Possible Onion Disaster

Possible Onion Disaster

I had a load of Onion bulbs left over last year so I planted them in the Autumn. They were growing fine until the last few weeks when most have bolted.

I don't think Stuttgart Onions are over wintering types but I took a gamble on a mild winter and got lucky with the weather but the spring was a dry one and when I realised it was a bit dry I started watering them and it seems this watering has triggered the bolting.

None of the Onions have started to bulb, the onion bases are little more than slightly larger then the base of the stem.

My watering was probably classed as irregular because I was only watering (a lot) at weekends and they were drying out during the week. Perhaps I over watered as well.

This has prompted me to think more about a drip watering system for next year. I'm thinking of trying to lay a hose pipe, fed from a water butt, into the ground under the soil with lots of holes in. The pressure of the water should be very low and literally just a drip should come out just to keep the ground a few inches deep moist.

I think we'll pull the onions this weekend, chop up all the small bulbs and freeze them and see if we can turn them into a usable crop.

In every previous year my onions have been perfect but this is the first year that I have done Autumn planting. I have also planted 100 sets of Bedfordshire Champions in April so I'll still have a crop this year but had I known this would happen I would have planted another 100 as well.

Although it is the second week of May perhaps still worth planting another set.

At least by lifting the onions now I can get a load of other plants out out the green house into the Autumn bed earlier than I expecting which will give the other manure beds longer to break down.