Just to show what can be achieved with these pesky bulbs, even without the luxury of autumn planted sets. These are my "Purplette" variety, sown from seed en masse in a pot in mid March and transplanted into the ground at the start of May. The advantage of seed is a much wider range to choose from and... err thats probably it, oh and smugness of course. Most are now at a respectable 5cm diameter, no pests (apart from one which succumbed to cattle hoof squash syndrome) and no bolting. Once you get the depth right (top of bulb always visible, remember) the key things are meticulous weeding in the early stages and then adequate water when they are swelling (and weve had plenty of that!). I then clear away the soil to expose them to the sun and to make them more blogogenic. Now another decision, when to pull? I need a sunny day and ideally a dry spell to leave them out in the sun, otherwise they will hang in front of the window in the shed. This is preparation for storing of course - if you can't want to make a big vat of onion soup you can skip this phase.
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