My onions are swelling out too, the biggest one being 12" in diameter**. However, the foliage is quite pale looking which at first I thought was down to thrip damage but I can find no sign of this pest. I think it's merely due to being grown in the unshaded greenhouse.....they're just scorched.
My Vento onions growing in the outside raised beds are looking very healthy. These went in a little later this year so I don't expect to be harvesting these until towards the end of July/early August when they reach the 3.25" diameter mark. Through experience and a little trial and error I've found this measurement allows me to harvest onions that weigh just under the 250g mark. Some local shows may still ask for 8oz onions, which equates to about 227g. Different onion cultivars may need to be harvested at different diameters so don't shout at me if yours weigh more as in all probability I shall just laugh.
Looking forward, today I had a schedule through the post for a show that I had advised the committee on some changes earlier in the year. I'm glad they took my advice and I'm very hopeful the changes will persuade a few more local growers to have a crack. One of the things I asked them to do is to publish my telephone number and email address on the schedule for people to ask me any questions in the run-up to the show. I hope to be inundated with questions.
** I do of course mean 12" circumference. I am what you would call around these parts a soft twat. Many thanks to Paul for pointing this out. Bastard.
21 comments:
Regarding the pale colour of your onion foliage, I'm growing 3 varieties, Unwins Exhibition, Robinson's Mammoth and Kelsae. The Kelsae are the darkest green, the Mammoth next and the Unwins quite a bit paler. So, I wonder if it's a vareiety or strain characteristic.
Alternatiovely, had you considered thrips or scorch damage?
Yes.....scorch damage....see the rest of the post. Can't you f***ing read? LOL
Could be thrips.
Could be scorch damage or Thrips
F*** me it's catching!
F--K me an Onion 12" in Diameter it must weigh 10 lbs already look out Dan
Nice to see that everything we export from Scotland is taken over by the Engerlanders as their own - good things come in threes - AM winning Wimbledon for England - Scotland giving you peas to win at shows - and Scotland giveing you long carrots - but like Fabio Capello I am not sure you know what to do with them!!!!!!!
Rest assured Ian.....come tomorrow night I'm sure he'll be a useless Scottish twat again! LOL
Looks like thrips to me I'm afraid.
Judging by the silver marks on the leaves.
You'll have a job seeing 'em though especially at your advanced age and poor eyesight.
Have a look at the top of the bulb where the leaves emerge and see if you can see some minute 1mm little orange coloured bastards hiding between the leaves.
If you do see any then the only thing I ever got to kill em and it did really work was Bug Clear oil based spray.
I tried every poison known to man and they shrugged it off but this stuff kills 'em by mechanical action by covering them in a thin sheen of oil.
As for a 12" dia. onion .....f#cking hell.
Should be about 50 lbs by September.
LOL !
No response re the 12" diameter onion.Do i get a prize for spotting your obvious deliberate mistake ? (mine are only 11.5 ")
Simon - Hate to say it but I would be 100% that this is thrip damage - the leaves with the silver markings are classic signs of thrips - you could be struggling now to control them - any time I have had problems I used Decis - Again being a harbinger of doom if it is thrips the onions will stop growing soon and the foliage will go completely
Could be scorch.
Fu___ng hell just been on to put Chickens away and re measured Onions using your formula they have grown 1.5" since T time
Bastards!
I have accumulated a load of questions for you regarding showing my veg Smithy. You might regret agreeing to be willing to answer any questions I have LOL.
1) Do the Italian Borlotti Beans with the yellow and red pods count as "Haricot varieties" or "any other variety not scheduled"? I ask this because they can be eaten either as young pods, or left to mature for use as Haricot style beans.
2) If the schedule refers to "Cabbage Lettuce", does this mean crisphead varieties such as Lakeland and Robinson, or does it mean the other kind that are still crispy but more open headed?
3) Do Mange Tout Peas get entered in the class for "Green Peas", or would this be solely for the peas you shell, in which case the only class left is "Three Vegetables not Scheduled"?
4) How long before a show is the latest you can lift onions or small shallots? I ask this because mine are still very small and yet the show I am aiming for is mid-August. I am concerned they won't dry in time if I lift them too late, but right now the bulbs need to really plump out. Any tips on speeding up this process too ?
Loads more questions to come I am sure, (mainly on how to present certain vegetables on the judging benches), but I won't overface you with all of them all at once.
Thanks again, you are my Guru!!
Crikey Misty.....some of these terms must be specific to the Channel Islands.
Can't really advise on the beans. We just have 'runner' 'broad' or 'french' here on Blighty. The ones you mention would come under 'french' I feel. Best ask advice from a local sage I'm afraid....unless anyone else can help?
According to a description I found on an internet search a cabbage lettuce is:
"any of several varieties of lettuce that have roundish flattened heads resembling cabbages"
My shallots have all been lifted. Leave any later than the end of June and you risk them going out of shape. The judge should be looking for nice round bulbs.
Ideally your onions need to be up about 3 weeks before the show so you have a bit more time. This gives them time to ripen up a little bit. Judges don't like to see green onions that have been skinned too much.Mine are only just plumping out and they've been growing since January.
As for being a guru there seems to be a theme running......a bloke rang me the other day and called me a cult and put the phone down.
Thanks for that Smithy. On that basis I guess my 'hearty' lettuce would count as cabbage lettuce, and my looseleaf types as Any other variety named.
Still not sure about the beans, but will try to ask someone from the local showing circles if I can track the right person down. Part of my confusion is that Borlotti are an Italian variety, not French, although the shape is the same.
The onions may well be a problem for me as mine only went in during March, so must be way behind yours. Same applies to my shallots and they are barely the size of large marbles at the moment, many even smaller. By the way, do you dry your onions and shallots in a cool dark place or in a cloche or greenhouse in a sunny spot? I have both options open to me, but need to pick the most efficient one when the time comes to start the process going. Our show falls around the 17th August, so if I lift my onions about the last week of July I hope to have enough time to get them dry enough to show.
Any ideas on the Mange Tout question? "Green Peas" or "Three Vegetables not listed".
Thanks, oh, I promise it wasn't me who phoned and told you you were a 'cult'. By the way, are you sure he said 'cuLt'? LOL ;)
Sorry for not answering everything there!
I would have thought Mange Tout would be in the AOV class......plus, are peas any other colour than green? If so....yuk!
I dry my shallots on a wire rack in the garden so that plenty of air can circulate round them. Cover with some plastic sheeting if rain forecast but remove on hot days....they will soon overheat and go wrinkly otherwise. Your shallots must have been grown from seed I'm assuming?
With onions....in the days leading up to when you will harvest them pull off any loose/spilt skins as carefully as you can and leave the bulbs for a day or two for the first unsplit skin to fill out. After pulling up cut the roots back to the base and the top to 3" or so, clean with tepid water and a dash of washing up liquid, dry, then apply talcum powder to the skin. Be prepared to look like a right twat whilst doing this. Family and friends will think you have gone barmy. Store in a dark place on beds of sawdust, wool shoddy, or even wrapped in sheets of newspaper to ripen. Ideally the temperature needs to be fairly constant but not too hot or cold. Under a bed would be ideal.
Hope that helps
Thanks for the drying advice, that is excellent!
My shallots were grown from sets not from seed, but they went in late which is the problem I reckon. I shall just have to try to do my best with what I have got by the sounds of things.
LOL re- any other colour of peas than green comment.
re the bast**rd comment I have just checked and my Mum and Dad were married at the time of my conception so you are wrong yet again I would not be supprised if you use that tape measure to measure your c**k lol.
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