Hello! Onion sets are usually sown either autumn or spring, and there are plenty of varieties to choose from at your local garden centre, depending on flavour, strength and storage. Autumn sets mean that you can harvest earlier in June/July. If you plant spring sets, then the delay is one or two months before harvesting, depending on your local weather. Some onion sets are not suitable for storage and need to be eaten within 2-3 weeks of harvesting. Depends on what you want - storage, eat quickly, strong, mild, or a mix is preferable. When the tops start to yellow off and fall over, lift the roots to the surface with a fork, leave a couple of days then hang them in a dry area, and use as needed! As Tugbrethil says ... onions do not need manure or nitrogen feeds. If you feed them they are likely to bolt, ie produce flowers, so you will get no 'bulbs' for harvesting.

Hi Stik and welcome to GoY. If you've never grown onions before I would recommend you grow from sets (small onions) this year. Soil needs to be well dug and have added compost or well rotted manure. The pack with the sets in should come with planting advice but approx 6 inches between sets and 18 inches between rows. You do not say where you are in the UK so it is difficult to tell you when to plant but not for another month at least, where we live nearer two. Make sure to weed them regularly.

Bilbo beans and peas take just about as long as onions and are a lot more work.

Hi, Stik, and welcome from me, too. I'd grow from sets, too, for the first year. If you can get hold of some seed/plant catalogues for vegetable gardeners, you will be able to see the types and varieties and their different characteristics and properties. Have a good browse before you buy. However, you don't have to buy from a catalogue or grow from seed - just use it for reference. I would suggest either basic brown or red onion sets to start with, and when you have had some success with those, NEXT year you can start being more adventurous. Good luck!

Here, we go along with 'what you see is what you get' in the local (very good!) market. All you need to know is how many you want of the plug plants and away you go! No choice of variety as the locals know what grows best in this region so we all go along with it. Not had a problem yet! :o)

That's what we've done so far, here, too, Nariz. This year, though, I thought I'd try growing from seed and getting a little more adventurous. The local sets and plantlets will be alongside them as a failsafe.
This year I want to try growing shallots, too. Anyone else tried growing them? Any problems or tips I should know about? I imagine they will need exactly the same conditions and treatment as onions and garlic. Moongrower, would the moon phase criteria be the same?

I see nothing that indicates the size of Stik's plot. Our broad beans and onion sets will be planted/sown at approximately the same time. The beans will be harvested in August and the onions no later than September. I've found successive sowing of broad beans and peas don't work that well for us... We're growing to grow the climbing beans in the fruit area this year. We grow our veg. in a neighbour's garden as ours is all alpines and woodland plants.

Good point, bilbogaggins! You asked for plot size, and so far we are none the wiser. A good crop of onions does need quite a good area, but stik may only wish to grow a dozen or so, or may have space for loads, and until he confirms, we cannot advise further. MGs advice about beans and veg is not relevant to the question. Suffice to say that growing onion sets is the same regardless of the plot size ... six inches apart, with the tops just above the surface, and 18 inches between rows. You can also plant them in and amongst flowering plants, though remember to avoid them in any feeding you are doing to the flower bed. Onions that flower in these conditions can provide a lovely flower addition to the herbaceous border!

Excuse me Avkq my advise on growing peas and beans is as valid as Bilbo's! Just because you seem to think I don't know what I am talking about is no reason to be rude!

hello thanks for replys, i have space for about a dozen onions the plot is about 20ft long and about 5ft wide,
but im confused now most of replys say i dont need the soil fertilized,but one post says i do,

Stik, I always believed the general consensus is that it is probably better not to fertilise the bed with manure when growing root crops like onions and carrots, etc. Avkq has a very good point that shouldn't be overlooked, and that is not to plant onions too deeply - they should be almost at the surface of the soil. I made that mistake the first year I grew them and the results weren't very good.

thanks all i will buy some from B Q its not far from me,but i,ll have to put them in a different part of garden because i manured the part ,i was originally going to use,
thanks again

Hello, moongrowe ... There was no rudeness intended in ANY way - just that the question was about growing onions and not other stuff. Your advice on beans and peas is solid. I am sorry if you took my comment badly. I love the fact that GOY digresses frequently into other stuff :-)

I digressed into peas and beans Avkq because Bilbo already had and yes we do digress all over the place.

Let us know how you get on with your onions Stik one thing you are going to find on GoY is you will get advice from one member that is diametrically opposed to that of another. This is when you need to make your own decision or listen to the voice of the majority.

Bulba & I don't compost the onion area... Just coming to the end of our harvest only a few onions left but really pleased at how well they have kept, very few went rotten and had to be composted. On to the leeks in the freezer!

Hello Stik
Welcome to GoY.
Lots of lovely members on here, with plants, photos, blogs etc. :o)

Wish I had room for onions they do benefit from air circulation and space. They have a long growing period. So like Bilbo, unless you have a large plot I would grow a more cost effective crop.

I heard recently that spring onions and carrots make worthwhile crops grown in containers, which should cut down on the space needed in the beds.