Veg4Show

Christmas will soon be here and this is when I start to sow the first of my large exhibition onion seed. I have my own re-selection of kelsae onion, and Medwyns kelsae re-selection.

I will probably sow my first batch 20-21st December, if not then I normally sow them 26-27. It takes about 10 days for germination in the right conditions from which I will prick them out gentle at the crook or as some say the bent/loop stage. Many growers have a difference of opinion on this and over the years this changes with some people preferring to leave them until they have one true leaf. It really is preference and experience, If you feel confident you can prick them out at the crook stage with out damaging them, then I feel this is the best option as they have only one root which with some care wont be damaged. If you leave them longer they will have more roots and risk damaging the root system but the plant itself will be stronger. You can of course plant them in small individual cells or plugs and you won't need to disturb them at all. I tried this last year but I actually found the seedlings I pricked out grow faster than the ones in the cells, this is probably because I sowed them in seed base compost and pricked out into John Innes No.2, the onions in the cells of course spent longer in a weaker mix. I do honestly feel pricking them out at crook stage results in faster rooting, so I will stick to this.

Also time for shallots:

Shallots traditionally are planted on the shortest day of the year, so I will plant mine from the 20-23 December. Of course the weather is not right to plant them outside so they are planted in 4 litre pots and put inside one of the tunnels. You don't need to keep them warm just keep the frost off them, heat will just cause them to grow fast which is not what you want. I don't bother planting them in small pots and potting them up, waste of time if you ask me, has advantages but not enough to waste me hours and hours of time. All I do is plant them in Levingtion m2 or multipurpose with some added calcified seaweed, keeping them on the dry side until they really start to grow away. Normally there is no need to water for the first month or maybe two if you have sufficient moisture in the compost before you plant them. One vital tip is ensure you prepare your bulbs prior to planting, check them over for damage, rot, Disease, remove loose skins and any roots and do not under any circumstances push the bulbs into the compost, this causes the roots to grow upwards. Instead make an indent and place the bulb on top, remove any bulbs once rooted that look suspicious.