Slow to grow ?

[Elen]

Last autumn I planted as said on the packing some Onion sets and Garlic. I protected them from birds with fleece to start with then closhes for a whill, for the winter frosts, that never came.
As the tops are yellowing and drooping I dug out one of each and both were like medium sized spring onions.
Whats gone wrong ?

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Elen, a couple of questions, were all of the tops yellow, or just the outer leaves, and were there any roots on the plants when you dug them up?

This might help us to try and find an answer.

[Elen]

Hi Oldherbacious,Thanx for your reply. The outside and next set of leaves are yellowing. The roots were pretty good and well formed.
The Garlic are the same brand as I tried last year, from a local garden centre with the same results too.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Elen, it sounds to me as if they are in need of a good feed. A liquid foliar feed will give them the quickest fix, but any general purpose feed will do.

[Elen]

Thanx Oldherbacous, I will feed them tomorrow then. How much longer do you think they should stay in for ? till the whole green tops have wilted over ? E

[oldherbaceous]

I normally look to be harvesting around the middle of June, but this can vary a little depending on the weather. The onions often seem to just sit there, for what seems ages, but then suddenly start growing at quite a rate. You can always use the onions while still green, once they have grown to a usable size.