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Onion sets not growing
Tomsk
Posts: 204
in Fruit & veg
I planted some red onion sets at the end of February and have watched the shoots appear and now grow to about 6-8" tall.
All looked good until I carefully removed the soil around one of the bulbs this morning to see how big they've grown so far, and was disappointed to find it hadn't grown at all, and it feels a bit soft.
I tried a couple of others and they're the same, yet the shoots are still growing. Any ideas what's gone wrong? It was my first attempt at onion sets.
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Posts
I expect they're putting up green shoots as those are the food factory that provide energy for making the onions later on. I don't expect to harvest onions till early autumn so you need to have a bit of patience. Keep them well weeded to reduce competition for nutrients and water.
The sets use all of the stored energy in them to grow roots and shoots so often shrink, Tomsk. Once that is done the bulbs will begin to build up again. Absolutely normal growth pattern there.
Thanks for the replies.
Having not grown onions before (I tried a couple of times with seed but they never grew), I thought I'd try sets, and the packet said they grow in 90s days. I assumed the bulbs grow along with the rest of the plant so thought something was wrong when they hadn't grown at all in six weeks, and the bulbs were a bit squidgy. I did heavily water the planter the day before, so maybe I over-watered them?
The shoots seem OK to me, a nice bright green. They don't get the best of sun, especially in the mornings, so I'm not sure if that will affect things.
Having planted the sets at the end of February, when is it likely I'll be pulling them up? I'd assumed they'd be ready by June, when I intended to replace them in the planter with tomato plants, which I have still in a mini propagator starting to sprout their first foliage after the cotyledons. It looks like I'll have to find a plan-B for the tomatoes.
Actually, I just checked the bulbs again and not only have they indeed shrunk a bit and gone soft, they now appear to be deeper in the soil. I barely poked them into the surface of well-turned soil in February, and they now appear to be the best part of 2" down!
Grew onion sets last year and do not recall a problem. Ended up with a variety of sizes from ping pong ball to tomato size. Very nice and enjoyed until following Spring. This year's batch grew long twelve inch shoots which then keeled over. This evening after at least three months found that all had shrunk in spite of compost enriched soil. They should have certainly grown more. Have pulled them up for a green bean crop that I know will produce good yields.