So onions in August

So onions in August

On Friday I sow onions.

If you want early fresh onions from the beginning of June, you can grow overwintering onions - either from seeds or by seedlings.

Scallions are by far the most expensive solution, and since in my experience the survival is at least as good for the seed-sown, I have in recent years only sown the bulbs.

Onions are sown in a plug box with a 3-4 seeds per cell, and transplanted without separating the seedlings by about 25 cm between the cells.

They are planted in October both in the manure bank and in the open - in the open, the bed is covered with plastic when it gets winter, and with non-woven fabric in early spring. The small plants are cared for with irrigation as needed, and sometime in early March the bed will receive a nitrogen supplement in the form of chicken manure. A handful of wooden ashes per. m2 is also good.

This year, the varieties Senshyu Yellow (yellow kepal onion) from Impecta were seen, and as something new the white variety Kosma from Moreveg. The Sturon variety can also be used, but with me it has not overwintered quite as well as Senshyu. Unfortunately, in recent years it has not been possible to get red onion seeds for overwintering.

The most important thing is almost the sowing time. If the plants are too large when winter and frost set in, there is a risk that they will bloom just as ordinary spring-planted bulbs do the second year after winter.

If, on the other hand, they are too small, the plants may not be strong enough to survive the frost.

On a page from an English seed company, I once found a recommendation that the optimal time for sowing should be 18 August. And since in this case it is probably not so much about the English climate, but about the length of the day, I assume that the date also applies to Danish conditions. That's why I sow on Friday - not on Thursday, and not on Saturday, but on Friday the 18th. It certainly does not matter if it is a few days sooner or later, but it never hurts to be a little superstitious as a gardener.

Written by Peter Norris