Spring onions in 12 weeks? Surely a misprint!

Stephanie newish gardener

Hi
I sowed these spring onions on 8 May and the packet said ready in 8-12 weeks.....


Thing is, this was 8 May last year, and each time I checked, the bulbs hadn't really formed and they were soft, so I left them in the window box. I cut the rocket, and that in the pic is this year's new growth, but it's time to empty the pot and sow some fresh seeds, hoping for better results with onions.  Imagine my surprise to find reasonably sized firm bulbs!
Methinks the packet meant months not weeks...! 😋😁

purplerallim

Are those red spring onions? I grew Apache last year and have just planted out the same this year. I never do well with onions so last year was an experiment,  bought small plants instead of seed ( as they have never germinated for me) and surprise they did well giving me onions for about 2/3 months, never big but tasty. They go in looking like match sticks but soon bulked up and with just a bit of watering looked after themselves.

Hampshire_Hog

I sow spring onions "White Lisbon" every week or so about fifteen seeds to a three inch clay pot they are usually ready in 8 - 12 weeks. 

Skandi

I've tried white lisbon twice, and what I ended up with was tiny silverskin onions, only one really early planting actually made anything looking like a spring onion. as a side note, white lisbon when they fail and bulb before making a nice thick spring onion pickle very nicely!

Womble54

I tried to get a few rows of spring onions grown before my courgettes get planted out. I had them under a mini fleece tunnel. They germinated quickly but then did nothing. 10 weeks later they were still match sticks, so I pulled them up to prepare the bed for something else.
Don’t know where I went wrong either.

Nollie

Stephanie, you have inadvertently but successfully ‘over wintered’ your spring onions, where late sowings (normally no earlier than July) have slowed their growth right down over winter then perked up again in Spring, ready for harvest. In saying that, planting in May you should have got a same-year crop by the end of summer...

I have grown good onions, garlic and chives for years, never fertilised the ground, never gave them rich soil - but have never done well with spring onions so gave up. I since learned that they need a rich, free-draining soil beefed up with some bfb, so we should probably be treating them more like leeks, which I always do improve the soil for.

Must have another go!

Stephanie newish gardener

I've just checked the packet and they are Apache, sold in a packet designed for children! Easy to grow and quick to mature......
We had a good hot summer even up here and they were in a spot that got full sun from about midday till tea time. They stayed there all winter too.
Might sow some more this week and see what happens 

purplerallim

Have just read they need a good chilling when first in to get them going, so now should be good. 🤔🙂

purplerallim

That's why I dont even try to grow from seed, the little plants from the GC will do me fine.🙂