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Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15985

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 20 7:24 am Post subject:
You have got a good haul there Gz. As I had to grow my tomatoes from bought plants they are the standard Alicante. Not a bad flavour, but probably nowhere near as good as yours. Have you any tomatoes on your plant Dpack? That is the test, not how tall they are, and you do have exceptionally difficult growing conditions from what you have said.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 20 7:47 am Post subject:
no fruit, the plants range from 7 to 15 cm tall they got frost nipped while hardening off at the pricking out stage and that did the classic stunting thing with a hint of purple tragic and quite funny to see

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 20 7:58 am Post subject:
i did have a nice crop of onions

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 20 8:14 am Post subject:
Well done for being brave enough to post a picture.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 20 8:40 am Post subject:
too funny not to share

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15985

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 20 7:35 am Post subject:
Oh dear poor things! As you say, not much chance of a crop off them this year. I wonder if they will grow on next year if you can keep them warm during the winter. Congratulations on the onions. Mine were rather disappointing this year as they didn't get enough water at the right time. I did water them, but apparently not enough.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 20 9:02 am Post subject:

i dought they would do much even if i could keep them alive

re onions, setts in febuary

i have them in a place that is shady in feb but gets decent sun for a few hours by june and july
it is high so most pests never see them( wire mesh sorts the sammison issue, we have had words)

the soil is quite unenriched but i feed them a couple of times while they are doing the greenery thing
moist soil during the greenery stage

3" centres(thin as spring onions)

as i have a short season pulling them at big shallot size seems to work best, ie pack em tight and pull em early

i do far better in fish boxes than i have ever done in a ground bed even a ground bed prepped for onions
garlic tis the reverse

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Sat Sep 12, 20 9:08 am Post subject:

ps about one year in five everything needed re weather coincides for a decent tomato harvest where i can put them here

owt that really needs full sun for several months is a bit dependent on the weather and at best i can only give them 1/3 to a 1/2 sun through those months

with a south facing green house, tent or sheltered bed i have had good tom crops, here it is the edge of viability with them.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15985

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 20 7:44 am Post subject:

My onions are a good flavour, they just didn't grow big; in fact some haven't grown much at all. Combination of light soil and not enough rain,, even though I watered them. The ones I put in last autumn were rather better, so I need to get some more of them.

Although we are in the south, we have a rather cool microclimate so our tomatoes do better in a greenhouse. They are starting to ripen now, and looks like a good crop.

Advice please. Yesterday cutting a courgette I inadvertently took out the growing tip with it. Is that plant a gonner, or is it likely to grow from somewhere else?

The good news is that the one butternut squash female flower so far seems to have pollinated.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 20 8:46 am Post subject:
your season is later starting and shorter than mine in an urban canyon 250 miles north nowt wrong with small onions, if you expect small plant them tight, thinning is no prob if they start to squash together, eat spring onions big is fine for big, big crop is fine even if the individuals are small they dry better as well as being tastier big uns are mostly water

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 20 8:49 am Post subject:
if you have a shortish season deliberately growing for little or medium makes sense another 2 months and i could grow monsters, adapt to the microclimate

gz

Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8939
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 20 9:32 am Post subject:

I get my onions in in the autumn. Puts them ahead when the wet February and dry March and April affects the spring planted sets.
Lost out at harvesting time as it was again very wet, but the ones that didn't dry properly have been eaten or are going into chutneys.
Quite a few of one red variety went to seed, but the seeds will be good for culinary uses and bird feeding.. unfortunately the writing on the labels has faded completely so I don't know which one.
Perhaps a garden diary is called for

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 20 10:22 am Post subject:

dpack wrote:

your season is later starting and shorter than mine in an urban canyon 250 miles north

nowt wrong with small onions, if you expect small plant them tight, thinning is no prob if they start to squash together, eat spring onions

big is fine for big, big crop is fine even if the individuals are small
they dry better as well as being tastier

big uns are mostly water

This worked really well for me this year. I planted our clumps, had spring onions in the spring, pulled a lot of ‘shallots’ and medium onions through the early summer to eat and then dry (there’s only me eats them, so I only need medium ones day to day) and left one from each clump to get big, which I harvested today to go in big batches of soup and bolognese with other stuff that is ready and needs preserving. Mostly squash soup, although I have plans for a chutney. My veg is in short supply, as I planted things and then buggered of on holiday for six weeks in July. The squash and sweet corn did ok, though and the carrots were cropping well. We got loads of spuds, beetroot, carrots, peas and salads before we went, and the main crops spuds seem to have survived my absence. I lost all the beans (quite literally, under waist high weeds, but beans seem to have struggled this year anyway) and all the brassicas and salads have blown, of course. Calvo Nero is a bit nibbled, but hanging in there and will recover. Considering the neglect I lavished on it, I’m fairly pleased with my haul!

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46235
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 20 10:52 am Post subject:

well considered neglect can work for onions

good care and neglect at the correct times, look at the growth/foliage etc, seems to work

a good skin and moderate moisture content, ie not from wet soil and a suitable type for the area seems to work well for storage and "fresh" over the season

i have had expert tuition on leeks and haver never managed to follow it to success

a bit odd but i have no idea where i learnt my onions, not family growers and not the allotment elders

how odd, i do not think i have read up on them either
one of those random /not random things perhaps

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15985

Posted: Mon Sep 14, 20 6:47 am Post subject:

The sets I put in last autumn generally did better than the sets put in during spring. They were in more humusy soil, and had the advantage of the rain over winter. We are trying to rebuild the raised beds slowly, and putting in better soil and charcoal, so that helps with moisture. It is only really things like tomatoes that are affected by the growing season as I can't risk cold winds when they go out, so they don't have long enough outside. Most other things are all right, but I have trouble getting them to germinate sometimes as the house tends to be too cool at that time of year.

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