Onions - Red Globe

Type: Vegetable

Rotation Group: 2, Roots and Onions


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RED BARON

The very best red globe onion, it has a rich and uniform skin colour and a really old fashioned, strong onion flavour. Red Baron is also a wonderful keeper and popular on the show bench.
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RED BRUNSWICK

Red Brunswick is late maturing semi flat bulbs of dark red. They are overall, medium to large in size with excellent mild but pungent flavour.They are very decorative when sliced across the bulb to reveal which and red rings,so are ideal fresh in salads or cooked with pasta.
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RED TIDE

A hybrid red onion of excellent quality and storage capabilities, ideal for adding colour to salads.
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RED SPARK

A quality hybrid which produces uniform, round bulbs with a deep red colour. It has excellent skin quality and good flavour and will store well.

Site, Soil and Preparation

Onions thrive in an open, sunny position and on fertile, well-drained soils.

Indoor Sowing

Sow onion seeds 12mm (1/2 in) deep in seed compost in a greenhouse kept at 10-16 centigrade in middle to late winter. Sow in module trays with a half dozen seeds in each module for later thinning.

Outdoor Sowing

Onion sets are easier to grow than growing from seed and can be planted outside in autumn or in spring. Push them into the soil so the tip is just showing at 100mm (4in) spacings in rows 300mm (12in) apart. Seeds can also be sown outdoors from the middle of spring - once the soil is warming up and beginning to dry out. Sow 12mm (1/2in) deep in rows 200mm (8in) apart.

Thinning

Thin indoor grown seeds to 2 or 3 per module. Thin outdoor sowings gradually to the strongest seedlings at 100mm (4in) spacing.

Transplanting

Indoor sown onions should be hardened off before transplanting outside to final growing position at 100mm (4in) spacing in rows 300mm (12in) apart, in the middle of spring.

Care

Weed regularly, as onions don't grow well if competing with other plants. Water in prolonged dry spells every 14 days, and give an occasional feed with a general liquid fertiliser. But stop watering and feeding once the onions have swollen in mid-summer. Remove any flower stems as soon as they start to form, otherwise the plant's energy will go into producing the flower, rather than swelling the bulb.

Harvest

Autumn-planted sets are ready to harvest by early to mid-summer, while spring-sown or spring-planted onions are ready in late summer to early autumn. Yellowing and toppling of the leaves is a sign that the crop is reaching maturity. Harvest before the leaves die down completely.