions from sets aren't much bigger than when I planted them and something ate the foliage ..I shall use them for pickling . Onions from seed have done far better this year......
      S*d the housework I have a lottie to dig
      a batch of jam is always an act of creation ..Christine Ferber

      You can't beat a bit of garden porn

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      • #4
        Originally posted by binley100 View Post
        My onions from sets aren't much bigger than when I planted them and something ate the foliage ..I shall use them for pickling . Onions from seed have done far better this year......
        Can't understand why, but for some reason mine are just the opposite.

        The sets have done famousely (still in the ground, ripening) but the seed sown Golden Bear and long red florence have been carp. Half the Golden bear have went to seed and the other half are small. The long red florence are long but not fat!
        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)

        Diversify & prosper


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        • #5
          Pulled one onion (from set) out and 'twas only the outer shell . The inside had gone .........
          S*d the housework I have a lottie to dig
          a batch of jam is always an act of creation ..Christine Ferber

          You can't beat a bit of garden porn

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          • #6
            Of all the things I planted my onions were by far the most disappointing, I grew them from seed but they were very slow. Quite a lot of them died when they were fairly young and still on the windows sill. I am
            not sure why, I think I may have over watered then. Actually that might explain Aberdeenplotter's problems, it has been very wet this year.
            The ones I put outside are by the sound of it in a similar state to Aberdeenplotter's, my biggest is about the size of a golf ball too!!
            Oh and one seemed to die and then start growing again, after I stopped watering it!!
            Maybe that is it, they have been drowning!!!

            All mine are still in pots, maybe they will do better in the ground, but they have not really
            out grown their pots yet at all. I have never grown onions before so I do not really know what to
            expect, but I expected better than this!!
            Last edited by esbo; 22-08-2012, 04:18 AM.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by esbo View Post

              All mine are still in pots, maybe they will do better in the ground, but they have not really
              out grown their pots yet at all. I have never grown onions before so I do not really know what to
              expect, but I expected better than this!!
              Most things do better in the ground Esbo. If you have space plant them out as soon as possible. Bit late for this year, but remember for next year.

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              • #8
                My overwintering senshyu from sets were fantastic (harvested June/July), but my golden bear from seed didn't have enough time to swell beyond golf ball size before midsummer. Weather.
                Proud member of the Nutters Club.
                Life goal: become Barbara Good.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by rustylady View Post
                  Most things do better in the ground Esbo. If you have space plant them out as soon as possible. Bit late for this year, but remember for next year.
                  Well yes but with many of them they would still effectively be in the pot because the roots are all in the compost, I suppose it might be warmer in the ground.

                  Some of them are about ready to go in the ground, so I will have to find a spot for them, means taking up some turf.

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                  • #10
                    Esbo...

                    You won't get much more (if any) growth on your onions this year, given the time of year it is..
                    Funny how everyone has different stories... my onions did brilliant this year
                    I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives....


                    ...utterly nutterly
                    sigpic

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                    • #11
                      I too have masses of onions this year with some really big ones too. I don't usually have much luck with red ones but bought "Karmen" sets on a whim in January and they look pretty decent too. Never attempted from seed. I also grew some spring onions too this year. Yes I know the are meant to be easy but I've never got them to grow before!

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                      • #12
                        I attempted to grow Sturon Onions from seed this year, but they have only got to the size of large shallots I think the weather hasn't helped!
                        I have already sowed some seed and will plant some sets soon for next year to see if there is any difference? will probably leave this years ones in the ground to see if they get any bigger but if they bolt then at least I'll have some more seed!!
                        Just out of interest has anyone tried making their own sets?

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                        • #13
                          I am thinking of I can make sets from my small onions, although I have no idea what I am doing.
                          I notice some I thought had died started regrowing so it seems they can grow when it suits them.
                          Not really sure how to make them but I googled


                          Sets are grown by sowing onion seed thickly late in the summer, like around August. The plants are allowed to grow just until they start forming bulbs. These immature bulbs are dug, cured like regular onions, then held in temperature-controlled warehouses until spring, when they are shipped all over.
                          And this,
                          Step 4

                          Pull the onions out of the ground after the first good frost. At this point their tops will have died back.
                          Step 5

                          Dry the onions, which should be marble-sized, for two to three weeks in a cool, dry area. Spread them out on newspaper or a similar surface.
                          Step 6

                          Pinch back any tops that have not fallen off to just above the onion bulbs and transfer the dried onion sets to mesh bags for storage in a cool dry area until the spring. Don't pack too many per bag; a pound or less per bag will allow good air circulation.
                          OK so I am just gonna pull mine up when it becomes clear they will never make an onion
                          this year, which is true for most if not all.

                          I will let them grow for a while yet, but they are barely growing anyway so I will leave if
                          for a bit before I pull them up, but not too long as easier to dry them when it is stil a bit warm.

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                          • #14
                            I went to the Penistone Show on Saturday (no sniggering), and the champion onions were the size of cantelopes. To say I was envious is a bit of an understatement. my set grown onions are the size of cox's pippins ended up pickling my shallots which look like silverskins (of which 20 sets produced 15 shallots - some, like Binley100's above, were simply skin).

                            Oh well - there is always next year!

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                            • #15
                              There seem to have been a few people reporting small onions this year in the UK.
                              I get the impression onions do not like a lot of water and this has been the wettest
                              year for 100 years I think, that probably also mean less sun too, so maybe the lack
                              of sun is more of a problem. You do not tend to get a lot of green on onion, certainly not on
                              my ones anyway. But I was very disappointed with my onions, I have just had a look
                              at them and it seems like they are stagnating, biggest is probably not as big as a golf ball.

                              Strange really because my tomato plants have been growing like crazy indeed some
                              are going berserk putting out shoots left right and centre and over whelming other plants
                              and they are normally grown in greenhouse, yet onions are usually grown outside, I have
                              certainly never seen them growing under glass (or plastic!!).

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