How often should i water my onions??

[mew]

Ive heard you dont really need to water onions so ive been holding off on the watering can.

How often should I water them (at all) if there is a dry spell particularly??

Does the same rule apply to garlic too?

Thanks all

MEW

[ohareward]

Hi Mew, You only need to water onions and garlic if there is a prolonged dry period. A good watering every every 4-5 days is okay. Check the moisture content of the soil down passed the depth of the onions. If it is dry then water. If you rub the soil between your figers they should have moisture on them, but alliums don't need to be wet.

Robin

[Millymollymandy]

I don't know where you heard that you don't need to water onions! They have a very shallow root system and dry out very quickly. I have to set up a seep hose system amongst my onions to water them, or it would take me too long with a watering can, and I just can't give them enough that way.

We don't get much rain in summer, well in fact it seems our drought has already started (3mm of rain so far this month and waterbutts getting low). I've already watered mine about 5 times in the week since I planted them because they were planted into dust.

Guess it just depends on your climate.

[ina]

Guess it just depends on your climate.

I'm sure that's true. I've been told that onion sets need a few frosty nights to develop a decent root system - so maybe if they do have this decent root system, they then won't need so much watering! Saying that, as I've planted mine a bit late (as usual ), and there hasn't been any rain for weeks, I have been watering, too. Otherwise I'd be harvesting withered onion sets in autumn.

[Millymollymandy]

Hello Ina! How are you? Nice to see you back here.

[ina]

Yep, it's great to be back! Even if I still don't have my own computer, at least this one is now working much better...