Definition of quick growing

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Colin2016
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Definition of quick growing

In latest edition of the mag you say “Salad onions are quick growing”

What is the time scale of quick?
Monika
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If salad onions are "quick growing", what constitutes "slow growing"? I certainly find salad onions the most reluctant growers, even in the greenhouse, as I have done this year. Radishes and salads sown the same time have almost finished, the spring onions are not even near harvesting!
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Ha! Great Question Colin!

I was looking for any signs of mine on Sunday & think may 4 or 5 wee green bendy stalks in the row & that's 3 weeks sown now! Last year I didn't harvest one single Spring Onion for some reason! I did have a moan at the seed packet stating 'quick grower' as well btw!
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I always find spring onions very slow. Perhaps they've found a super fast variety. What are they called Colin?
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Pa Snip
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A question to all

Having sown your spring onion seeds do you then progressively thin them out, if not maybe that is why they take longer to form than you feel they should

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.

At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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Johnboy
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Pa,
I sow my salad onions in modules 1.5"x1.5" x 2" deep and put approx 9 seeds per module and when they are getting a little module bound simply pop them out in little groups and let them get on with it. I have always got plenty to pull after a few week gowing.
JB.
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Mine seem very slow compared to the lettuce planted at the same time & radish planted later.

Brought a couple of different varieties to try.
tigerburnie
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I gave up trying to grow spring onions, but as I am now pretty much a container grower now, I might try again as I like eating them. Would never have called them quick though.
Been gardening for over 65 years and still learning.
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Pawty
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Hi,

I sowed some red spring onion in maybe august last year in a pot in the back garden - they grew but were small. I never dug them up, and looking at them at the weekend, they have started to take on grown again! So definitely not a fast grower!

I think for speedy veg, you need good growing conditions. Correct heat, sun, water soil. Then they grow as described but rarely does that happen. I have found that Some of the speedy veg has a tendency to bolt really quickly - because of the wrong growing conditions usually.

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oldherbaceous
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Seems like a reply from, (Ask the team) and the length of time Spring onions take until harvest, is about the same......Quite a while... :)
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

There's no fool like an old fool.
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Pa Snip
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oldherbaceous wrote:Seems like a reply from, (Ask the team) and the length of time Spring onions take until harvest, is about the same......Quite a while... :)



OOh you little Scallion you, very tongue in cheek :D

The danger when people start to believe their own publicity is that they often fall off their own ego.

At least travelling under the guise of the Pa Snip Enterprise gives me an excuse for appearing to be on another planet
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KG Steve
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Hi folks, sorry for the slow response. If you are comparing spring onions to other salads like radishes and salad leaves then it might seem to be stretching it a bit to call them quick-growing, but they are certainly not the slowest. I have sown some in a tray and others in the ground in the polytunnel this year and both have taken about 10-14 days to come up. Then I hope that in 4-6 weeks I'll be able to eat some of the thinnings - granted that would be longer outside. I'll hope to harvest reasonable-sized onions within about 12-14 weeks, but sometimes leave them longer as they stay in good condition and even bulk up a bit more, plus of course they don't take up much room.

This is in good weather, but as with most things, they can take considerably longer if it is cold and wet.
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Primrose
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Interesting because I imagine chives belong to the same family. I have various clumps around the garden having completely died back over winter yet over the past month they have all shot up from nowhere and are tall enough to harvest. Perhaps sowing chives might be be alternative worth trying for those who like an onion flavour in their salads since they seem to be more hardy.
Last edited by Primrose on Thu Apr 27, 2017 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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KG Steve
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My first harvest of 'spring onions' this year has come from my overwintered pots of 'Senshyu Yellow' and a few other varieties. I borrow Joe Maiden's old trick of planting the sets quite thickly in pots in autumn, then thinning from early April onwards, leaving the rest to mature to full size. Had some lovely spring onions from those with my tea last night. Guess It should work almost as well outside although my pots spent the winter in the unheated greenhouse, so grew away quickly this spring.
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Colin Miles
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I remember picking my father's spring onions way back in the 50's. They certainly seemed to grow fast enough then. Maybe the sandy soil helped and it had previously been a market garden. But my efforts have never been successful.
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