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Autumn sown onions make a useful 'catch crop' to give a crop of onions a couple of months earlier than the normal spring sown varieties.
n.b. Please note that autumn varieties do not keep in storage as long as maincrop spring varieties.
Week 29; Sow early maturing Japanese onion seed thinly in drills spaced 300mm (12”) apart.
Apply general fertiliser before sowing.
If conditions are dry, trickle water along the length of the drill prior to sowing.
alternatively; Sow in trays / cells and germinate in a coldframe.
Germination will take seven to ten days.
Week 31; As soon as they reach the crook stage, and the second leaf appears, prick out seedlings into 70mm (3”) pots of any proprietary soil-less potting compost.
Grow on, giving them plenty of light, but being careful not to force them with too much heat, and too much water, 8°-10°C (45°-50°F) will do.
Watering depends so much upon the weather, so always allow them to dry out between each watering.
It is advisable to spray seedlings, from the second leaf stage with a fungicide at regular intervals to deter ‘damping off’
Week 39; Prepare beds, best results are achieved if the seedlings / setts are planted in soil that has been deeply dug and dressed with a general fertiliser at a rate of about 100gms (3oz) per sq metre.
Week 40; plant out seedlings / setts any time from now until the middle of November.
Ideally, plant on receipt of setts, but they can be planted as late as November.
Plant the seedlings / setts out 150mm (6") apart, in rows 300mm (12") apart.
Week 43; Check rows of seed that were sown insitu and thin the seedlings to about 25mm (1”) spacing.
Ideally they should reach up to about 150mm (6”) tall this month, but if growth has been slow due to heavy rain leaching out nutrients on poor soils, apply Nitro-chalk along the rows at a rate of 80gms (3oz) per sq metre.
There is still time to plant 'setts' if you are having problems with your seed sown onions.
Week 12; (the following year) Boost growth by hoeing in nitro-chalk or sulphate of ammonia at a rate of 1oz (30g) per sq m to, or alternatively, 3oz (90g) per sq m of growmore.
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