sowing btw onions

General tips / questions on seeding & planting

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taralastair
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Is there anything I can sow in between rows of onions or garlic. Perhaps radishess, lettuces, spring onions? Just feel it is a bit of wasted space. The onions are overwintering ones, so have a bit of growth on them. Also, garlic has been grown in ridges, so space between is quite wet. Any thoughts are much appreciated.

Tara
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Garlic_Guy
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Yes I'd be interested in this. At the moment, the alliums are about the only thing growing in my plot.
Colin
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Angi
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Onions don't really appreciate competition from weeds, so I doubt they'd enjoy anything else growing between them either.
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oldherbaceous
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Hello folks, just got this out of a companion planting book. Things that grow well with onions, all members of the cabbage family, beets, strawberries, toms, summer savory, lettuce and camomile. Things they dislike peas and beans.
I hope this helps a little.
By the way i have not tried these myself.

Kind regards Old Herbaceous.

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Johnboy
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Hi Tara,
I agree with Angi on this as Onions seem to resent being invaded by anything. This is why it is essential to keep Onion Beds weed free. I take it that the Onion cannot distinguish the difference between weeds and, for example, Radishes so whatever you plant, whether compnion plant or not, you may decrease your Onion crop.
This question has come up several times over the years and there is always some bright spark who says well I didn't weed my Onions last year and had a good crop and the answer to that is that if you had weeded you could well have have a wonderful crop!
Personally I grow Onions in their own bed with nothing else but I have masses of room and might think otherwise if space was at a premium.
I don't know how big your Onion Bed is but if you have the room try putting something like Radishes betwixt one row and leave a couple of rows for comparison clear.
I think this is a case where the jury is still out so perhaps you could do us all a favour.
JB.
Allan
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Some say that onions can deter the carrot fly, I haven't tried this but I suggest experiments are done with salad onions and not those you want to make big bulbs, very light hoeing for them.
Allan
taralastair
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All the advice is much appreciated. I think I will err on the side of caution as this is my first time growing onions and garlic. I'll find room somewhere else undoubtedly for all my extras. :)

Cheers.

Tara
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Tigger
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In last May's (2005) KG, there's an article by Peter Surridge about catch crops in which he suggests growing lettuce between onions.
taralastair
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Thanks for the reply, only one day too late! I just planted out my lettuces resterday in their own seperate bed. Wish I had read my issue more thoroughly. Never mind, live and learn.

Tara
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I've been planting a couple of rows of lettuce between my onions for years. I sow very thickly and treat the lettuce as cut and come again. I take out a few seedlings for transplanting else were on the plot. When I say thickly I mean what you would get in about,8 or 10 packets of seed, going into a 6 foot row. I never buy seed for this. I let some lettuce go to seed [ not the ones in the onion bed] and use this.
I started with a packet of mixed lettuce, and let a few of each type go to seed.
I quit often have 2 or 3oz of lettuce seed, after harvesting. The lettuce is out of the onion bed by late May early June.
"One of the healthiest ways to gamble is with a spade and a packet of garden seeds"
taralastair
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Hmmmm. I might give this a try with my cut and come again seeds. I have loads of lettuce seed this year (numerus free packets and over buying). Are your onions overwintered ones? Mine are quited big and well established now. What about between garlic?

TARA
PT
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Hi taralastair.
I'm planting my catch corp of lettuce between garlic this year. My over wintering onions never made it to the plot till last Monday. Shame on me.
"One of the healthiest ways to gamble is with a spade and a packet of garden seeds"
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