2013 Onion Growing Challenge

Well there is a simple way over that!

Fix up blinds in fact you can grow them under cover, as the light will be where you want it i.e. over your onions, and the light will not affect anyone outside the covered area.

I have of seen several ways of doing this e.g.

I knew someone who grew them in a tinfoil lined wardrobe with the door shut.

Another I knew bought an old pool table complete with overhead light and what he did was place the table in the cellar then fitted a heated cable / mat on the table top and used ' Daylight' bulbs in the overhead light.

I am not quite sure what you mean here!

The systems I have described previously are to push plants on from the sowing stage to planting them in their final quarters .

When ready for their final quarters they will be quite large and daylight hours in the greenhouse / tunnel will be during British Summer Time, so quite long and daily getting longer.

Then after the summer solstice as the day length starts reducing the already quite large plants will start expanding,particularly if they are being properly fed.

So there! You have some more ideas to consider.

 

The crook stage;

 

Right, I've bitten the bullet and set the lighting to come on at 7am and go off at 6pm

 

Hello chums

What would be the consensus as to planting time? I'm thinking maybe first or second week of April?

 

Late April/early May is the recommended time Freddy.

 

Yup, just looked it up They might be a bit large by then

 

D&T Brown sell Kelsae onion plants @ 40 plants for £5.95 http://www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk/seeds-plants-gardening/42017/onion-plants-the-kelsae and normally there would be £4.95 P&P to pay, almost doubling the cost.

But if you order this weekend (offer ends midnight Sunday) it's free P&P on everything!

 

I've seen a pic somewhere (can't find it) and I think they were the same size as you get modules of onions in garden centres ready for transplanting, so anybody sowing this weekend might have a struggle getting them to that size in 6 weeks time when DT Brown send them out as ready for transplanting.

A nearby village orders them for the giant onion class in their horticultural society's annual show, so everybody starts off with the same bought plants. I thought the free P&P offer would make them sound rather tempting and I've been watching out for such an offer as it's happened in other years.

I hope this encourages a few more to enter this GC onion competition.

 

That's the plan