big onions???

Hi all, I may just have a go at some large onions but I would like to grow them in large pots do you think that 40ltr pots would be large enough for a potential monster in the corner of the greenhouse???

 

Yes, but I'm not so sure that keeping them in the greenhouse for their entirety is the way to go. Obviously, the more you grow, the better your chances of growing a whopper Maybe someone can add more....

 

Forget that bit, I think that most growers of whoppers grow them under cover

 

Personally I don't think it is a good idea!

Yes top growers grow under cover but not usually in pots/ buckets.

Usually they form specially prepared deep raised beds.

Your largest problem could be watering I.e. pots should never be allowed to dry out but equally they do not want to be water logged.

Keeping this happy medium can be quite difficult!

Too dry, and they may bolt, too wet and they might succumb to a fungal disease such as root rot or even white rot!

However you could consider growing them outdoors in a sunny sheltered spot.

As I said this is only an opinion but in the end the choice is yours.

BTW what is the diameter of your pots?

 

Peter Glazebrook, current world record onion grower (in the background)



Onions...in tubs..

Steve...

 

And more..





Steve...

 

I stand corrected!

However all the growers I know tend to use deep beds

Each to their own I guess

I love his set up, shows his dedication when you consider he has one large heated / lit greenhouse to grow 16 onions in.

Then again his output in veg might be the equivalent to 50 of my crop.

Thanks for putting these pictures up now I have learned something!

 

One of those onions would last me a month! So 16 would be a generous year's supply.


In pic 2 what happens to the smaller secondary pot? Does it get unpotted out of that then potted on into the big pot?

 

Ok if you've got the space and money to plant in pots, heat the greenhouse, install fans to cool the greenhouse?

I take my hat off to these guys' BUT they dedicate all their spare time and money into their hobby, most of us can't expect to obtain the results they do but a 2kg onion grown outside in a well prepared bed is obtainable, I should know, I've done it!

 

I do not know about elsewhere, but in the North East (England) the champion onion and leek growers, have a secret
I do not know exactly what the secret is, but if you visit their home, the toilet has a large bucket alongside it and you are requested to pee in that, some even have the bucket in the local public house

Moral NEVER eat a Geordie King Size Onion :-) IMHO

Jack McH

 

Hi Thanks for the reply the pots I am considering are 40ltr and measure about 14"dia by13"deep would welcome any comments regarding sizes thanks Eric

 

Decent size Pheobe, just make sure the soil/compost you use is free draining, onions HATE being waterlogged!

 

Well as you can see in Peters set up his are much bigger plus thy won't be filled with a potting compost as we know it!

He will have produced a tried and tested (secret) recipe.

This is not to say you won't get reasonable results from the pot size you mention given one onion per pot!

What is key is that the leaves are kept vertical and are not allowed to kink as this will affect photosynthesis resulting in less efficient growth, plus never let them dry out but equally do not over water.


I don't profess to know it all, if I did my onions would have been in double figures rather than the single figure sizes I tended to produce. My best ever was just over six pounds.

Then there is the seed stock, although Robinson's Kelsae and the like are very good, it is likely Peter has grown his from ' pips' which he will have obtained from his champion strain.

So as you can see it is not something you perfect overnight, Peter has probably spent most of his life getting to where he is now!

So let me wish you the best of luck with your venture

 

I didn't post to correct you Tee Gee, I was just posting for the OP of this topic..for their info.

Steve...