The best vegetable?????? (Onions)

Member Name: fred bloggs

Product:	Onions
Date:	06/06/01 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty

Disadvantages: They don't agree with everyone

Onions are a fun to grow, but on strictly economic grounds you might as well not bother: like many other vegetables, just buy them when you need them! However, for a bit of self-fulfilment the can be very rewarding. The first thing to know is that they are sensitive to day-length. They begin to form bulbs soon after the longest day, so in the UK you are already too late for this year.
Then you have a choice of growing from small bulblets called sets, or from seed. Sets are fairly certain to be successful if you can stop various creatures from uprooting them before they have rooted. You really need to conceal the sets in small mounds of earth, which you carefully remove when growth is established. But there aren’t many varieties of sets, and you may prefer to grow from seed, which is cheaper and offers many more varieties. I haven’t had much success with seed sown directly outdoors: it germinates well, the seedlings grow to about 3cm high and then stop. But success is assured if you start the plants indoors or in a greenhouse and then transplant them, spaced 10cm apart. It is best to sow two or three seeds to a pot, then leave only the strongest seedling to grow and transplant with minimal root disturbance.
As growth proceeds you can give fertilizers as required, depending on your soil, but in general avoid giving excess nitrogen as this leads to thick necked plants and onions which will easily rot. Preferably you should give some potash in the form of potassium sulphate, as this will lead to harder onions with good keeping properties.
I love them, raw in salads or roasted with meat!

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