Kitchen Garden Forum

Last year's onion sets did pretty well and I have ordered more to plant soon.

However, I was looking at an old issue of KG Sept 2008. Here the advice (page 25) the advice is to cover the sets entirely. I thought that onion sets should always have the tip showing.

Advice and opinion please.

Hi Stephen,
I have always planted Shallots as you mention but truth to tell there is so many methods of doing so many gardening tasks I doubt if there is anything to worry about.
I suppose to bury them, query how deep, will do away with the old myth about the birds tweaking them out of the ground.
If you plant and leave about a quarter of an inch showing or you bury a quarter of an inch below the ground will not make a ha'pe'rth of difference.
JB.

Hi Stephen,

I second Johnboys advice.
Last year I grew overwintering onions for the first time.
I started off as you say with their tips slightly above ground, but would come home from work to find they had been lifted and lying elsewhere!
Firstly I thought it was my OH having a joke but it turned out to be the wood pigeons, so replanted with tips not showing, good harvest , eventually!

OK, thanks for the views. I think I am a little wiser...
I lost a few to pigeons last autumn when I planted them with the tips showing. I'll think about it.

I read somewhere that as the onion roots grow they can push the sets up out of the soil too.

Hi Glallotments,
You are so right in what you say. I have been working within 10ft of my onion bed and no bird would ever dare approach that bed whilst I was there and my first job of the day was to replant a couple of displaced onions and a couple of hours later there were a load more. As I went to replace these one onion set actually jumped out of the ground and landed about 2ft from where it had been planted. It had nothing to do with birds.
However I certainly do not discount that birds will have a crack at onion sets. Sadly they will have a crack at most things.
JB.