How To Plant Onion Sets In The Ground

'Stuttgarter Giant'

No allotment or vegetable patch is complete without versatile onions

Onions are best planted in the ground as you would not get enough in a container to make it worthwhile, as they are fairly cheap to buy.

 You will need:

• hand trowel
• onion sets
• labels
• rake

Onion sets can be planted in spring to crop in June – July or planted in autumn to overwinter in the ground and crop in late spring – early summer. If you have heavy water-retentive soil we don’t recommend an autumn planting. We have chosen the white onion ‘Alpha’ which is a spring planting early maturing onion and can be planted as soon as February, and the brown skinned ‘Stuttgarter Giant’ which is a tried and tested reliable variety.

Prepare the bed by digging and raking the soil surface to a fine tilth (crumb).

Push a single onion in to just below the soil surface leaving the very tip exposed, and 15cm (6”) apart.

Put some fleece, netting or twigs over them to stop the birds pulling them out; any that do get pulled out just push them back in.

Water with a fine rose when planted.

Don’t let them dry out during the growing season.