Its been a long season and finally I have had the courage to lift the giant onions.

These onions were sown on 1st January 2016, and were a Christmas present from the good lady.

Picture of a 3lb 5oz giant onion being weighed by a set of digital scales

Picture of giant onions

Picture of giant onions on a table in the greenhouse drying

Picture of a raised bed with the remains of the seasons giant onions ready to pick up

The experiment to grow a big onion used varieties “Ailsea”, “Mammoth Improved” and “Giant Exhibition”.

Potting the seedlings on in March with the addition of “Rootgrow” I was very fortunate this year, unlike last, not to suffer any deaths and they all grew really well in the greenhouse.

Planting these out into their final positions through black sheeting to keep the ground warm and weed free in May this year.

Overall, I think the variety “Ailsea” won the day. The other two varieties did grow really well with 3lb onions in each, but the most consistent large onion was definitely “Ailsea”. And the onion with the biggest roots was “Mammoth Improved”.

I wish I tried them in the greenhouse to see if they would grow any bigger, and the largest this year was 3lb 5oz, which I don’t think is bad for a first attempt.