Advice for a hopeless gardener

[jennyjj01]

Replanting last years onions......

Last year, I sowed some onion seedlings out into the raised bed and left them to do their growing. Early in winter, I harvested them and I was very disappointed that they hadn't grown much. They were about the size of 25mm diameter and reminded me of the sets that I had planted elsewhere. Some are a bit shrivelled.
Anyhow, I left them in the cold garage where they still are today. Most have decent length shoots on them.

My question is can I replant them as though they were sets? If I do, and they survive, will they just bolt?

They are too small to be useful in cooking, so If I can get a second spurt of growth, I'm inclined to try.

In other news, I'm chuffed to report that I've 'harvested' the bottom half of my two garden 'Tardis' composters.
I got about 220 Litres of lovely mature, dark brown compost. Nothing recognisable in there except the odd twig.
These have been composting almost two years and were mostly grass clippings and dropped leaves.... And cardboard. Lots of cardboard and shredded paper.

Those tardis's aren't the strongest plastic and using from the drawer at the bottom is not super practical, because after a point is reached, the immature stuff from the top dropped down 'contaminating the good stuff.
They've also bulged and distorted quite a bit. Going to try daleks next time.

[GillyBee]

Those onions could be planted and used as early green tops "spring onions" but they are likely to want to flower thsi year instead of producing a bigger bulb. It depends just how small they are and if the internals have an embryo flower stem yet. Commercial sets tend to be heat treated to prevent the flower stem from forming. If you have room you can plant them and just see what happens. The worst case is you get flowers.

[jennyjj01]

The worst case is you get flowers.

Thanks. I'll give it a go. I might even get some onion seeds for my trouble. I don't yet fully understand the onion growing season. It says on my onion sets packet to sow early spring for harvest the following autumn. But I don't understand how seed grown onions can mature anything like in one year. Just as these didn't.

[GillyBee]

Onions are a biennial plant. The first year they grow a food store (the bulb) to keep over the winter. The second year they use that store to put up a flower stalk and produce seed, then die.

As gardeners we trick the plants and steal the food store for ourselves. We can grow from seed and harvest in year one. Or we can capitalise on the fact that if the bulbs are too small going into the winter they will decide to take an extra year and just grow a big bulb in year 2. This trick gives us sets when a nursery sows and harvests the small bulbs just right. Then there are the onion varieties that are sown late summer and overwinter as small plants whch get going early for harvest in late spring/early summer.

Most home growers use sets because they are easy. Producing your own sets is hard work. You might as well simply grow from seed and harvest the same year.

[jansman]

I haven’t grown onions via seed or set in years. White rot is the issue. However,I now grow - or rather *they* grow themselves- perennial onions. Egyptian grow a bulb,which destroys the plant if you should crop it.However,the stems ( similar to a Spring onion) are constant. Seeds will be set too on stems,and the set plant will grow again. I also grow a Welsh Onion. A giant Spring Onion. Never stops growing,and can be simply lifted and divided to make new plants.
My perennials are starting to show themselves now. In particular my perennial kale/ cabbage has been excellent and cropped superbly throughout Winter.
For the first time in nearly 3 dozen years there will be no gardening in my vegetable garden as I am very unlikely to survive my *ancer past mid Summer,but the perennials will continue! I honestly should have grown more of them years ago.

https://www.egyptianwalkingonion.com/

[GillyBee]

Not now relevant for Jansman but may be of use for allotment holders.
I read an interesting article years ago of a talk to the Californian Garluc Growers by an elderly uni professor specialising in white rot studies.
It seems you can clean up your land quite well by using the knowledge that the spores germinate in the presence of onion/garlic compounds. You just grow something else for a couple of years while you dig in a small amount of garlic powder or water with onion/garlic water several times over the season. The rot germinates and then finds nothing to infect so dies. The article was claiming a 99% improvement with just a couple of treatments and usable fields again within a couple of years.
This is easy to do.The eqivalent of 2 or 3 blitzed cloves of garlic to a watering can and you are done.

[jennyjj01]

However,I now grow - or rather *they* grow themselves- perennial onions. Egyptian grow a bulb,which destroys the plant if you should crop it.However,the stems ( similar to a Spring onion) are constant. Seeds will be set too on stems,and the set plant will grow again.

Jansman, I'm pleased to report that the dozen or so egyption onions that i sowed on your recommendation, have spread nicely in my raised bed. I never harvested any and just left them to it. A few weeds to sort out, but a healthy colony is growing.

https://www.egyptianwalkingonion.com/

[jansman]

However,I now grow - or rather *they* grow themselves- perennial onions. Egyptian grow a bulb,which destroys the plant if you should crop it.However,the stems ( similar to a Spring onion) are constant. Seeds will be set too on stems,and the set plant will grow again.

Jansman, I'm pleased to report that the dozen or so egyption onions that i sowed on your recommendation, have spread nicely in my raised bed. I never harvested any and just left them to it. A few weeds to sort out, but a healthy colony is growing.

https://www.egyptianwalkingonion.com/

Excellent!

[jennyjj01]

Reporting my failure:-
I thought I'd give you a laugh at my expense.

Cress: Simplest microgreen to grow. Ideal candidate for hydroponics. Kids can do it.
Pathetic and abject failure image below.

Failed again.
How hard can it be to grow enough cress for an egg butty?
This time I used a bed of coir compost, which I figured would be nice and clean and soft.*

The coir developed a cotton wool like fungus and the cress popped up at a range of heights from a stumpy half inch.
Not enough to harvest for even one egg and cress sandwich. If practice makes perfect, I'm not there yet!

* did I need a better compost with some nutrients? I thought it would just grow hydroponically.

[GillyBee]

I used to manage to grow cress as a 7 year old on tissues. It didn't need food for the week or so it took to grow.
Possible problems
Too cold - this will encourage fungus
Old seed - germinates more slowly/unevenly letting fungus take a hold.
Too wet - seed drowns. tisfsue or compost should be damp not wet.

If you try again use cooled camomile tea to water the first time which is reputedly antifungal and also keep it a bit warmer. And consider a fresh pack of seed too.