Growing onions and shallots from sets is incredibly easy, and it is also a great way of getting out into the garden to plant during that subtle change from late winter to early spring.
They look like baby onions or shallots, and in effect they are. Once planted, they will put their roots down, and then as they grow the bulbs will swell so that you can harvest them at full size in summer.
Choose a sunny, sheltered spot that doesn’t get too waterlogged. You can grow onions really well in a raised bed or traditional veg plot, and also in containers – choose containers that are oblong in shape, like a window box or a shallow trough or planter and fill with multipurpose compost.
- Plant onions 15cm apart. Plant shallots 10cm apart.
- Plant sets in Feb/Mar.
- Push each bulb into the soil, with the hairy root side pointing down, until they are deep enough that their tip is just below the surface of the soil. Pat the soil down again so that they are just buried, and leave them to grow.
- It is well worth using a small onion hoe to keep weeds down in between plants – a weekly hoe will keep on top of things nicely and doesn’t take up much time.
You’ll be able to harvest in summer once the leaves turn yellow – at this point, bend the stems over and then harvest on a nice dry day.
