Onion Growing 2024

How many of you top dress with soot?

 

Did anyone ever had onion fly? I had them the first time last year, they destroyed everything, even chives. I think they may have come in bought onion sets.

 

Where do you get soot these days.

 

I had a few caterpillars attacking the leaves last summer, but I dont think it was onion fly.

 

Hopefully they don't come back. I already planted spring onions bought at another place this time, but, who knows, still from Holland.

 

Actually, shame on me, I'm reconsidering who were they. It wasn't onion fly, they were black and soft, but I would never imagine so much harm, if these were black alphids. Chives didn't regrow.

 

Hopefully, every wood burning flue is swept at least annually. Sweeps use vacuum collection, the better ones use a dust filter bag. If your question is serious, start on the Hetas website for local sweeps.
www.hetas.co.uk/consumer/services/chimney-sweeps/
A bit of mortar crumb is not unusual, helps break down clay!

 

Dont you grow spring onions from seed?

 

Not many wood burners around here, I only know of one.
Not the kind of stuff I would consider buying.

 

Me? Used to grow from seeds too, White Lisbon. But it was so comfortable to buy a proper pack of little seed onions from wilko and quickly have leaves growing for salad. And then some grow into proper size onions.

 

Buying ??

 

So has soot gone from waste to sellable by product?

 

You dont get anything for nothing these days.

 

According to this Onion fly / RHS Gardening maggots pupate in the soil.